Page 61 of Poison Nights & Twilight Alchemy

“But why did you curse the land?” Dulce asked,bewildered. “Will ending all life here free your son?”

Can you really be so selfish?Dulce wanted to scream at the witch, but held her tongue.

Another scene came forward then, one of a beautiful child with hair as red as his mother’s. He sat huddled within a cage so small there was barely enough space for his tiny frame to sit. He raised his head, wiping his tears, then crawled into the darkness of a tunnel, his feet becoming elongated, talons curling from his toes while he disappeared into the shadows.

The images cleared, and Dulce was back in the present with a raven beside her—Reed.

“Having a child stripped away Aldrich’spreciousimmortality,” Marguerite sneered. “Though he was centuries old, he began to age. There was only one way to regain his youth: to continue to cheat death and hold onto his power. Take the land’s magic for himself. But he cannot do that alone—he needs a powerful witch. He always has. You see, it was never me who he loved at all. No. It was only what my power could give him. When I realized this and tried to refuse him, to escape, he hurt Percy. You have no idea what it’s like to hear your own child’s suffering. I endured it formonthsbefore finally I could stand it no more. And I gave in to Aldrich. I did what he bid me to do, and I saw my son every full moon. I thought… I truly believed I could discover another way to stop him, a way to save Percy. But now I fear it’s too late.”

The sound of Marguerite’s anguished sigh echoed across the still water of the lake.

“And once this world ends,” Dulce snapped, “then what?”

“At least in death, we will be free of him.”

“You can still take away the spell!” Dulce shouted, frustration welling in her. How could this woman be so selfish? What of every living thing around her? “The sorcerer is powerless without you. Defeat him and save your son yourself!”

Marguerite’s laughter pierced Dulce’s very soul as she backed away from them, shaking her head while she cackled.

“He is more powerful than any witch, don’t you see?” she screeched. “His greed knows no bounds. He has been gaining magic for centuries! Long before I or your mother were born, long before our ancestors were born! This world is only one of many he has devoured.”

The dark magic Dulce had felt in the witch’s bedchamber at her castle had belonged to the sorcerer—that was why it had felt so different. “There has to be a way to defeat him,” she murmured.

“Your mother could’ve managed it, perhaps,” Marguerite admitted. “There was enough good in her. If only I had listened to her…”

Dulce held up her mother’s ring. “Then listen to her now. She gave me this ring—I have to believe she knew I would find you. That I could help you. Let me try, Marguerite. Please.”

Marguerite’s gaze filled with torment. Dulce could plainly see that she longed to change her past, that if she could go back in time and alter her decisions, she would.

“You’re still a powerful witch,” Dulce insisted. “I’ve seen what your magic can do.”

Marguerite fell to her knees, looking at her hands, grief painted along her features. “My magic doesn’t workhere.”

“Tell me what to do—let me help you!”

“You may have her ring.” Marguerite shook her head. “But you are not your mother.”

Dulce’s talons pressed against the ground as irritation coursed through her. She struggled to think of another way to convince the witch to fight, to stand up against her captor, no matter how powerful. But suddenly the cries of the creatures in the cages grew to a frenzy, and Marguerite peered at them, her eyes wide with panic.

“You need to leave,now.” Marguerite hissed. “He’scoming!”

“No.” Dulce would not run. She turned to Reed. “He may know I’m here, he no doubt senses my magic, but he doesn’t know you’re with me.”

Reed hesitated, yet seeming to realize there wasn’t enough time to argue, he pressed his feathered forehead against hers. “I trust you know what you’re doing, Highness.”

“I’ll signal when I need you.” Dulce longed to kiss him one last time, but it was too late.

As Reed flew to land atop a stone tree branch, golden hair caught Dulce’s eye when the sorcerer appeared on the opposite side of the water. He walked across the liquid as though he were gliding on air, just as alluring as the vision she’d seen of him in the witch’s memories.

“Marguerite.” Aldrich smiled when he reached her cage, trailing his forefinger across its gold. His gaze drifted in Dulce’s direction through the bars, his smile growing wider. “Mmm, I see a little birdy has come.” He snapped his fingers and she shifted, collapsing to her knees on the ground in human form.

“You thought you could trick me, didn’t you?” Aldrich purred, sauntering before her. “It’s a good thing you’re here. I’ve been waiting for you to arrive.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

REED

The moment the sorcerer appeared, the creatures’ shrieks fell silent, and they sat trembling in their floating cages, their eyes wide with fear. Aldrich’s robes flowing behind him, their jailer glided across the water to stand at the golden prison’s door. Before Reed could steady himself on the tree limb, the sorcerer had snapped his fingers and turned both Dulce and himself from ravens back into humans.

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