Page 29 of Spells of Shadow and Blood

He had held me close. Tucked me into bed each and every night, stroking my hair in a gentle manner, telling me fairytale stories to put me to sleep. For only a moment, I felt small again.

But I didn’t forget myself.

I was the queen of Istmere now, a powerful ruler in my own right. The most powerful Shade in the entire realm. I stepped back, out of his embrace, nodding in his direction.

“Where should we get started?” I asked, curious how he might have found the little Stormshade witch. She had to be what…five years old now? Six?

“The mortal realm,” Zion replied.

I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth, biting it. “That might be a problem.”

“Why is that?” he asked, his brows drawn together in confusion.

“You see, I can’t exactly use the portal to the mortal realm,” I answered.

He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

“I tried. When I was searching for Alastir. I have scoured this entire realm, but there is no sign of him. No trace. When I tried to breach the portal to the mortal realm, I was…pushed back. I’m not sure why. I have to assume it is the darkness that lives within me.” I motioned toward my eyes. “I have been…consumed by the magic in a way. My current state is”—I paused, searching for the words—“currently incompatible with the mortal realm.”

“I see,” he replied quietly.

“It brings me hope that it means I am, indeed, no longer a mortal.”

“No longer a mortal?” he asked, his voice strained. “How is that possible?”

“Well.” I smirked. “Easier if I show you.”

One moment I was standing before him, a delicately beaded chiffon dress adorning my body, and in the next I was in my wolf form. I was large, even for a Nightshade, and my height rivaled his despite my animal stature.

When his gaze took in my wolf form, I knew what he would see.

That a bright red sigil graced my forehead. It appeared to be dripping blood, despite it having dried years ago. When the witch in the wood with whom I had visited every week during training had shown me this spell, I knew it was the one I would use for immortality.

The price of such a spell?A piece of my soul.

When I had decided to let Annelise live, to spare her on the battlefield that day, I had marked her. I had driven the sword into the ground with such force it had distracted her and those around us from my true intention.

I had placed a piece of myselfinAnnelise. If I was killed in this form, I would still live onin her. I could easily be resurrected, even without the necromancy spell from the Grishina grimoire. I wanted Annelise dead in the end, of course, but I thought it quite poetic that she would be the one to hold the first piece of my soul. When she died, I would transfer it to another.

The witch in the wood had warned me that I could only give one piece at a time, lest I die in the process. Once I took the piece from Annelise back in order to kill her, I could simply place it in another. The same held true if the one I had entrusted with the piece of my soul was slain.

Zion was shocked, whether it was because of the sigil itself or because he recognized the spell, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think he would be privy to such a spell. It was dark, dark, blood magic after all. He had never dabbled in such things.

“What does it mean?” he asked, cocking his head to the side as he examined it.

In the blink of an eye I switched back into my human form, a little breathless from the quick transformation. My hand rest against my stomach, steadying myself.

“It means…I’m immortal,” I replied simply. He didn’t need to know the details of the spell. That it was his beloved Annelise that now held a piece of me.

He took a step back, his face a mask of shock. “Immortal?”

I nodded, a smile turning up the corner of my mouth. “I will not age, as those before me did. My skin will not wrinkle, my hair will not grey. But because of my incompatibility with the mortal realm, I can’t go there. My sister will have to be brought to me.”

A slow smile spread across Zion’s face. “We can arrange that.”

I had gotten everything I had ever gone after, and I wouldn’t fail at this either. I picked up the skirts of my dress and ascended the dais steps once more, sitting on the throne I had worked so hard to claim and crossing my legs.

Annikin, Annelise, Malec, Zion, Corian, Osiris, Alastir…they were all pawns in this game. That’s all anyone was, truly. People were simply tools I needed to manipulate and persuade to do the things I needed them to.Wantedthem to.

---