Page 52 of Courting War
Nothing.
Then Gallagher took out a dagger. She rubbed the point against her lips tauntingly. Playing with Cecile, like she always did. Gallagher lived for small tortures. After a moment, she stopped and stared at Cecile like prey.
With a mischievous wink, Gallagher slid the dagger into Cecile’s outstretched fingers, and without hesitation, Cecile plunged it into the throat of her attacker. A waterfall of blood poured onto her, and the attacker fell dead over her chest. The energy left Cecile, and she let go of her fight, her eyes pinching closed for a moment. She was still in dire straits, and she needed medical attention soon. She might lose too much blood from her head wound and fall unconscious, never to wake again.
With a groan, she glanced over to Gallagher and cracked, “Help,” but the girl was gone. Almost as if she were never there to begin with.
Conjuring a surge of stamina, Cecile pushed the boy off her, but it stole all her energy, and she collapsed back on the forest floor.
A single raven flew down from the heavens and landed on Cecile’s shoulder. A blue healing light flowed from its talons and blanketed the girl with enchantment.
“When she finds out about your part in that, she is going to hate you,” Havyn’s voice was a guillotine.
“Yes, she will.” Theo sighed. “Did you bring me here to gloat?”
“Well . . . it wasn’t the only reason.” Havyn rested her hands in her lap, her shadow dress curling around them like gloves. “Your servant did well, far better than most who enter my mirror.”
Havyn changed the subject with a new vision.
It was years earlier, and a little four or five-year-old Cecile was playing marbles with a woodland nymph at the side of a secluded cabin.
“Cecile, your father doesn’t want you to play so far away from the house,” said the Goddess of Night, her flowing golden hair shimmering in the rays of the setting sun. She stood next to the Goddess of Light, who had a yellow aura glowing around her, casting her divinity on full display.
“Ah, fine.” Cecile pouted.
“How is the girl?” Andromache asked.
“She’s getting inhumanly quick, which, of course, makes it hard for her father to keep up with, and she absolutely adores the nymphs and vampires, which will eventually become problematic for her father; you know how he is.”
“Indeed.”
Why were Night and Light watching a little Cecile? Did it have something to do with her inhuman nature?
The scene faded, and Havyn waved, magic spilling from her fingers as she cut off the replay.
“Please get to your point, Havyn. I tire of your antics,” Theo drawled.
“I want you to answer something honestly for me,” Havyn said, “and I wanted to torture you with my presence. I can’t help myself. I hardly ever see my little sister.”
“Do I get a choice?” Theo growled. “It seems like you’re going to do whatever you please.”
“Aren’t you in a testy mood?” Havyn tsked in response. “I'm trying to be helpful.”
As helpful as a tick. Blood-sucking parasites.
“I heard that.” Havyn laughed. “And I consider it an honor to be compared to a blood-sucking parasite.”
“Are you going to ask your question?”
Havyn loosed a belabored sigh. “You’re so difficult. Love is right; you’re no fun.”
“Ask your question, Havyn, or let me go.”
“Do you truly want to die?”
Theo’s brows drew together, the question catching her off guard. Her heart surged, anxiety crawling up the rungs of her ribcage one by one.
“What?” she breathed.
