Page 95 of Fighting for Her Heart
“Let her go!” Ryker shouts.
Gags appear over the men’s mouths, and their eyes widen with alarm and pain as smoke rises around their gags. More silver.
I bite my tongue to keep from lashing out again. Clearly every outburst on my part will be answered with another punishment for the men.
I trusted Nora. I thought she loved me. But hate has incinerated any love I felt for her.
And yet…and yet…a tiny piece of myself, one deep inside but undeniable, persists. The core inside me wants to believe that the cruel witch in front of me is not the woman I’ve always called Mom. Part of me wants to believe she’s only an illusion created by the other witches to trick me. Maybe Nora’s being held captive too?
“All we require of you,” Nora says, “is that you continue to create lambent vampires. My sisters and I will supply them so that you needn’t bother exposing yourself to any danger outside this safe space. Once the vampires are safely down here, they can feed from you until they become lambent.”
“And what happens to them once they’re lambent?” I ask, even though I know the answer.
She clearly realizes I know the answer too, because she shakes her head at me patronizingly.
“Tell me which part you don’t understand.” She cups my cheek again. “And I will repeat it.”
I try to pull back from her, but my head presses against the stone wall behind it. “What I understand best is that you’re holding the four of us captive. Holding myfamilycaptive.”
Her lips tighten and she takes a step back. “My sisters and I,weare your family. You may not see it yet, but together, we can grant the gift of longevity and power to so many women.”
I hate how she’s making her plan sound like it’s about feminism or female empowerment or something. It’s not. It’s about holding vampires captive, using them, torturing them.
“If you want me to cooperate, at least take off those sadistic gags. Please.”
“The Keepers of Light.” She speaks in a caring tone that seems fake. “That faction of witches caved to the Council’s demands. They conceded to the Council because they believed that there would be no more true Daughters of Gullveig. They believed the bloodline had been lost forever. We…” She gestures to the witches behind her. “My sisters and I were the only ones who had faith in the Illuminant.”
Zuben had faith I existed too, and it seems ridiculous for her to claim that she and her three accomplices were theonlywitches to still believe, but Nora’s need for importance seems to know no bounds.
Looking to the past, her need has always been there, but when I was a kid it just seemed normal. Ofcoursemy mother was the most significant person on earth. The best at everything. And being so isolated, I had far fewer examples to compare my mom to than most kids did. She always seemed invincible, larger than life.
“What’s your plan?” I ask her. “How do I fit in?”
She smiles softly. “Once we have created enough lambent vampires, we will expand our coven. We’ll open membership to keepers of magic all over the world—” she gestures broadly “—eventually toallwomen. Once they know what we offer, they’llbegto join us. I will lead this coven—with you at my side, of course.” The last part sounds like an afterthought.
I struggle to hide my disgust. What she’s describing is megalomaniac. Insane.
But to carry out her ambitions, Nora needs me. I can use that to my advantage.
“If I’m going to be one of the coven’s leaders,” I say calmly, “I want a say in how the lambent vampires are treated.”
Nora tips her head to the side, then shrugs. “What do you have in mind?”
“The silver. The shackles. It’s barbaric.”
“You’re thinking too small, daughter.” Nora flicks her wrist. “Their minor discomfort is nothing compared to what women, especially keepers of magic, have suffered under the hands of males for millennia. Not to mention how vampires useallof humanity as their personal feeding troughs.”
“Does that mean we need to sink to their level?” I argue. “Aren’t we, as women, better than that?”
She shakes her head, not swayed by my two-wrongs-don’t-make-a-right argument.
“Well.” I raise my chin as much as I can bear inside my bindings. “Unless you promise to treat the lambent vampires better, I refuse to cooperate. I won’t eventalkabout joining you, until you release these men.” I gesture toward them. “Free them now. That’s my condition. You need me.”
She laughs, and a chill races through me. “You forget daughter, while your cooperation is my greatestwish…” She cups my cheek. “It is not something Irequire.” Her expression turns colder. “Don’t forget, I was the one who gave that fool Octavia her powers of persuasion. Powers I could only grant because I possess them myself.”
My blood turns to ice.
I sawand felthow Octavia controlled me, controlled Axe and nearly made him rape me. I haven’t been able to break the magic that Nora’s already used on the men and me, and it’s terrifying to think about how many unused tools she might have in her belt.
