Page 149 of Wings of Lies
It was now or never.
“Is Oliver’s sister alive?” I asked.
I was such a chicken shit.
Oliver choked on his apple, caught off guard by my question. But I wasn’t ready to ask about my mom. I needed a moment to work up to it, plus we needed to understand her price.
Magda fingered a small, glowing pendant on her chest. A crystal surrounded by five other crystals in varying shades of white pulsed with light before settling back to its dim color.
“The price for that answer is your name,” she replied, still fingering her pendant between her cleavage.
Easy. I opened my mouth to respond when Aspen’s chains clamored against the back of my chair, and his hands clamped down on my shoulder. His fingers alternated between squeezing and releasing, as if uncertain whether to offer reassurance, protection, or exert control. Regardless of his intent, I shrugged him off.
“Lucille,” I stated.
Magda’s gentle smile widened, and another pulse of light throbbed from her pendant. “She is.”
Oliver slumped back in his chair, running a hand through his duel-colored bangs. He gave me a relieved smile and twisted to face the witch. “Did Marcus bring her to the Mother of Demons?” he asked, butting in. Not that I blamed him.
“Your price for that question,” Magda said, pausing. She pursed her lips, rubbing her necklace. “Tell Lucy your deepest, most coveted desire. That you would do anything for.”
He squinted at her. “Why’d you make that sound dirty?” Oliver snorted. “I’m pretty sure, Lucy, and now everyone, knows what I want most. It’s my sister.”
Magda softened her expression. “Yes. The Mother of Demons has her.”
Oliver flew at Aspen. I jerked to a stand and held out my hands to stop his approach. Aspen may be vile and cruel, but I couldn’t help but feel the urge to protect him.
“He doesn’t know of her, Nephilim. He never has,” Magda said after a tense moment.
My stuttering heart slowed. We both settled back into our seats, eyeing each other.
“How?” Oliver whipped back to the witch. “How could he not?”
Magda slid her hand from her necklace up to her mouth, rubbing her dainty lips and exposing her white pendant, which turned pink. “Is that your next question?” she asked.
Oliver shot Aspen a scathing glare, fingering the tiny knife sheathed at his side. “Yes,” he said, green eyes flashing once before returning his focus to Magda.
Magda rubbed her pink, slowly turning purple, pendant. “What lengths would you go to rescue your sister?”
“All of them,” he answered immediately.
“Would you kill for her?
Oliver looked at Magda like she suddenly turned into an old hag.
She smiled. “You’ve never killed anyone in your life, have you? So would you kill for her?”
“It depends on who I’d need to kill. Marcus, yes. The princeling, maybe. Lucy, no.”
Magda pouted. “I suppose that’s a fine enough answer. Yes. The prince doesn’t know about her because she’s kept in a secure location only the queen knows about.”
“Where?” he demanded.
“That’s a question.”
“I’ll pay the?—”
She waved her hand. “Don’t bother. My amulet won’t show me. Next question.”
