Page 171 of Promise of Darkness
“Yes.I’ve spent years whispering in the shadows and bending the Unseelie queens to my will. All to bring you here to me in this moment.” The Mother leans forward on her throne. “You are the key to my redemption. You were born to set us free.”
“No.” I back away.
“You cannot escape your destiny.”
Watch me.
“You’re lying.” I hear Thiago’s words all over again:We need to find this child of the Old Ones. And we need to end it.“I barely haveanymagic. My father was Connall of Saltmist.”
“Connall of Saltmist never existed,” she says with a sneer. “Your sire was one of ours, freed from his prison for one night only. You know the rules: Never lie with a man on the night the Hallows open. Never walk in the dark on Samhain. Never leave a light burning in the windows. Your mother spat in the face of tradition and thought to host a masked ball on Samhain. She practically sent us an invitation. And one of us took it, to plant a babe in her belly.”
She settles on her throne with a satisfied smile. “And now here you are, kneeling before me as supplicant.”
Never.“I came to offer you a bargain. Nothing more.”
“You came to set us free. Nothing less.”
This was a mistake.
Thiago warned me: Never bargain with the Old Ones. Never trust them. Never court their attention.
And I was so foolish. I saw this as the answer to all my fears.
The Mother of Night can set us free, but what will she demand as repayment?
And how do I escape, now I’m here?
“Ah,” she says. “You finally see the truth. You cannot escape me. Not without giving me what I want. Deny me and you will stay here with me. Forever.”
They’re trapped here.
Their powers are bound.
She can’t force me to free them; all she can do is try and coerce me.
“Fine. If I can’t escape, then here I stay,” I tell her. Perhaps it’s for the best, anyway? I can’t make a choice, if I’m not there to make it. My mother can’t steal my memories again. And Thiago….
Thiago lives.
Her eyes narrow. “I can make you regret that decision.”
My nails curl into my fingers. Breathe. Just breathe. “I’m sure you can. But I came to offer you a bargain. Aren’t you interested in playing?”
That’s how it always begins with the Old Ones. And now I know what she wants. Freedom. Well, she’s not getting it. Thiago taught me the truth of that. But if she thinks I was born to deliver her back into the world, then that’s a starting point.
Silence echoes, like the moment after a bell is struck.
“A bargain.” The faintest of smiles crosses her face. “Go on,leanabh an dàn .”
“You first,” I tell her.
“Very well.” She taps her fingers on her throne with a smile like a purring cat. “Perhaps I can tell you the truth of your begetting?” A faint pause. “But no, that’s not what you want. Not yet, anyway.
“Or perhaps I can offer you power. You crave it,” she whispers. “Magic. You yearn for magic. I can give you your magic….” I gasp as it floods through me, burning like a supernova. The Mother clicks her fingers, and the sensation vanishes, leaving me empty and void. “Or I can take it away.”
I’m hollow and empty and on my knees.
But for one precious second, I was more. I waseverythingI’ve ever wanted to be.
