Page 182 of Promise of Darkness
I feel as though I’m slowly being unraveled, thread by thread, until there shall be nothing remaining.
“What’s happening to her?” someone whispers.
Light shines from the glyphs. And then there’s a rumbling from beneath the ground, as if something ancient stirs.
“No mercy,” my mother intones, pushing to her feet. Her eyes blaze with fury. “No weakness. Executioner! Kill him!”
“The bargain is made,” echoes a hollow voice in my ears. “The bargain is met. Strike the veils from thine eyes. Remember,leanabh an dàn. Remember it all.”
Hammer strikes of memory slam through me, one after the other. The prince rolling toward me on a bed of heather, desire darkening his eyes as he claims my mouth for a kiss. A stolen kiss behind the stones of the Hallow. Swords clashing as we duel. Arguing in a ballroom I don’t recognize.
“Thiago,” I whisper.
It’s all coming back to me.
One by one, until I can barely see, let alone think. But through it all, I see the axe rise over the executioner’s head.
“Wait!”
It’s too late. The axe begins to fall.
Desperation strikes me. Energy rumbles through the ground beneath my feet—an ancient ley line thrumming with quiet power—and I open myself up to it.
And through it, I hear the Mother of Night laugh.
I remember it all.
The last three months. My desperate search for an answer. The bargain.
And more….
Leanabh an dàn, she called me.
All along, I’ve been terrified they’ll discover what I am.
But maybe I’m not the one who should fear.
Because the Old Ones could access the power of the ley lines, and I have their blood in my veins.
Magic bursts from me in a gush, white light obliterating the Queensmoot and throwing everyone backwards. It brings me nearly to my knees. The power is like a broken dam, gushing through me as if it’s been waiting eons to be released. Torrents and torrents, burning so brightly I can’t believe it doesn’t incinerate me.
“Vengeance, dark and bloody…. It’s finally mine to take.”The Mother of Night whispers in my mind. “Crush their bones. Destroy these filthy ingrates that sought to trap me.Me. I will have them on their knees….”
“No!” I scream.
I can feel her in my head, messing with my thoughts, my power. She finds the burning ember of rage I feel toward my mother, and glee lights through her as she fans the flames.
I can see my mother, hands flared out as she tries to shield herself and her retainers from the flood of raw power. Our eyes meet, and for a single second I see fear reflected there.
“Yes,” hisses the Mother of Night. “Kill her for what she’s taken from me. From us.”
All these years she’s lied to me, mocked me, made me feel as worthless as a worm, when she was the one who wasn’t worthy ofme. She took everything from me. My husband. My mind. My magic.
And now I’m going to take it all back from her.
“Vi!” Thiago screams.
I blink and see him crawling toward me through the gush of light and energy pouring through the Hallow. His cloak looks raw and tattered, as if the magic is tearing at him. The magic chains binding and gagging him are gone.
