Page 172 of Crown of Darkness
“Not to travel,” I tell him. “I need to talk to the Mother of Night.”
“Vi—”
“No.” I turn and press my palm against his cheek, thumb stroking the stubble along his jaw. “I love you, Thiago. I do. But there is no more time for second guessing. I need to seeher.”
And this time, I do not go to bargain.
* * *
I closemy eyes as I lie in the snow in the center of the Hallow.
“Are you there?”
My stomach plummets. The ground drops away.
And when I open them, I’m standing within the Mother of Night’s prison world. Soft lights pick through the darkness, but the Mother waits for me, her hood in place and her dark eyes implacable as she rests her hands on the arms of her throne.
Rage beats within my chest like a flurry of bird’s wings; some part of me feels empty and scraped raw. Perhaps my chestisnothing more than a cage, my ribs the bloody bars? Perhaps there is a bird in there, waiting to be released, though if it is, then it’s a falcon, and its claws knot in my guts even as I think it.
“They took my daughter,” I tell her.
She merely tilts her head. “Yes.”
She knew. She knew all along when I first came to her, rash with promises.
We stare at each other.
“You have the crown in your possession,” she says. “But you did not bring it with you.”
“No, I didn’t.” I pace the circle of stone below her dais. “Did you know that my mother spent years stealing my memories from me so I would dance to her tune? I thought I found freedom with Thiago, but there you were, whispering in the shadows…, manipulating me just as she did.
“I’m tired of being manipulated. I’m tired of being a pawn. I’m tired of having everything I’ve ever loved, everything I’ve ever hoped for taken away from me.”
“You have more to lose.”
“Is that a threat?” My voice roughens.
“It is merely an observation.” She slowly shakes her head. “You are so young. So rash…. You made a bargain with me, Iskvien, and you have not paid the terms of it.”
“It’s not yet the end of the year. I owe you nothing.”
There’s an ancient sense of sadness in her eyes that I didn’t expect. “If you go to the Black Keep, a part of you won’t return.”
And there it is….
Confirmation of everything I know in my heart.
I try to breathe through it, try to ignore it. I’m not ready to die. I want to see Amaya smile. I want to tell her how much I love her. But if there is one thing my mother has taught me, it’s how to lock away your heart and focus on what’s right in front of you. I swallow. Hard. “Worried about your crown? If we’re all dead, then our bargain is broken. You get nothing.”
“You are no match for the Horned One.”
“But that’s where you’re wrong. I don’t have to be.” Striding up the dais, I rest both hands on the edges of her throne and lean forward, until I can almost taste her breath. “Because all I need is an Old One to counter his magic, and all my books say you were the only one with the power to stand against him. You want the crown? Then you will protect me from Angharad’s magic and the Horned One’s power.IfI return from the Black Keep with my daughter, I will give you the fucking thing the second I arrive in Ceres. I will ram it so far down your throat that you can taste it.”
Her black eyes remain unmoved. “You are growing in power. But you should be careful how you speak to me, Daughter of Darkness. Because we are not done yet.”
“No? Well here is what I know…. You need me or you need my daughter in order to free yourself and your kind. Right now, Amaya is in danger. They’re going to use her as a sacrifice to bring that bastard back. And I am going to rescue her. If you want to protect your asset, then you will do as I say.”
I turn and walk away.
