Page 34 of The Court of Secrets
“No!” I shouted. My desperate tone bounced around us in echo.
“Yes.” He hissed, chuckling as he did. “Morgana brought you back from the dead. Her first mistake. You were not worth it, but it doesn’t matter. It worked out well. I have a queen, a woman who can go anywhere, do anything without much repercussion, in my control.”
“I am not in your control.”
“Yet,” he replied. “The concoction Morgana has spelled up for you will not last. The ingredients are rare. They will run out, and when they do, I will be here. Waiting. Just like tonight when you forgot to take it. Only traces linger in your blood, enough for me to break through, at least here in your subconscious.” He paused, looking at the window. His wide, terrifying gaze focused on the full moon. “You will forget again because you are not attentive. I have been alive for centuries. You are still a teenager.”
“Barely,” I said, as if it made any difference that I was soon to be nineteen. “It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been feeding off souls and bringing out the darkest parts of people. I’ll find a way to cast you out. Do you know why?”
He smirked. “Because you’re good and I’m evil? I’ve heard it before.”
I took a step forward. “No. I’m willing to break the rules to get what I want, and what I want is you gone. From me and from Morgana.”
“With your ancestral magic?” he spat. “Weak.”
My gaze drifted to his talons. “I’ve heard stories about you.”
“Don’t put much worth to stories, young queen.”
The corner of my mouth twitched. From somewhere in the distance outside, I heard a raven squawk. “I believe there’s a lot more to stories than anyone wants to let on.”
He ran a talon along my dresser. He examined my perfume atomizers and lotions. “I was fooled once, and I shall not be again. I know your weaknesses. One of them is your mentor, your only true friend. The other, the fae boy prince.”
“Cedric.”
“I can hurt Morgana. I can have her hurt others you love.”
“You can go to hell.”
He snarled. “I’m already there, girl.”
I heard a woman’s voice catch in the breeze, whispers that dissolved as quickly as they had come. “What was that?”
He shook his head. “Nothing of importance.”
“I doubt it. We’re inside my head, right? Except, I wouldn’t dream up my father’s body. I feel no remorse.”
He grinned once more, sending shivers down my spine. He sat in a chair, and his eyes rolled back. “Those words are music to my ears. I want you to feel no remorse, to kill without fear or worry.”
“My father was a bad person. I did what I had to. I wouldn’t kill anyone else.”
“Unless you had to. Like last time. Like you said, you’ll hurt people to get what you want.”
“I don’t want to kill people. It brings me no satisfaction.”
“How precious.” His words slithered into the next. “You want to be good.”
I swallowed thickly. “I do what’s best for the people I care about.”
“Oh, silly girl, did you not know? I have seen your mind, Winter Mortis, and it is mine. There is evil in your soul. It’s what makes you weak. Morgana is different, but you…” He tasted the air, acting as if he had eaten the most delicious meal. “You are delectable. You will be the perfect murderer. That space where remorse should be, it’s empty.”
“You’re playing with my head. I won’t fall for it. I feel guilt.”
His lip twitched upward. “You and I are alike, wicked at the core.”
“I’m nothing like you.”
“Just let go,” he said. “It will be easier for us both. You will enjoy it if you embrace me. Together, we can have power.”
