Page 73 of The Court of Secrets
“You knew André!” I cried. “You know he wouldn’t lie about something like this. It’s true and I’m going to prove it. Please, no matter how much this upsets you and whether you choose to believe it, keep this to yourself. I’m trusting you.”
He didn’t say anything.
“At least I know for certain Vahaga was behind the attack,” I said, changing the topic. “Now he will pay.” I felt the dagger press against my thigh as we walked, hidden under the skirt of my dress. The necromancer pushed against the barrier of the potion, relishing in my sinister instincts. Did I enjoy it?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Morgana’s skin looked as if it had lost contact with the bone beneath. Her orb-like eyes were sunken back into her eye sockets. Her gaze drifted to mine, but the stare did not belong to her. I’d decided to come down to see if there was a flicker of her left. I needed her. Adius had left me alone, only after I’d ordered him too.
“Morgana, I know you’re in there.” A cold draft passed through the cell, through the bars she sat behind, and out through the other side, to me. I straightened myself on the rickety wood stool, my vision obstructed by the wrought-iron bars keeping her in and the rest of us safe.
“Your friend is no longer here.” He spoke in her voice but hissed the end of each word. “Soon I’ll have you too.”
“She’s not gone. Her soul is in her, and I bet she’s putting up a hell of a fight.”
“I could bring her back.”
“I will never let you out of this cell, and the fact you’re still in here tells me Morgana already bested you.”
His sinister smile faltered. I accepted it was no longer her I was talking to, in any part.
I gritted my teeth, motivated by the intelligence and strength Morgana had shown. “She took something to prevent herself from ever doing magic again.”
“She is a fool.” The smell of sweat and urine wafted by us.
“She’s smarter than you,” I snapped, leaning forward. He’d said “she is,” not “she was.”Confirmation.I smiled, knowing my mentor, my friend, was still savable. She had known he was going to take control. It was why she’d asked me to lock her away, to ensure he couldn’t hurt anyone. She must have done a spell or took a potion to stop herself from performing magic again. He housed her body now, and she’d ensured it was useless to him.
He snarled. “Do you know how many have gone against me in the centuries I have walked this world? Iamunbeatable. Iamimmortal. No dagger or sword can kill me.”
“How exhausting it must be to live such a long and pointless life.”
“There is not one thing you can try that another has not. Many have tried to kill me, and none have succeeded.”
“I can trap you.”
He laughed, a sinister, hollow echo of one. “I’m trapped now, and yet here I am.” He gestured at Morgana’s body. “Still able to force myself into this world and time.”
I didn’t reply, mostly because the realization shuddered me into silence. He was in another place, like the spirit realm, and if he was trapped and still able to reach through and inflict this sort of damage, then I hated to think what he could do if he were here in the flesh.
“You can bring her back.” His calculating stare focused on me. “She is dying, and in days, she will be nothing but bones and flesh.”
Prickles of cold stood the hairs on my arms on end. I licked my dry lips, casting my gaze to the floor. I couldn’t let her die. He knew I would do anything to help her; he was a part of me after all. “How are you inside me and her?” My eyebrows knitted together. “It’s as if your soul is fractured.”
“You will be surprised to see what I can do. You’ll find out soon enough.”
“I won’t because I will have more potion soon.”
He rolled his eyes. “Morgana, however, does not. It’s too late to give it to her. If you had been less preoccupied with your role as queen and instead helped your friend, knowing what was happening, you could have found a way to make more, enough for you both. Your lack of care in your relationships has only benefited me.”
I swallowed thickly. “I didn’t know she wasn’t taking any.”
He snarled. “You did know it was running out.”
Perhaps he was right. It hurt to think I was partially responsible for what was happening to Morgana. Blaise had sent his men into the forest to find anumi bones. He told me this morning he’d find a way to make more of the potion to keep the necromancer at bay. It made my stomach twist to think of how many of his men would be torn apart to do it. The anumi were highly territorial beasts, with a hunger for blood. There was no way any person could venture into those trees and take the creature’s bones without becoming dinner themselves. Fortunately, for me, the fae were immortal enough that they could survive an attack. It didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt.
“Morgana,” I said, hoping my being there would flicker her soul to come to the surface.
He laughed. “Your arrogance is astounding. Do you honestly believe you are so special that your mere presence is enough to bring her back?” He spat; saliva trickled down Morgana’s bottom lip. “You’re a child, and I have nothing to fear of you. If you want to save her, then you will give me what I ask for, or watch your friend die.”
