CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
A sad whimper escaped my lips as I watched my real body hit the floor. I’d tried to resign myself to being stuck like this forever, but deep down, I still wanted my own body back. I might have hated it and hurt it at times, but it had been mine.
The Blood Duchess, in my body, stared up at the ceiling, her eyes glassy. A pool of blood spread around the sword impaled through her heart. My heart. Oh, Sun God, my body was bleeding out!
The terrifying tyrant had gone down so easily. I could barely think through my panic.
The other Twelve (well, formerly twelve) Avengers materialized out of the shadows, holding weapons. Nine total, including Ma’qas.
“She’s still breathing! Finish her,” Durnip cried.
He advanced with a dagger. The entire courtroom wisely took this moment to evacuate.
The Conclave’s Gifted Knights vanished as easily as everyone else, apparently possessing no loyalty.
A picture tumbled off the wall as someone knocked into it.
In the stampede, I could barely see or hear what was going on.
“Kaine, Alzira, cover me!” Ysabel vaulted over the pew railing. “I’ve got to heal my sister’s body.”
Why? It didn’t matter if my body died, when I’d resolved to stay in this one.
Yet I could not bring myself to say those words aloud, to give up hope.
And judging from the look on my sister’s face, she also wasn’t ready to watch my body die in front of her.
She was moving as fast as she could with an awkward pregnant waddle.
Alzira made a jerking motion with her hand, and Durnip’s dagger flew out of his grip. Then she chased after my sister.
Kaine cast a glowing net, dragging down the Living Shadow and two other Avengers.
Two stayed down, but the shadow oozed free and nicked Kaine’s leg.
The thing had sprouted a million tiny tentacles from the pitch-black blob in the middle.
Kaine didn’t even bother to dodge the attacks because he healed instantly.
He knocked the shadow away with a kick and a blast of fire.
His net grew and expanded, stretching toward the others and yanking them down.
Only the shadow could not be contained, slipping through the holes.
From the cold look in Kaine’s eyes, I knew he would use lethal force next time.
How could I help? If I leapt down there, I’d only get in the way of those two.
Everything was happening so fast, I couldn’t think straight.
Ugh. Useless again. Letting my sister handle everything alone again.
I felt sick. Was guilt the only thing making my stomach so nauseous?
Or was it something more? I had a bad feeling, but nothing actionable.
If I shouted the wrong thing, maybe I’d just make everything worse.
My sister stepped on the pool of blood. Ari started forward.
“Wait,” I said, grabbing his wrist.
Ari frowned. “I might be able to talk to the other Avengers. Maybe I can deescalate this.”
“Something is wrong,” I said at the same time.
Strange as it sounded, after pretending to be the Blood Duchess for so long, I knew the Blood Duchess.
She was paranoid, surrounding herself with magical defenses at all times.
She kept people on their toes with her mercurial murderousness and by spying on those around her.
Everyone was terrified of the Blood Duchess.
She was cunning and careful, yet also willing to take risks to achieve her goals.
“I would swear she provoked that attack.” I didn’t fully piece together my thoughts until the words left my mouth.
“The timing didn’t seem coincidental. But why? What does she have to gain?”
I kept asking myself that same question, even as Ysabel reached the body stolen from me.
What did the Blood Duchess want? She wanted power, obviously.
She wanted to take over Arahasnor. She craved blood as if the murderousness was a compulsion granted by a gift.
But she didn’t have a gift … did she? She was just an ordinary person obsessed with drinking the blood of people with beauty and powerful magic.
Funny how improbable that sounded when I strung the thoughts together.
If she wasn’t completely insane (a generous assumption), then drinking blood sure did sound like the type of inconvenience that popped up as the price of strong magic.
And she was right next to Kaine and Alzira, the two strongest magically gifted people on the continent.
Three, if you counted my sister, who had a very exceptional ability even if it wasn’t combat-oriented.
My gaze snapped back to the scene of the battle. The pews were empty and abandoned now. Kaine and Alzira had driven the Avengers toward the door, standing protectively between them and my sister. Leaving her alone with the Blood Duchess. Ysabel crouched down, about to heal the duchess.
I had no idea what was about to happen, only instinct. I screamed, “Yzzy, stop! It’s a trap!”
Ysabel froze. But I’d spoken a fraction of a second too late. The Blood Duchess sat up and slashed a dagger at my sister’s wrist.
Alzira leapt forward and yanked Ysabel backward.
Duchess Hedri shook a drop of blood off the dagger into her mouth. “You fool. I’ve won.” Her injury completely faded away. The sword through her chest vanished, too, as if it had never existed.
Wasn’t it a bit soon for her to be declaring victory? Hadn’t I stopped whatever had been her trap?
Alzira made a strange croaking sound, then sank to her knees.
I’d never be able to forget that wounded, confused expression as she gazed up at the only person she was completely unable to hurt.
Her own blade had been shoved into her gut, and my sister held the sword.
For a moment, I thought it must be another illusion.
Ysabel would never have stabbed her own beloved friend.
Then I saw the glazed look in my sister’s eyes.
Control. The duchess’s gift was control.
That was how she’d killed Araceli’s family so long ago, how she’d risen to such a powerful position from her start as minor nobility, how she’d convinced the Conclave of her real identity and to back her move for power, and the real reason why she drank blood.
No wonder she’d hid it. The gift would have been useful in the World Games, but it was far, far more useful as a secret, allowing her to puppeteer powerful people behind the scenes and get away with any crimes she pleased.
Now I understood her plan. But I was too late.
“Ari,” I screamed. “The Blood Duchess is controlling my sister. You have to stop her!”
“I hate when someone gives away the surprise ending.” Duchess Hedri pouted. “Holy Maiden Ysabel, kill yourself if anyone attacks me.”
Blank-eyed, Ysabel put the sword to her own throat.
Every muscle in my body stopped at once.
This couldn’t be happening. Not my sister.
Not Ysabel, who was always so perfect and implacable and took care of both of us.
The world took on an unreal and blurry quality.
Why hadn’t I stopped Ysabel from trying to heal my body?
I’d already given up on becoming Bora again.
If I’d just stopped her sooner, this never would have happened.
It was all my fault.
I didn’t dare take one step forward with my sister’s life at stake.
My fingers gripped Ari’s sleeve to stop him, but he’d frozen, too.
Kaine, about to lunge, stopped in midair so fast he must have used magic on himself.
Agony filled his face. There was no one else left to do anything.
The Avengers had already been taken down by Kaine and the room had been evacuated except for Donya, standing by the door as she helped the last elder through.
Alzira was bleeding out on the floor, and I couldn’t even lift a finger to help her. I was useless yet again.
“My dear shadow, toss me your real weapon,” Duchess Hedri called. As she spoke, she twisted the smoky quartz ring on her finger. It flashed black. The ring must be a relic, and all along the shadow must have been a tool controlled by her.
The Living Shadow threw a sword to her. Red dots gleamed on it. I hoped that wasn’t Kaine’s blood.
My hopes were dashed when Duchess Hedri licked the blade.
Kaine’s eyes took on the same glassy sheen as Ysabel’s as he fell under the duchess’s control.
“Ah-ha! The man with thousands of gifts is mine! The power rush feels amazing.” Her eyes gleamed in the shadowy room.
She threw back her head and laughed. “Kaine, you could have conquered the world, if you hadn’t fallen for a woman too weak to use you properly.
Now you’ll turn me into the final Dark Lord, the one who wins and claims everything. ”
Most of the Avengers were already unconscious under Kaine and Alzira’s assault. Those trapped in the net looked stunned by the betrayal of the Living Shadow.
Duchess Hedri smirked and petted the shadow at her side.
“You lot of revenge-seeking fools never realized why you were so ineffectual. Maybe you shouldn’t have trusted my own servant to aid in your plans to kill me.
The shadow was never a person. It was always me talking to you through it, enjoying your pathetic attempts at revenge. ”
Over the Duchess’s triumphant laughter, I barely made out a scraping on the floor. My eyes snapped over to the sound. Donya had slipped through the room, ducking low to hide under the pews, and grabbed Alzira’s body. As quietly as she could, she dragged Alzira toward the door.