Chapter 46
I didn’t drop the dagger—couldn’t. It was as if the blade at my neck had paralyzed my body.
Magnus was helping Livia.
“Do as the lady says, or I will drive this sword into your pretty neck.” For emphasis, he drew the sword closer so that the blade kissed my throat. “And then I’ll take your head.”
I swallowed, acutely aware of the sharp steel primed to deliver my death. Beads of sweat collected on my forehead, despite the ice in my blood. My vision seemed to blur—I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath.
“You had better listen to him,” Livia said, rising from the ground and dusting herself off, seemingly unbothered by the fact that her entire body was visible through the wet fabric of her dress. “He won’t hesitate. Magnus is a bloodthirsty brute.”
My eyes darted around the scene, assessing. It was futile—if I so much as summoned my powers, Magnus would end me. I had no other options. I released the dagger from my grip and heard its thud as it landed on the ground.
“Good. Now bind her,” ordered Livia.
“How could you?” Hatred was acrid on my lips as they formed the words. Sword still at my throat, Magnus marched me to a nearby pine tree.
“It’s nothing personal. Sometimes love makes you do crazy things, you know,” he said as he forcefully pushed my back against the trunk. He secured my arms behind my body, encircling them around the rough bark. Then he fastened my wrists with wooden manacles, restraining me against the tree.
“I always knew you were as dumb as…” I swallowed the rest of the sentence. The moment the manacles were fastened, I began to feel... off. Magnus smirked at me. I reached for my powers and found nothing. Something was very wrong.
“Feeling alright?” Livia asked in feigned concern.
“What in confinement did you do to me?” I gritted through my clenched jaw.
“Those manacles are crafted from silver yew. From the look on your face, I’m assuming you’ve heard of it.”
All warmth and color left my cheeks. This was bad. Very bad.
Livia had retrieved the dagger and was back at Amalie’s side. I watched helplessly as she once again raised the blade to her palm.
“Get your claws off of her,” I bellowed, thrashing against the restraints. It was like trying to build a sandcastle on the beach during high tide. Utterly useless. My entire body felt weakened, as though it was fighting off some terrible illness.
Ignoring me, Livia carved a shape into Amalie’s flesh. The symbol—she was marking her with that symbol.
“Whatever you’re doing, please stop!” Panic entwined every word. “Use me instead.”
My pleas were about as useful as my attempts to escape. Livia continued as though she hadn’t heard me. When she was done, Magnus handed her an empty vial.
“Don’t look so shocked,” she said with a low laugh, collecting Amalie’s blood into the vial. “I only need a drop. At least, let’s hope so, for her sake.” I didn’t miss the threat behind her words.
“Then you’ve got what you needed. Give her the antidote and let her go.” My voice was becoming hoarse. The effort of shouting in my weakened state was taking its toll.
She pointed the dagger at me. “I still need her, so you don’t try anything foolish.”
“What did she offer you? Or am I supposed to believe that you would slaughter innocents in the name of love?” I sneered at Magnus.
“Then you underestimate how good she is at sucking my cock,” he said with an arrogant curl of his mouth.
I didn’t bother to hide my revolted shudder. “I may actually retch.”
“Don’t act so high and mighty, we all know how much you Velcarin love to fuck,” he said with a suggestive wink.
“None of them were innocent,” said Livia, before I could retort. She began to remove dust speckled glass jars and vials filled with herbs and liquids from the basket. Now I knew what had happened to Basia’s collection.
The coarse bark of the tree gnawed at my back, and my arms began to take strain from the awkward position I’d been forced into. Ignoring the discomfort, I asked, “What about Runa?”
“Runa was working for me,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Feeding me information about you. I even had her deliver that first little note.”
I recoiled as if I had been slapped. Surely not? Runa wouldn’t, would she?
I shook my head. “I don’t believe you.”
“Offer someone gold, and you’d be surprised what they’re willing to do.
Her problem was, she was too clever. After what happened with Hugo, she pieced everything together.
She realized I was responsible for my dear husband’s untimely demise, so I had to get rid of her. Or, more accurately, Magnus did.”
My throat bobbed. Runa’s betrayal felt heavy, but the smiling, chatty maid didn’t deserve her fate. Then it dawned on me—Livia had been away when Runa was murdered. “You got Magnus to do your dirty work for you while you were away at your cushy country manor?”
“I’m always happy to make a woman scream.” Magnus chimed in from where he sat, sharpening one of his swords on a whetstone.
Ignoring the roar in my blood at Magnus’s words, I went on. “And Hugo? Was that you, too?”
“He was going to get rid of you. I couldn’t have that. I needed you,” said Livia as she emptied the contents of her jars into the cauldron.
“How did you know? Unless…” It all started to click together. “Runa saw him going into my bedchamber, didn’t she? And Magnus stole Helvig’s keys the night of the ball. That’s how he got into the dungeon.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You are quick. Yes, Magnus was already waiting for him—”
“I struck that pompous ass from behind,” he bragged.
Livia’s eyes flashed. “But, before I arrived to kill him myself, you showed up.”
Everything that had happened since I’d been at the castle ran through my mind. How much of it had been Livia’s machinations? I shook my head, trying desperately to make sense of it all. “Was there ever an antidote?”
“Of course…” She responded absentmindedly. Still pouring ingredients into the cauldron, she hummed while she worked.
She removed another item from her basket and placed it inside the cauldron—smooth, sleek, and black. It emitted an odor so putrid that I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it earlier. The hide of a seal. Livia had slaughtered the seal Tarben and I found at the cove that day.
A fresh wave of fury crested through my body.
“Magnus has it for safekeeping,” she continued. “Magnus?”
He retrieved a small vial filled with a liquid that resembled milky water from the inside pocket of his jacket. He handed it to Livia, who placed it in the basket, shooting me a smirk. “A few drops of this will revive her,” she said.
I struggled against the manacles. I needed that antidote. Again, my efforts were in vain, leaving me short of breath from the minimal exertion. Think, think, think. I needed to keep them talking so I could come up with a plan.
“What happened to your hand?” I asked Magnus in a falsely sympathetic voice. “Did you really stick it in a fire?”
He glowered at me. “That bitch put some kind of protection spell on the door handle. It’s still not right,” he said, holding up his bandaged hand.
I clicked my tongue. “It’s a shame you can’t heal from stupidity.”
“It’s alright. I rewarded her by taking her head.” He dragged a finger across his throat. “And her pretty dagger.”
I fought back a shudder. “Why didn’t you retrieve that yourselves?” I pointed my chin toward the grimoire that lay on the ground, untouched.
“And face the beasts that were bound to protect it? No thank you, I was more than happy to leave them to you.” Another item was retrieved from the basket, this time a jar of decomposing fingers—Lord Hywell’s.
I continued to speak, though my voice was strangled by the effort of holding back the urge to vomit. “The maglocuni came after us because of the grimoire?”
“Yes. That Basia was tricky. She didn’t want the grimoire in the wrong hands.” This time, when she tipped the fingers into the cauldron, it released a sinister hiss, followed by a sputter, as though trying to spit them out.
Keeping one eye on the wheezing cauldron, I asked, “Is that why you killed her? For the grimoire?”
She didn’t respond immediately. She was occupied with adding a drop of Amalie’s blood into her concoction. The resulting smell omitted from the cauldron was repulsive—like burnt hair and stomach bile.
“Something like that. Let’s see,” she said, frowning at the bubbling cauldron. “I have almost everything I need… Now, come here,” she commanded Magnus in her most sultry voice.
Sheathing his sword, he stood and swaggered over to Livia with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.
“I need a drop of blood from you.” She waved the dagger in the air. “But first…” He watched her hungrily as she carved the symbol into his uninjured palm. Once she was finished, she slid her hand behind his head and drew him into a passionate kiss. Pulling a face, I made to look away.
But I wasn’t quick enough.
One moment, Magnus was fervently kissing Livia, the next he was collapsing to the ground, very much dead.
Livia had slit his throat.