Chapter 23 #2
I look over Bogda and Wisla, then at the others. “Chant that impostor into existence, because I yearn to jab my claws into her throat,” I call out, throwing my hands into the air and expanding my claws.
“Seleste!” Aidon yells into my head, but I don’t spare the mutt any attention. Instead, I open my hand and command my power to forge an anti–mind-reading barrier in the sand.
I can see it on his face when it hits him, and I sneer. The nastiest one I have in my arsenal of expressions. He only shakes his beautiful head in response, while the other two males remain silent.
Fuck you!
“Are you even capable of doing it twice? Is that the reason for the delay?” I face Margorate and mock her loudly.
She snatches my hand and slices it harder than necessary, her anger driving the blade deeper.
“You are making a fatal mistake. I can see clearly what’s wrong with you, Seleste Berigander.”
“The only thing wrong here is your inability to deliver the impostor. Hurry up.” I wave my hand, dismissing this bullshit.
“As you wish.” Her lips form a thin line.
She chants, the hungry crowd joining. A heartbeat passes, and the impostor appears in the circle again.
“Another round? You must be a thirsty bitch,” the doppelganger chuckles.
“You have no idea.” I smile, creating a shield. The gravel before her twirls into a pit lined with jagged pikes.
She plunges in with a scream, but in a heartbeat, the trap changes into a fluffy pillow.
“Better, but not quite.” She summons a portal, stepping through to appear behind me, and drives a sword into my back.
“Fuck!”
I reach out and summon a giant chandelier above her. The moment it appears, it crashes down, the sharp crystals slicing her in multiple places. I dash and dip my fingers into her throat.
She starts bleeding instantly and I am unable to turn my head away.
“Dirty mongrel,” she smirks, then disappears.
I wait a brief heartbeat to make sure she stays dead, figuratively speaking, then push myself to my knees.
Doppelganger blood drips from my fingers, and I bring them closer to my nostrils, inhaling the metallic tang mixed with a hint of raspberries.
Their magic is freaking good at recreating my scent as well.
I pivot into the direction of Baba Yaga and roar with victory!
The crowd erupts with wild hurrahs. “SHARP CLAWS! SHARP CLAWS SHARP CLAWS!”
Looks like I have another nickname. I could definitely get used to that one.
Margorate shakes her head, then bellows to her people. “Tomorrow, I’ll see you all at dawn. No exceptions.” Disappointed grunts ripple through the crowd as they begin to disperse, leaving the arena. She walks towards me, her hips swaying deliberately from side to side.
I take a deep breath of relief, but it’s short-lived, because hunger hits me like a hurricane.
I need more. I need everything.
“You are going with me,” she says and raises a hand, cuts herself and releases those grumbling males of mine to the salt circle.
“I don’t think so,” I say, ignoring her as I change course towards my tea, towards Karo.
Riven is the first to reach me, snatching my arm. My blood boils. I conjure a net, but nothing happens; the damn hunger clouds the well in my mind.
I need to be satiated.
Jestin grabs my other hand, and I snap my arm again, trying to summon the power. But nothing happens. I stare at my hand, only now noticing the tremor in my fingers.
“Leave me the fuck alone,” I bark, squeezing my fists to minimise the shaking. The pit in my stomach makes me writhe in pain.
“My Lady!” I hear her voice and turn quickly towards Karo’s call.
“Why is she so fucking slow?” I mutter, pacing to meet her, but, of course, Aidon, that bloody mutt, interrupts.
I step right, trying to walk past him, but he mirrors me. Desperately, I move left and face the same result.
I raise my hand to strike him across his ugly face, but he slips aside as if he expected it.
My patience snaps. “Move!” I bark and reach for the storm I always struggle to control.
Instead I meet nothing but resistance. The surge never comes.
The well that usually leaks power is reduced to a faint, useless echo, and for a second I feel like a mortal woman.
I sense Karo, before she even speaks, “My Lady, you need to lie down.”
“Why? Why does she need to lie down?” Jestin asks from my left, panic lacing his tone.
“Something is clearly wrong,” Riven states.
“I think I know what,” Margorate steps closer.
I immediately pivot to face her, getting close and personal to the bloody bitch and only when I can feel her breath on mine do I deliver my warning.
“Listen to me carefully.” I fix on her, unflinching.
“Your alliance is with me, and me only. You will not betray me. They are my subjects, and you will not address them without my permission.” I point at the males.
The shake in my fingers undermines my message, so I quickly hide my hands behind me.
“You are a nasty bitch, you know that?” Margorate drawls, dropping the insult like it could hurt me.
It cannot. I lived through my personal limbo and reemerged victorious. I know I’m a fucking bitch, a damn wolverine bringing havoc all around me.
“She normally isn’t like that…” Jestin explains, as if he was talking about a child or a pet.
I turn to him, drilling into his green gaze. “Am I not? Say it to your fucking father.”
A hint of remorse tingles in my chest, but so little that I can easily discard it. Jestin doesn’t say anything, and I look at each of them.
“Do you want him to hate you or not? Because I’m getting confused,” Aidon defends him. Him, not me. Finally. He is showing his true colours.
“As I am.” Jestin’s voice is like steel.
“Why are you upset? I’ve won, that’s what’s important, isn’t it?”
“But have you?” Jestin asks, his voice is flat and he avoids my gaze.
“How dare you undermine my victory?” I hiss and wince when the hunger reappears with increased force.
“I dare,” Aidon says, his eyes narrowing into sharp slits.
“There’s something wrong with you; let us help,” Riven says, stepping closer with open arms, like he’s approaching a timid animal.
Insulting.
“Step away. I don’t want you in my space,” I target his slave ego, and it works; he halts…
A terrible tremor shakes my body, but I force myself to contain it.
“Iron Lady, I have a request. I will barter for it as the heir of the shapeshifter clan,” Aidon says to Margorate.
“How dare you oppose me?” My breath quickens, but I no longer care about containing the hunger.
“Karo!” I roar, nearly stumbling, and she ducks behind Aidon, trying to reach me.
She’s on the verge of touching me, but Jestin’s sand chains hold her back.
“No!” I yell, glaring at the traitor I once considered mating with. I will destroy him, his friends and all the family he has left.
“You will regret that,” I growl.
Jestin’s green depths are like shattered mirrors.
Good.
“Name it, Draconis,” Margorate says flatly.
“I need you to remove the masking charm from Karo,” Aidon replies.
She looks between her and me, then nods slowly. “I can do that,” she agrees, drawing blood once more.
“No, you won’t. She is mine.” I try to stop her, but Riven steps in front of me.
“Please don’t do it. You can’t oppose the Witch,” Karo pleads, sinking to her knees.
“The Forest Witch? I’m not afraid of that old frog,” Margorate states, and cuts her palm.
I try to create a shield before her, but my teeth chatter.
Jestin catches me in his arms as my legs give out beneath me. “Sels, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I don’t know,” I cry out, clutching his shirt.
He cares. Even after all the blows I’ve made him suffer from. That simple truth nearly breaks me. I don’t deserve him, yet he still catches me when I fall. Treacherous moisture gathers in the corners of my useless eyes. I turn, letting the tears fall silently, sealing my lips shut.
One long, steady inhale, then I stare at the hag. Utterly pathetic and fully powerless.
“Love, what’s happening?” Jestin asks again, nudging my hair with his chin, and I make the mistake of meeting his gaze.
That moment costs me greatly, because Margorate chants, “Suiku puku napoley.”
Karo’s screams pierce my skull, raw and jagged, mingling with the sickly scent of blood. Judging by the thick crimson seeping from her ears, the spell has likely shattered her eardrums.
“What have you done? Have you no sense?” Margorate demands, rubbing her forehead.
How dare she judge me?
I struggle against Jestin’s grip, but he holds me like iron.
“I’ve done what needed to be done. For my folks, dead and the living.” I breathe out.
Her glare is full of pity. “You have no idea of the consequences of your actions.”
The words bring me into another time and the lid containing my power and my emotions snap, but nothing happens; there’s only the hunger consuming it.
I feel it eating on me.
“Take her to the cottage,” Aidon orders, his voice tight and his eyes flickering with unease. Jestin lifts me effortlessly.
“Allow me,” Riven says, his deep voice low, pointing at his wings. Jestin hesitates before reluctantly passing me into his grasp.
At this point, I am a trembling mess and have no say.
“She overdosed,” Aidon says quietly, then falls silent, as if speaking to himself.
“Sels… what?” Jestin recoils, his voice sharp.
“It shouldn’t work,” Aidon mutters, his brow tightening. “It’s just a root.”
Jestin gazes at me, grief written across his features.
“How many bloodlines have significant blue hair?” Riven asks, breaking their trance.
Three. Lake nymphs, bridge trolls, and Argos line.
I see it in their faces, a sudden shift, a dawning realisation, but I cannot tell what it is.
“What are you thinking?!” I snap, though I’m not certain my words are coherent as my teeth clatter.
The silence drags like a Solstice sermon, and I don’t know if they answer, as Riven raises into the sky and I drift off, soothed by the gentle wind and the steady beating of his wings.