Chapter 29
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Dark and sinuous magic roiled through my veins, the spell a wild, corrupt thing.
“Master the dark power,” Cliona commanded. “Claim it.”
“Easy for you to say, Voldemort,” I wheezed.
The bitch had the gall to laugh.
My body felt like it was on fire. Every nerve ending tingled with heat as I sought the heart of the magic. Whatever Mom had done must have taken almost everything from her because this unholy power wanted to burn me alive and turn my soul into ashes.
Evie glared at me from a few feet away. “When you get done with this bullshit, I’m kicking your ass.”
I was too busy fighting for my life to respond. A low moan escaped me as I struggled to claim the spell. This was not regular witchcraft. Working with potions and small magics was a breeze.
This was something far worse.
My eyes rolled back in my head, and my legs collapsed like a puppet without strings.
“Is she alright?” I heard Evie whisper.
“Wait and see,” Cliona murmured.
I felt everything. Sarah’s presence was wrapped up with the witch’s tattered soul on the table, and Ethan was there, too, his golden magic like a ribbon weaving him and Sarah together.
My mother’s power was the glue keeping everything together. I had to figure out a way to separate that glue and replace it with my power. There were some tatters in the spell already, places my mother hadn’t been able to seal fast enough. Possibly even Cliona’s interference in the spell.
I reached for those areas, carefully burning away Mom’s magic and replacing it with mine. The work was delicate and lengthy, and sweat beaded my skin with each area I replaced.
A cool hand brushed my forehead once, but I was lost in the work, unable to see or hear anything other than the blood roaring in my veins.
Memories assailed me. Hits and bites and the sting of sticks and spoons and assorted metal, the hard, rounded edges of knuckles colliding with my cheek, the feel of cool concrete against my burning skin.
The screaming. Oh gods, the screaming. Constant, sustained, the sound enough to make my ears bleed.
“Mom. I don’t think she’s okay…” A whispered familiar voice I wish I could reach out to.
“She must,” came another voice. “Moira must overpower the magic before it consumes her.”
Tears spilled from my eyes.
You’ll never be anything. No one will ever love you. Only I will, Moira. That’s why you must always stay with me.
But you hurt me…
Pain is life fulfilled. Your pain keeps me alive, and don’t you want me to stay with you, darling daughter?
A stroke of cool fingers over my hair, followed by the bruising pinch of a harsh hand clenching my chin, and the scream of Stay still, godsdamn you!
The whimper from someone—me—and the sound of water droplets on the stone floor.
Not water. Tears. My tears.
Begging, pleading, confusion.
A lack of energy, lethargy when she drained me, the need to sleep all the time…
I sucked in a breath. That familiar fatigue that had plagued me for so long. It felt the same as—
She won’t fight much. How long will it take?
Pale skin. Glowing eyes. Hesitation.
She’s a child.
A child I need to stay alive.
This might not work.
I am paying you to ensure this works.
Blood. So much blood.
Help.
Help me.
Someone help me.
Anyone.
Hello?
“Mom, this is breaking my heart…”
“Peace, Evangeline. She’s almost through it.”
Stop hurting me.
Stop.
Please.
Oh gods, it hurts so much.
“Mom.” A sniffle, a drop of water on my skin from above.
“I know, baby. I know.”
Cool fingers stroking through my hair. “I’m here, Moira. Come back to us. No one will ever hurt you again.”
The crack of bone. Laughter. Pain. The sizzle of fire.
And blood. So much blood.
Stop.
But she never did.
STOP.
Magic squeezed me like a vise.
STOP IT.
A scream filled with hundreds of years of rage shattered my body.
Power ripped through my veins, tearing through that dark magic and claiming it for my own.
I felt Sarah’s pain and confusion, Ethan’s heartbreak, and that poor witch’s soul fighting to be free.
I could cut those cords right now, set them all free, but doing so would scar Ethan more than I could bear.
I had to slowly extricate him from the spell, and from all the black veins inside this working, it would take time.
Time I would be forced to watch and feel Ethan sharing his heart with another woman.
I opened my eyes to see Evie above me, her eyes red-rimmed and moist, cheeks wet with tears.
“Godsdammit, Moira,” she croaked. “How could you not tell me? Why didn’t you tell me how much pain she caused you?”
Her lips trembled. Cliona sat beside her, staring at me with a world of pain on her face. “Child,” she said in a shaky voice, “I am so sorry for what you endured.”
I reached up and took Evie’s hand. “Why would I force you to share that pain?”
“Because I love you, you stupid bitch!”
I let out a wet laugh. She slapped me on the shoulder and sniffed. Then she bent down, gathered me in her arms, squeezing me too tightly, and started to sob.
I cried with her for a little while until I was drained. Evie finally let go of me and helped me sit up.
“We are never doing that again,” she swore, glaring at her mother.
Cliona looked down at her lap. “I had—” She licked her lips. “I’m sorry, Moira. I did not know.”
No one could ever know my mother’s true depravity. I’d never be able to put into words all the things she’d done to me. “It was necessary. I have the spell.”
Cliona smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Good. Then you know what needs to be done.”
I nodded.
“Your mother felt that,” Cliona said quietly. “I think everyone in the fae lands did. She will be vulnerable for a while.”
“Good,” I said, a savage smile sliding over my face. “Because when I find her, I’m going to make sure she feels everything she did to me, too.”
Evie’s eyes began to glow. “Can I help?”
I interlaced our fingers. “Sure can.”
We put our heads together and stayed like that for a long time, needing each other’s comfort more than we could put into words.