Chapter 8
La Tentation
CLAIRE
The sound of blood pounding in my ears drowned out everything else.
I’d come searching for answers, but what I got was a death sentence. The same one I’d had when I left my home. Except now, I knew it didn’t matter if I discovered the location or relics or not. In the end, the choker would kill me.
Imogen sank below the water, disappearing for so long I thought she might’ve drowned. The whole time I stared impatiently at the murky water, hoping for a sign that this was all some joke. But no such sign came.
Eventually, the witch reappeared, her silver hair dripping down the side of her face.
Her skeletal fingers clutched a handful of shells.
I realized she’d been collecting the ones she’d thrown into the water.
She beamed at them like they were her children, showing off yellow, chipped teeth.
“At last,” she hissed, speaking directly to the shells.
I had no idea why this old witch wanted these shells, but if she was so thrilled to have them, she owed me a better answer. “What did you mean, I have to die?”
She swam toward her collection of shells and placed the ones in her hand with the others. “I don’t think that requires clarification.”
“There has to be more to it,” I insisted. “A spell. A potion. Something you can give me to break the curse.” My voice climbed an octave despite my best efforts to remain calm.
Imogen’s expression went blank. “Funny,” she said, “your husband had the same reaction when I told him how to break your matebond.”
The pounding in my ears doubled. “My… what?”
“Bastien came, just as you came, desperate for a spell to sever your bond.”
My chest tightened painfully. Bastien—here? In this place? It was almost impossible to imagine.
“And I told him the same thing I’m telling you. There is no escaping fate. Not unless you want to involve the gods.”
I tore off my robe and shoved it into my closet, searching for something to wear as I battled with my thoughts. Ripping gowns off the rack in a flurry of black and gold, barely considering each one before tossing it on the ground.
“None of it is true,” I reassured myself. “Not the goddesses. Not her prediction. Not the fact that I have to die to remove the necklace.” I paused, gripping a dress. Bastien would never have asked for a way to break our matebond.
A sob lodged itself in my throat, making it hard to breathe.
Maybe he had thrown a handful of shells into her lake, begging for a way to rid himself of me.
He’d been angry enough with me after what happened at his Sanguination Ball.
If that were true, he’d been carrying around this knowledge the entire time.
I threw the dress on the ground. “It was all lies.”
Strengthening my resolve to find real answers from someone I trusted, I chose a black lace dress draped over gold satin. It had a pretty square neckline and long, tapered sleeves, with a row of buttons running up the center. I dressed as quickly as I could, fumbling over the million buttons.
Before leaving to find Devlinn, I paused in front of my vanity. My long, unbound red hair hung in thick waves. I’d never been taught how to style my hair in the ways of a real lady, let alone a duchess, but something needed to be done about it.
Hesitantly, I twisted it into a bun at the nape of my neck and secured it with pins, adding a thick black headband to cover up as much of the red as I could.
Once I was satisfied, I tucked the horn inside my dress pocket, called to my wolves who walked at my side like two guards, and made for the wing of the castle where my consorts resided.
While our bedchamber was warm, the corridors were chilly—not just in temperature, but in mood.
No one spoke to me, save for a curtsey or bow acknowledging my title as Bastien’s sanguine partner.
Our marriage was a secret, but that didn’t stop the judgment.
I felt it in the lingering glances at my red hair and the wolves padding at my side.
Bastien demanded respect and acceptance of all that came to Chateau Rose, and I was sure they had no problem with me being a Dark Witch. However, I didn’t look the same, and surely the sudden change in my appearance raised questions.
Lena, the kind older woman who handled all affairs relating to consorts, startled when I approached. “Miss Donadieu!” she exclaimed before taking a moment to school her features into a smile. “I hardly recognized you! Your hair!” Shame flushed in my cheeks. An old shame. Put there by Mama. “It’s—”
“Beautiful.”
I turned and found Tansy standing in the doorway. Devlinn behind her. And the parts of me that felt confused and alone were soothed.
The two were a portrait in opposites. While she had deeply tanned skin and moon-white hair, he was pale, with freckles speckling his nose and copper-red hair.
Her arms were crossed, but she was wearing a cheeky grin. “I’m going to miss the lilac, but this suits you.”
It would suit me better once my magick was working properly. I slipped my hand into my pocket, drawing comfort from the relic. Devlinn’s eyes followed, and I wondered if he sensed its power too.
Tansy caught Lena’s hands, folding them between her own. “If Alec returns, will you send him to the tea room?”
The brightness slipped from Lena’s face as though someone had drawn a curtain. “Of course, dear.” Her eyes flicked to me, apology sharpening them. “Miss Donadieu, I’m terribly sorry for all this trouble. If you’d prefer to meet the other consorts—”
Tansy cut her off once again. “We’ll speak with Miss Donadieu about what’s happened. But you’ll tell us if there’s any word?”
Any word about what? Confusion pinched my brows together. I opened my mouth, questions already climbing up my throat, but Tansy pinned me with a look.
“Come. Let’s have tea.” She tucked my hand into the crook of her elbow and led me out of Lena’s office, guiding me through winding halls to a tearoom I’d never seen before.
It was all black lacquered walls, dark wood grain, and gold accents.
While it was Bastien’s colors, it didn’t feel like a room he’d ever voluntarily use.
And not just because tea wasn’t his drink of choice.
As soon as the attendants were excused and the door was closed, Tansy wrapped her arms around me, holding me tight against her. I soaked in her warmth and positivity for as long as I could. “It’s so good to see you, Claire.”
“It’s good to see you too.” She rubbed my back and made soothing sounds as she held me, rocking us back and forth. I buried my face into her white hair, just like I’d done countless times with Seraphina. Little by little, the anger I was struggling to control melted, allowing me space to breathe.
So much had happened since I last saw Tansy, and the gravity of it all was finally sinking in. Including the echo of the old witch’s voice.
“In order to remove the cursed choker, you must die.”
I didn’t want to think about that right now. It would be easier to call the whole trip down to Imogen’s cavern a fever dream and be done with it. But there was something I couldn’t ignore. The fact that my trio of friends was missing a member.
“What’s happened to Alec?” I asked.
Tansy pulled back to study my face. Her dark eyes lingered on the cut on my brow, the one I’d earned when I’d fallen headlong into a gravestone. Along with the red hair and unstable magick. “I was about to ask you the same question.”
Ask me? How would I know where he was? I’d only just returned home. “I haven’t seen Alec since the last time we were all together in the ballroom.”
Tansy cursed under her breath, then nibbled on the edge of her thumb.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “What’s happened to Alec?”
The legs of a chair scraped loudly across the floor, breaking the moment. Devlinn had pulled out a chair for me. “Perhaps we should sit.”
Reluctantly, I sat. He pulled out the chair to my right for Tansy before taking the one to my left. My white wolf placed herself between Tansy and me.
She cast a wary glance at the animal. “A new pet of yours?”
“Something like that,” I replied coolly. The brown male came to sit beside Devlinn, who pretended to ignore the wolf. “They won’t hurt you,” I reassured them. “Either of you. I swear.”
“Good to know,” he said with a thin chuckle. Devlinn poured each of us a steaming cup of dark red herbal tea that reminded me of the shade of Alec’s eyes.
I wrapped my hands around the warm cup. Steam rose, reminding me of the lake I was trying hard to forget. “Tell me about Alec. What happened?”
“Last night, after you left with the Duke, Alec was beside himself,” Devlinn explained while stirring sugar into his tea. “He was going on and on about how he needed to talk to you. He said there was something important he needed to warn you about.”
“Warn me?” I muttered. “About what?”
Tansy let out an exasperated huff. “We don’t know!
He wouldn’t tell us! We chased him down to the stables, trying to stop him.
We told him this was not how things worked.
” She lifted her teacup, but didn’t take a sip.
“We explained that he couldn’t just steal a horse and go riding after you while you were with the Duke. But he wouldn’t listen!”
“That’s right,” Devlinn confirmed, biting into a cranberry scone. “He was completely mad. Tore off into the night. Lena sent riders after him, of course, but none have returned.”
I sat back in my chair. What could’ve been so urgent that Alec would ride out alone after me, in a land unfamiliar to him? He wasn’t from the Unified Territories, nor was he a warrior like Bastien. If he’d gotten hurt, or worse, killed… A cold pang of guilt twisted in my gut.
“Maybe he wasn’t mad,” Tansy said, more quietly. My gaze shifted to hers, and I found her studying the gash above my eye. “Maybe he was right to try and warn you.” She set her cup down and leaned forward. “Claire, what happened to you?”