Chapter Thirty-Nine – Mira
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Mira
‘I’m glad you made it back to me, Kasmira,’ Velanthe said conversationally. ‘You have so much raw power – it would have been a shame for it to go to waste.’
I glanced over at Scarlett, at the red lines criss-crossing her skin, and I felt sick to my stomach.
Selussa had warned me about the priestesses’ interest in blood magic, but I had never imagined this .
‘I trusted you,’ I snarled, advancing on Velanthe.
‘Of course you did.’ She looked faintly bored – as if she had stopped thinking of me as a real person the moment she sent Aric to hunt me down.
Or perhaps she had never thought of me as a real person at all.
Just a tool – to be used and then discarded.
‘You had lost everything when you came to me. You were desperate for guidance – and that was what I offered you.’
I raised my sword and pointed it at Velanthe. The only thing stopping me was the child in front of her.
‘Instruct the boy to move.’
‘You can’t kill me with that .’ Velanthe eyed the sword with distaste, as if non-magical weapons were beneath her.
‘But if you want a fight, I can easily give you one. I have your army of clansmen under my influence – with a single thought, I can summon them to my side. You’re their leader now, aren’t you?
’ Her lip curled. ‘I wonder – will you be ruthless enough to cut your way through hundreds of your own people?’
We both knew I wasn’t. But–
‘Try it,’ I challenged, ‘and find out.’
Before she could respond, I lunged forward–
And ran her through.
Velanthe didn’t try to avoid the fatal strike. She merely pulled me close, until her lips were at my ear. ‘Is that the best you can do?’
With a smooth motion, she pulled out the sword, hilt-first. The moment it left her body, her skin stitched itself back together. Velanthe met my shocked stare with a serene smile.
Then pain erupted in my neck.
I didn’t realise what had happened at first. Not until I brought my hand up to the ceremonial dagger embedded in my skin.
I stumbled back from Velanthe in horror.
‘I’m disappointed in you, Kasmira.’ This time, the high priestess was the one who advanced on me, forcing me to concede step after step. ‘I taught you better than this.’
My nerves sang with pain as I took hold of the dagger. But I paused, terrified that it might be all that was keeping me from bleeding out.
‘Let me,’ Velanthe said, and in a lightning-fast movement, she tore the dagger from my neck.
Blood sprayed, splattering the high priestess’s face. Light-headedness told me that I was moments from losing consciousness.
But then Velanthe’s hand was on my wound, her black eyes inches from mine as my wound stitched together just as hers had.
‘How?’ I breathed, watching in disgusted disbelief as she brought some of my blood to her lips. Licking it off her fingers – only . . . I stared at the black, curved talons that extended from her hands. Exactly like a bird of prey.
‘I told you.’ Velanthe’s eyes glittered, terrifying in their utter delight. ‘Never underestimate the power of blood magic.’
Cassius lunged at the high priestess, his sword aimed high – as though he intended to sever her head from her shoulders. Seconds before he could make contact, Odessa slammed into him from the side – her face blank and soulless.
‘Don’t kill her!’ I shouted to Cassius as Velanthe hurled my sword across the room. It clattered to the floor far from my reach.
‘ She’s trying to kill me ,’ Cassius snapped back, avoiding a particularly nasty strike to his stomach. Odessa responded with a slashing motion that threatened to slice him in two–
‘It’s a shame you don’t have the stomach for magic, Kasmira,’ Velanthe said. ‘You could have been magnificent.’
The door opened and more blank-faced priestesses poured in, ceremonial daggers clutched in their hands. I started as I realised Jadis was amongst them. Covered in blood and wearing a glazed expression – but alive. For now.
‘Are you controlling all of them?’ I asked, looking back at Velanthe. ‘The Sorceress seemed to believe some of your priestesses knew the truth.’
‘My senior priestesses do,’ Velanthe replied. ‘But I ordered them out of the Inner Sanctum when I knew you were coming – let them tide themselves over by making a few sacrifices of their own. I didn’t want to risk them killing you too soon. Now that you’re here, I want your blood to last .’
Pragmatic, if terrifying. And it told me what I wanted to know: once they were released from Velanthe’s control, these priestesses would no longer pose a threat. But–
Sacrifices . I understood then – exactly what she was. What all the senior priestesses must have been, if those golden eyes were any indication. Shifters – but the less benign kind.
‘Not even your god can save you from me,’ I warned. Velanthe’s answering smile was laced with vicious amusement. ‘Release the magic,’ I told her, my one attempt at resolving this peacefully. ‘Free these people from your control, and I will spare your life and the lives of your senior priestesses.’
Velanthe barked out a harsh laugh that was unlike anything I’d heard from her before. ‘What a terrible queen you are. So weak that you don’t even have the stomach for vengeance.’
‘I prefer justice these days,’ I replied calmly. ‘And I didn’t say that you would go free. The Council of Ancients will determine your punishment.’
‘As delightful as it is to see you finally coming into your confidence, Kasmira,’ Velanthe remarked, ‘you can’t kill me. I’m every bit as immortal as the Sorceress. You , on the other hand . . .’
I backed away, summoning my natural magic. Holding it tight as she prowled towards me – a predator relishing the chase.
When Velanthe was in the right position, my eyes darted behind her – to the Sorceress’s statue.
She turned just as the cracks began to appear, spiderwebbing through the ancient, life-sized statue.
And not even Velanthe was fast enough to hurl herself out of its path as it toppled, burying her in a cloud of dust and rubble. Beneath tonnes of ancient stone.
I coughed and rubbed the grit from my eyes as I took in the damage. It had been a gamble, but Scarlett and Lillian were untouched – and mercifully, so were the pillars holding up the ceiling. I whipped my head around, hoping it might have bought us even a few minutes–
‘Not bad,’ Cassius shouted, and I saw he was still battling Odessa, ‘but not quite enough to stop her influence. I don’t suppose you have something else in mind?’
I was spared from answering as Jadis and a handful of acolytes strode towards me, their blades glinting. I wasn’t too concerned about the priestesses, but Jadis was another matter – and without my sword . . .
The groaning of rock made me risk a glance over my shoulder. My heart sank as a section of the statue rose–
And splintered apart, sending chunks of stone raining over my head. I threw my hands up instinctively, protecting myself from the worst of the onslaught.
I rose to see a wolf crouched in the middle of the ruins, its reddish-brown fur coated with grey remnants of stone. Its hackles rose as it fixed me with eyes black as tar.
My fingers twitched towards the dagger at my side. But Velanthe had made it very clear that I couldn’t win against her with conventional means.
The high priestess’s steps shook the ground as she moved, and – was it possible that she was even bigger than before?
Swallowing down apprehension, I held my ground – refusing to give her the satisfaction of watching me run.
Even in her wolf form, I could have sworn Velanthe was smiling.
Her claws left gouges on the smooth obsidian floor as she approached, scraping against it with a sound that jangled my already shredded nerves.
Showing me exactly how easily she could tear open my flesh.
Could I use my natural magic to create some sort of cage? No – Velanthe’s shapeshifting ability made her impossible to contain, and her immortality made her impossible to kill. My only chance was to access her mind.
And the only way I could access her mind . . .
I glanced across the hall. Cassius was no longer just holding off Odessa but also the other priestesses, whose numbers would soon overwhelm him.
Lillian and Scarlett were moments away from death, and even if Velanthe didn’t intend to kill me now, she would eventually – along with Jadis and anyone else who was loyal to me.
Unless I destroyed her first.
For a heartbeat, I thought of the Sorceress’s warning. She had been very specific: don’t use blood magic again, no matter the provocation. But whatever the consequences were, at least I would be alive to face them. And so would the people I loved.
My decision made, I suddenly felt very calm. It was surprisingly easy to connect with the blood pulsing beneath Velanthe’s skin – as if the magic was eager to take hold of me again. To have another taste of my heart and soul.
And a part of me was eager too – eager to embrace that darkly seductive power and everything it offered.
I dived headfirst into sensation.
As I had hoped, there was so much of my blood inside Velanthe that accessing her mind was as simple as opening a door.
In front of me, the wolf’s black eyes widened – understanding what I intended and trying to fight me.
But her blood magic was channelled from my power, and it was my will that mattered. Not hers.
A hall of memories appeared in front of me.
It was like being in an art gallery, except the paintings were memories.
I paused in front of a few of the more recent ones, observing Velanthe’s last interaction with Scarlett.
Despite everything, the fear and dawning horror on Scarlett’s face made something tighten in my chest. No one deserved an end like hers.
The hall seemed to stretch on forever, and as I took in the furthest memories, I caught glimpses of Velanthe as a child.