“You’re using him too!”Leona says.“Our gains are your gains.Our goals are one and the same.”
“Then why did Katrina tell me that you are planning to kill Brom after he impregnates her?And that you plan to kill her once the child is born?Did you think I would idly sit by and let you kill my only daughter?”
Oh no.No.No.Why is she telling them this?
“Who told Katrina that?”Leona sneers with her lipless mouth.“When did she tell you that?”
My mother lifts her chin.“When she and Brom were over for supper last weekend.She knows the truth.I don’t know how she knows, but she does.”
“Sophie,” Ana mutters, and Leona looks to her and nods.
“Yes,” Leona muses.“Yes, Sophie.As I’ve always suspected she might.She cares too much for her son.”
“As I care for my daughter,” my mother says.“Why is this a shock to you?Are you not used to mothers caring for their children?”
Leona lets out a sour laugh.“Oh yes, Sarah, you are theportrait of a perfect mother.Look at you, bathing in blood so that you can carve out your meager existence for another month.You know, had you not chosen Baltus and married Liam instead, we would have never expelled you from the coven.You could be feasting on the magic-filled parts of these witches, instead of bathing in their leftover blood.But you seem to love scraps.That’s all you deserve, after all.”
My mother leans forward in the tub, glaring at them.“I need you to promise me that you won’t harm Katrina.I understand if you want to kill Brom, but you are not to harm my daughter in any way.She belongs to me, not to you.”
Leona scoffs.“You belong to us, Sarah, and by default, your child does too.If Katrina plays her cards right, then perhaps we can make an exception.But if she doesn’t, she’s as good as dead, and feasting on a witch of her power?Nothing will taste so sweet.”
“So sweet,” Ana chimes in, and I have to suppress a shiver at her ravenous tone.
“We just need that child, Sarah,” Leona goes on.“That’s all we need.And we need it soon.I don’t mind if the world outside the gates falls apart a little, because give us three months, and as soon as that child is born, then that world is over as they know it.Maybe Goruun will help speed up the process even more.Perhaps one month instead of three, and all of our troubles will go away.”
“You seem overconfident,” my mother says grimly.“All this talk of her giving birth in three months and she’s not even pregnant yet.”
“Oh but you see, the plan is already in motion,” Leona sayswith a wicked smile.“The ceremony can commence as soon as tonight.”
“I thought you were waiting for Samhain?”my mother says uneasily.
“The harvest moon works just as well,” Leona says.“We already have Brom in the cathedral.The horseman was very adept in handing him over.”
No.
No.
My eyes go wide, my stomach twisting, and it takes all my energy to keep the shadow magic going, to keep myself hidden in the dark.
“You already have Brom?”my mother asks warily.
“Yes.His body, anyway.His seed.That’s what counts.I’m afraid the horseman has fully possessed him at this point, and there will be no going back.Once we find Katrina, our ritual will commence, with Goruun’s presence to bless the whole thing.”She pauses.“You haven’t seen Katrina, have you?”
My mother shakes her head.“No.”
“Why do I feel like you’re lying?”Leona says, stepping forward.
“I’m not lying.”
“You wouldn’t be lying to try and save your own daughter, would you?”
“No.I’m not…I…Have you checked Professor Crane’s room?I’m sure she’s with him.”
“We just came from there,” Ana says, and my heart drops.“There was no sign of either of them.”
Oh thank goodness.
“I see,” my mother says, averting her eyes.
