“Yes.”
“How?”
“The physical element of Death’s sweat helped. I am bound to Delaney now.”
“No,” Bathin said again. “All of it.” He snapped his fingers. It sounded like stones striking. He said a word that slipped and slithered out of my mind the moment I heard it.
Amy stiffened, his eyes locked forward. He stared at Bathin as if the prince had just grabbed him by the chin and forced his gaze.
“The Valkyrie Feather renews the spell, a phoenix rising no matter how it might be worn down, attacked. The Heartwood locks it into the strength of her family, her blood ties. The sweat of Death’s brow makes it impenetrable to god interference. That is all. That is all of it.”
Bathin snapped his fingers again, and Amy swayed on his feet. A single blood tear dripped from the corner of one eye. “My Prince.” He bowed his head.
I didn’t know if that bow was out of obeisance or fatigue. He was breathing harder, his shoulders bent.
Whatever Bathin had done had left its mark.
Bathin was flexing his hand open and closed, like a fighter who had just punched a brick wall a dozen times.
“What does all that add up to?” I asked Myra.
“He’s connected to you, and he’s blocked the avenues through which most spells can be broken.”
“Well, Delaney could be killed,” Xtelle said. “That would undo the spell.”
“My Prince?” Amy said, talking to the floor.
Bathin grunted.
“May I speak?”
“No,” Bathin said. “Delaney, Myra, and you, too, Mother, I need a word with all of you. Alone.”
“The house isn’t really big enough for that kind of priv—” The rest of what I was about to say was cut short.
Because we were no longer in my house.
Chapter Sixteen
The sky,the ground, and the distant walls were all made of a gorgeous, smoky blue with shots of gold burning through it. I’d been in a place like this before.
I sighed. “You planted a stone in my house?”
“Lapis lazuli,” Bathin said. “It’s good for wisdom, intuition, and clarity. A place where we can talk. In private.”
Xtelle had morphed into her human form here, a tall, elegant woman with pink-flame eyes. “I don’t recall asking to be a part of this conversation. Nor to be kidnapped.”
“You’re here because I don’t trust you out there with Amy,” he replied.
She crossed her arms, her fingers tapping, sharp, pink fingernails clicking against her skin. She turned to me. “Is this allowed in Ordinary?”
“Usually, not without permission. But in this case, I agree with his choice. So why did you need all of us out of Amy’s hearing?”
“Can’t he hear us through Delaney?” Myra asked him. “Through his connection to her soul?”
I stilled. A sick kind of horror settled in my gut. I didn’t want to be used against them. Didn’t want to be used at all.
“No,” Bathin said. “What he’s done is more like a hook that ties him to her, not a possession that gives him ultimate awareness of her.”
