“Fear only overrides the weak,” Finnegan answers her question as my heart races. I don’t look away from the witch first, even though I can tell she wants me to.
Time ticks on, and finally, she looks away as a low growl echoes from my Nexus. She just laughs. “Come in. I’ve been expecting you for a long time, Gwenieve, and one of the star-crossed mates. It seems you found each other in this lifetime.” What the fuck does that mean? Finnegan and I glance at each other. “Do you Nexus beings say one for good luck, two for a favour, and three for a wish? That’s what the old Gods used to say when they flipped a coin. Should I flip a coin on our meeting and see if I should help you?”
“No.” I drop the massive bag of cash that I pulled out of the locker. “Money talks better than riddles. This will pay for what we want and more.”
She opens the bag before clicking her fingers, and it disappears. She makes two chairs appear out of nowhere, and we sit in them. The room seems warmer somehow. “What do you want?”
“I need to hide. From the Vian and from my Vian mates. I want a potion strong enough to hide just for a short while—a month,” I ask.
“You’re hiding from your mates, yet one of them stands beside you?” She hums. “Others are looking. Why do you want to hide from them? Mates are born to?—”
“Not all of mine.” I stop her. Her eyes flash with annoyance. “They let someone hurt me. They betrayed and lied to me.”
She clicks her fingers, and a small vial appears on the table. “Very well… You wish to know your future, as do many, but I cannot be paid in money for such a wish. This time, I’ll allow it for a deal.”
“What deal?” I snarl.
She smiles, revealing black teeth. “When the war is done, you will come and release me from this prison. I was bound to this market a very long time ago by someone your Nexus knows well. I want to be free, and you can free me.”
Finn tenses, but I consider her. We need information, and our lives depend on it. Setting her free might be a very bad idea, but it feels like a problem for the future. I look at Finnegan, and he nods. My choice. “Fine. You have a deal, but only if you answer all of my questions and you hide nothing. You do not lie. If you break any of these, magic will know and there will be a cost.”
Her laugh is like a child’s. “So, we are bound, Nexus.” She looks at Finnegan. “We could make a deal… Creatures like you are almost as rare as I. You’ve only touched your power. Why do you hold yourself back?”
Finnegan is still as I look between them. “I am commanded by one, and she has not needed it…yet.”
“Time will change that,” the witch answers.
“Do not focus on my mate. I don’t like to share, especially not with a witch,” I snarl at her. “He is mine.”
She shrugs a slender shoulder. “I don’t dabble with Nexus beings…they are the reason I’m trapped here. Too much trouble.”
My Nexus relaxes an inch, and Finnegan touches my hand, linking our fingers.
“Why are you the only one left?” Finnegan questions. “My knowledge of witches is low, and I’m curious.”
“And yet your mate is the only one left too. Why not ask her Nexus why she is all that remains to fight the darkness? Why they hunt her?” I swear the room freezes as my Nexus watches her. She looks at me, at my one grey eye, where my Nexus never hides. “Should I call you Gwenieve, or should I call you the Morrigan? What do you prefer in your reborn state? Should I bow as many did before?”
“Are you saying she is the Morrigan reborn?” Finnegan demands.
“I am and we prefer Gwenieve. I have no memories of before, only that I was once called a Goddess or a witch to some. Darkness to others,” I answer. My Nexus told me as much on that cliff. Finnegan only stares at me, and I can tell he is pissed I didn’t mention it. I promised my Nexus that it would be for us alone, and I will not betray her, not even for my mates. She is the other half to my soul and sent to me for a reason. “I have no intention of making anyone bow. I want peace.”
“Oh, you are naïve.” She laughs. “Only the Morrigan could have killed half a city and threatened the entire world yet still want peace. They would have drained your body of every inch of life, and who says they haven’t done this before? The king has been alive for a long time. Even I remember him.”
My Nexus is silent, and I wonder if she remembers that. Now is not the time to ask. “How long would you say he’s been alive?”
She grins. “Perhaps you should ask one of your mates as they have served at his side for long enough to know.”
I straighten my spine. “The prophecy, anything of my future. You know what I want, and I want to know how I can do it without dying in this lifetime. I want to kill the Vian king to get revenge for what happened.”
“Yes, I see that, but your fate is not to kill the king.” She waves a hand. “He is readying for war, and he has an army. Your power was only really a warning, an easy way to win, but he will not stop until the world is ruled by Vian, and that means the Nexus, the humans and all of us are slaves or dead. He’s been growing an army of thousands for years. They have at least five hundred thousand, and this world will be destroyed. From what I can see, we are on a stone, balancing on the edge of a cliff. One stumble either way will make a difference in which way the stone lands and what world will be left. An army like that would take over the world in minutes—an army that’s been feeding on Nexus powers for years.”
My mouth dries. “How do we stop him?”
“Only a betrayal will end him. But, like I said, that is not for you. If only you’d come here with the other.” She sighs.
“The other who?” I demand.
She clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes at me. “You need power to protect your people. You need to go to Morriganis City.”
