Daemon told her to let him be. To let him believe that he was getting away with it. And though he may have been right in the beginning, there was no way she could let it continue. She needed to dosomething.
“Lady Ophelia, please meet with Lady Blyana and Mister Aramis in the east wing to remedy this situation. You’re dismissed.”
Ophelia’s eyes widened as she hastily pushed back her chair and sank into a low curtsey before hurrying from the room.
Slowly, like a bead of water sliding down a glass, her magic began to flood her veins. Sweltering heat filled her body as her lightning raged beneath the surface. She may not be able to take out the man responsible, but the next best thing was only a few floors below. She hadn’t had the courage to do what needed to be done when her mother had been murdered.
Hadn’t been willing to sink to that level.
But this was war.
An example needed to be made.
If that meant blackening a part of her soul, then so be it.
Auraelia slammed her fists onto the table, then stormed down the hall between the council chambers and her suite, throwing open the door with enough force that it ricocheted off of the wall. When she stepped inside, she was met with the concerned gazes of Aiden and Piper.
“You’re really going to go through with it, then?” Piper asked, her gaze hardening as it met Auraelia’s.
“I am. Maybe then Lord Harland will understand that I’m not some meek little girl that will just let him take apart my court piece by piece.”
“You’re sure this is the path you want to take, Rae?” Aiden asked as he took a hesitant step forward, careful to keep an arm’s length between himself and Piper.
“Do you see another way? Doyou?” The latter was directed back to Piper, whose eyes went vacant and hazy for a moment before she blew out a resigned breath and shook her head.
“I didn’t think so. You don’t need to be a part of it. But I’mtiredof people underestimating me. It’s time to send a message. To Lord Harland. Davina. Goddess, to all of Ixora at this point, because I can’t be sure who is on my side and who is just waiting for me to fall.”
“So what’s the plan, Lightning Girl?” Aiden asked, a sly smile taking over his face.
Auraelia met his smile with a menacing one. “I think it’s time I paid Kyra a visit.”
“Is it always this fucking cold down here?” Aiden snapped, rubbing his hands together as he trailed closely behind Auraelia, his breath visible with every exhale.
Despite the thick wool of her tunic and cloak, the chill surrounding them as they descended toward the dungeon had Auraelia’s skin pebbling, the flames in the sconces that illuminated the path doing nothing to ward off the icy bite to the air.
“Not typically. But then again, we don’t tend to house prisoners, and itiswinter,” Piper retorted, her tone as cold as the air around them.
Aiden began muttering incoherently under his breath, and Auraelia rolled her eyes. She didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with their squabbling. She needed to stay focused on the task at hand. Pulling on the shimmering blue thread representing her connection to the air around them, she pushed her magic out until a sphere of warmth surrounded them.
“Better?” she asked sardonically.
“Much,” Aiden replied, a tad too cheery for her liking.
She was about tokillsomeone, and he was happy as a clam because he was no longer cold. With an exasperated huff, Auraelia quickened her pace down the steps.
She hadn’t been down there since she came with Daemon, and the flashes of his hands on her in the stairwell, the heat of his body as he stood protectively behind her while she confronted the woman responsible for murdering her mother, sat like a heavy stone in the pit of her stomach.
She wanted him there with her.
He was her grounding force. Had been since they first met. Though she hadn’t realized how much of a role he’d played in her life then, she now felt his absence like she would a missing limb. Without him there to keep her mind off of the rage and revenge that filled her, she wasn’t surewhatshe would be capable of…or how far she would dive into the darkest parts of herself.
The door to the dungeon was slightly ajar as they came to the bottom of the steps, a cold breeze seeping through the crack and cutting through the warmth her magic provided.
An eerie silence met them as she cautiously pushed the door open, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, her magic coiling tightly as if it was waiting to be unleashed.
Much to her surprise—andannoyance—there was no guard present, but Kyra was still in her cell, sitting on her cot with her back propped up against the wall.
Auraelia halted in the shadowed doorway for a moment to assess the woman beyond. Kyra was so still that she seemed lifeless. Her hair was a matted mess, her clothes dingier than they had been the last time she’d seen her, and there was a distinct stain on her clothing from where Auraelia had struck her. Only the faint puff of air coming from between her lips signaled that she was still alive.
