“I’m not going to kill her, Daemon. But she needs to understand that I’m not going to play her games.” Auraelia released her magical grip, and Kyra sputtered as she tried to drag air back into her lungs.
“You bi—”
Auraelia squatted down to where Kyra was crumpled against the bars, cutting off her air supply again. “That wasn’t very nice. I asked you a question.Whydid you kill my mother?”
Daemon stood in silence as he watched the interaction play out. He didn’t want to interfere, but everything about it feltwrong.There was no emotion in Auraelia’s voice. Not even anger. It was as if she turned it all off to deal with the woman in front of her.
When Kyra’s face began to turn purple, Auraelia returned the air to her lungs for the second time.
Kyra was on her hands and knees on the cold stone floor, tears streaming down her face from her struggle to breathe. Glaring up at Auraelia through her lashes, she sneered as she spoke. “Because Davina should be on the throne, and your mother was in the way. So now there’s one less obstacle, and I can’t wait to see how she deals withyou.”
“You’re originally from Garnet, aren’t you?” Daemon asked as he stepped closer to Auraelia, every bit of him screaming to guard and protect her—not that she needed him to.
Kyra pushed back onto her heels and met his gaze. “Well, well. The dog is smarter than he looks.”
Auraelia stiffened at his side. He needed to get her out of there. She was teetering close to her breaking point, and it seemed Kyra was itching to push her over the edge. To see how far she could press her before she snapped.
Daemon placed his hand on the small of Auraelia’s back and turned his attention to her. “We should go.”
Auraelia’s eyes were still locked onto Kyra as she inhaled deeply, holding her breath for a few moments before she released it and nodded.
As they turned to leave, Kyra chuckled. “Do send my best tomyqueen. I look forward to seeing her on the throne.”
Auraelia stopped mid-stride and sent a streak of lightning straight through its center without glancing toward the cell.
Kyra’s scream echoed throughout the chamber as the iron tang of blood filled his nostrils.
Daemon pulled Auraelia into his arms, but just before they were engulfed in the shadows, she hollered over her shoulder, “You should take care of that. I hear infections can be deadly when not tended to.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Daemon asked as the shadows stripped away from them back in Auraelia’s chambers.
“Talk about what, exactly?” Auraelia turned and walked toward the small selection of liquors tucked into one of her bookcases. “Do you want one?”
“Uh, sure. But, Auraelia, we should talk about what just happened.”
“Daemon—” She took a sip of the amber liquid in her glass, then turned toward him. “There’s not much to talk about. You were there. You heard what she said.”
“I did. But I also saw how she baited you. She wastryingto get a reaction out of you.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Her voice was as calm as if they were merely discussing the weather. “I said that I wouldn’t kill her, and I didn’t.”
“You shot her with a bolt of lightning.”
“It barely grazed her.”
“Auraelia.”
“Daemon.”
Her tone was playful, and he couldn’t help the small smile that formed in response.
Crossing the room, Auraelia handed him a glass of whiskey, then disappeared into her bedchamber. When she returned to the sitting area, a piece of parchment was in her hands.
“What’s that?”
She cut him a glance and held her finger over her lips as she made her way to the suite's main door, opening it just enough to pass the note to the guard standing outside and to give them instructions, but not enough for them to peer inside.
When the door closed behind her, and she’d turned toward him again, he asked, “Okay,nowdo you want to tell me what that was?”
