A shadow moved on the other side of Graciella, snagging Dominique’s attention. Her eyes moved to it quickly, taking in the faint shape of a man. She looked back at her mother, not wanting to bring Graciella’s attention to whoever stood nearby.
Her mother didn’t seem to notice as she faced Dominique, a sly smile on her face. “You’re feeling exactly how we’ll make him interested.”
“What will that accomplish? He isn’t the king yet, and his parents may very well refuse to give him the throne if he marries one of my sisters.”
Graciella’s smile widened. “You know how the world works. The royal family faces assassination attempts on a regular basis. Eventually, one will be successful. The same sad fate will eventually happen to your fiancé.” Her mother shrugged. “Then, we’ll be exactly where we need to be.”
Dominique shook her head. “How do you know I won’t go straight to Ronan once your little potion wears off and tell him what you’re planning?”
Her mother had the gall to look shocked. “You would go against your own family?”
A bitter laugh escaped Dominique’s lips. “I don’t know what you are, but you, your husband, and your two daughters haveneverbeen my family. After all the years you’ve drugged me, bespelled me, and abused me in other ways, what I can’t believe is that you would call yourself that. You’ve never been myfamily.” She nearly spat the last word.
Hard hands suddenly grabbed her from behind. “I hate to hear you speak so harshly, Daughter,” Jurgen muttered from behind her. He said the worddaughterwith a wealth of disdain. The same way he’d said it her entire life.
The shadow she saw earlier had disappeared and Dominique wondered if this was it. If she was going to die today.
Her arms were pinned to her side as her mother fished a small potion bottle out of her bodice. “I hate to hear you speak like that, Dominique. But you won’t be able to tell Ronan because you won’t remember any of this.”
The potion her mother had drugged her with was beginning to wear off, but not fast enough. Dominique could feel the hold of the magic slipping, but she couldn’t quite fight through it. Her body twitched involuntarily, giving away her resistance and the fading effect of the potion and spell.
Jurgen grabbed her hair, yanking her head back against his shoulder, and slapped a hand down on her sternum. Her body twitched again before going rigid in agony as he used his magic to paralyze her. That was his talent—the ability to immobilize his opponent with his exceedingly painful touch. He hid it carefully because he didn’t want others to realize exactly how dangerous he was.
Her mother came closer, making a tisking sound. “It’s better this way, Dominique. We won’t have to convince you to end the engagement. You’ll do exactly what we say, when we say it, before your untimely and tragic demise.” She lifted the glass bottle in her hand. “Unfortunately, this little potion is lethal after more than a dose or two. It’s simply too potent for most fae to survive.” Her mother looked sad for a moment before she smiled again. “At least you’ll finally be of use in your last days.”
Dominique shoved at the fraying cords of the magic surrounding her, but it was no use. Not with Jurgen pouring his magic into her body. He reached up with his other hand and pried her jaw open.
Graciella pulled the cork stopper from the bottle, lifting it higher.
A hand suddenly appeared out of thin air, gripping her mother’s wrist so hard that she cried out.
Ronan shimmered into existence next to Graciella, his expression thunderous. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Her mother stared up at him in shock for a moment before she began stammering. “Your Highness, you don’t understand. Dominique is…she’s…” Her mother stopped speaking and took a deep breath.
Dominique had to hand it to Graciella. She was a consummate actress. Instead of the malevolence she’d shown Dominique earlier, she appeared distraught and near tears. If she could have rolled her eyes, she would have.
“You see, there are things you don’t know about my daughter,” Graciella began again. “She’s not well…in her mind. That is why she left the fae realm and went to live amongst humans. She needs medication on a regular basis in order to regulate her condition and she refused, so we have to take matters into our own hands at times.”
Ronan released Graciella’s wrist, inserting his large body between Dominique and her mother. “I’m not sure I believe you, Lady Proxa. Considering Dominique maintains her own business and has employees, I find it impossible to believe that she is as ill as you’re implying.”
“I understand, but you have to realize that?—”
Ronan didn’t let Graciella finish. “I’ve been following you and your husband around this castle for the last three hours, so I know exactly what you’re up to.”
Her mother’s eyes moved to where Jurgen stood behind her, and Dominique knew what was about to happen. She wanted to cry out, to warn Ronan that her parents were going to attack him. Her vocal cords remained as frozen as the rest of her body. Despair filled her as she watched Jurgen reach out a hand. Shewould have to watch her parents do to Ronan what they had done to her for decades. It hurt to watch helplessly, to know how he would feel as they forced him to comply with their demands, to know that they would both be dead within months if not weeks.
It was then that Dominique realized she loved him. She’d been so distracted by her family and her shared history with Ronan that she hadn’t noticed how he’d slipped under her guard and found a resting place in her heart. She didn’t want this for him. She would rather take his place a thousand times over than subject him to what was coming.
Once Jurgen touched Ronan, they would pour that potion into his mouth and turn him into a mindless puppet for the next few weeks. Then, Ronan would die.
Dominique had no doubt that she would be disposed of first, especially since she knew exactly what her parents planned. She wanted to cry, but with Jurgen’s power surging in her, even her tear ducts were paralyzed by his magic.
Just before Jurgen’s hand touched Ronan’s arm, a crack of thunder shook the very air around them. Graciella and Jurgen jumped, but Dominique knew that Ronan recognized the sound. It was the same one they’d heard decades before when they were cursed.
Lightning split the sky above, and a swirling burst of thick gray smoke appeared before them. The smoke pulsed and expanded for a beat before it withdrew quickly, revealing the figure swathed in black within it.
Zephira stared at them, her gnarled onyx staff shimmering in the suddenly subdued light of the sun. Black clouds had gathered above them, creating the illusion of dusk where there had been noonday sun just moments before.
