“It’s a bargain,” I say.
In that instant, all the strength goes out of me.
There’s nothing left in me but hollow veins and a strange hunger that shreds its way through my insides, demanding sustenance that I can’t put a name to.
As soon as the last few clods of soil fall from my fingertips, my body gives out. I slump onto the floor, half-tangled in the vines I brought forth from deep underground. I stare dimly up at the ceiling, crawling with spiders who answered my call.
And in the chandelier?
My mirrored image winks back at me, fractured into a hundred quivering reflections. Not the girl who was locked away in a convent for twelve years. Not the woman paraded bare across half of Astagnon, either.
Somethingelse.
Fey lines burst with silvery light from my temples and down my limbs. The shells of my ears rise to faint points, matching the upward lilt to my eyebrows.
Sharpened incisors wink from my parted lips.
Not painted.
Not costumed.
Ancient.
Real.
Whatever I am now…
it’s not what I was.
Chapter 2
Basten
“Sabine!”
I drop to my knees, catching her hand before it falls. Her skin burns against mine, but I force myself to hold on through the pain.
The ground shakes. The walls groan. Vines continue to thrust up through the floor, tearing apart stone like paper. The raging Ramvik River churns through the room, drenching everyone up to our knees.
“Stop,” I beg, though I’m not sure if I’m speaking to her or whatever’s inside her. “Please, you have to stop. You’re hurting people.”
Her head jerks, eyes flashing—but I don’t recognize the look in them.
Fear crawls through my chest so fast I choke on it.
Gods help me, this is the woman I love. Even like this. But love feels small against the force she’s become.
From the corner of my eye, I see the protective fortress of vines around us draw back, slowly slinking down into the floorboards until they’ve all but vanished.
Beyond, the five fae gods rise slowly to their full heights, brushing wrinkles from their clothes, tucking their hair back into place. I pick up on a few quickened heartbeats among the lot, but those soon return to a steady, if not also wary, patter.
Sabine’s show of power rattled them—but maybe it wasn’t entirely a surprise.
“Little violet.” I clasp Sabine in my arms, smoothing the sweat-soaked hair off her forehead. “I’m here. You’re going to be okay.”
She murmurs something that not even my ears can pick up on.
I brush my lips against her ear and breathe, “Hold on, little violet.”
