Nina’s eyes lazily cracked open, her gaze moving beyond Luna’s shoulders, scanning the empty corridor. “You’re alone,” she murmured, her voice low—amused. “I’m surprised you disobeyed your little master.” She cocked her head, a smile curling her lips. “Perhaps you’re more like me than I thought . . .”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but we don’t have a lot of time.” Luna moved closer to the cell, wrapping her hands around the bars that separated them. “I came down here because I have to know. Is what he said true, that the Darkened One would free you once you’ve paid your debt?”
Nina shook her head, the light glinting off her shortened, damaged horn as she did so. “There is no paying your debt off with the Darkened One. He is too full of hatred.”
“That’s what I thought,” Luna said, eyeing Nina’s cuff.
She must have noticed because she smiled sweetly and said, “Don’t worry. I can’t do any magic with these things on, and even if I didn’t have them on, I wouldn’t hurt you—”
“I’m here to release you.”
Nina went still. Surprised. Then her smile changed; it warmed with something like pride. She gestured to the wall where Marion had been sitting. “The key with two left notches opens my cell.”
Luna quickly fetched the set of keys from its hook. Marion would be back soon, she had no time to waste. She found the notched key and slid it into the keyhole, fingers trembling as she did so. “I don’t believe anyone should have their lives traded for another. We will find a different way to get Damien’s sister.” She turned the key twice, and the cell door swung open.
“Now what?” Luna asked. She got the door open, but what about those cuffs?
“Now, you come here!” Nina exclaimed. Her voice was pure joy, her arms opened wide for a hug.
Luna stepped closer, accepting the invitation without any hesitation. There was no way she was going to turn down her first hug ever from her birth mother.
Nina’s arms wrapped around her, the best they could given the constraints. Her hold was nothing like Damien’s strong one; her grip was weak, the pressure faint on Luna’s back, but Luna felt whole. It was like a missing piece of her identity was being filled in. She returned the hug, squeezing Nina tight like she was her lifeline.
Nina stepped back, lifting her hands in front of her. “The key,” Nina urged. “It’ll unlock these as well.”
Luna nodded and stepped forward. She fitted the key into the first cuff—click. The lock sprang open, then she did the same for the second.
The metal fell away with a soft clatter.
Nina exhaled slowly, rubbing at the raw skin on her wrists. She rotated them in slow, deliberate circles, as if testing their freedom—or savouring it.
“We have to hurry. Marion said she’d only be gone for five minutes.”
Nina nodded. “All right, but first things first.” She snatched Luna’s hands in hers, clasping onto them as if she couldn’t bear to let Luna go, even for a moment.
It was a feeling Luna understood completely, and she squeezed her hands back.
In one swift motion, Nina slipped off the golden vine ring that Luna had been wearing—the one King Hendrix had given her, though it had originally belonged to Nina. The wordwhylingered on the tip of Luna’s tongue. If Nina wanted her ring back, she could have just asked.
Without warning, Nina smashed her ring against her horn, shattering one gem. Green shards of crystal fragmented into a glittering dust that burst into blinding light. It engulfed Luna’s vision, rendering her temporarily blind. Confusion swept through her mind, trying to make sense of what was happening. The shimmering dust coated her, settling like a light mist, making her skin tingle, but not in a painful way.
Then Nina’s hands were on her, and with a quick shove, Luna hit the wall. Without her sight, she was left disoriented. She whirled around, reaching through the air to grab onto Nina.
There was a distinct click of the cuff’s mechanism as it locked around one of Luna’s hands. Panic surged through Luna. “No,” she yelled. Betrayal cut into her like a sword through her heart, or a knife to the back. She, again, reached through the air, trying to shove Nina away from her, but Nina was quick, her grip surprisingly strong. With ease, she grabbed Luna’s free hand and locked it into the other cuff.
Luna smashed the cuffs on the wall, trying to break free. This couldn’t be happening. Her heart beat wildly in her chest and she blinked rapidly, trying to regain her vision; it didn’t help.
“I kept you safe,” Nina said, her voice a haunting whisper. “I gave you up so you’d have a normal life, free of running, free of danger. I performed every protection ceremony to keep you away from magic and its messiness.” Her tone hardened. “And look who you aligned yourself with.” She scoffed, the sound hollow. “There’s truly no one you can trust, Luna. Everyone will use you for their own gain. They already have.”
Luna’s blood roared in her ears. Her heart thundered in her chest so hard she could feel her pulse in her throat. But still, she could see nothing, do nothing, but listen.
“And I can’t risk going back to the Darkened One,” Nina continued. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t.”
The light vanished then, like someone had reversed a billowing plume of smoke, and Luna’s vision gradually returned. She was inside Nina’s cell, cuffed to the same wall she had been. Luna called out, her voice echoed against the walls, unanswered. Where had Nina gone?
Utter disbelief swirled in Luna’s mind as she tried to make sense of this situation. Nina, the person who had given her birth, whom Luna had decided to risk everything for, had tricked her. And now, she was left to face the consequences of her own naivety.
Chapter 43
