The dire wolf chose that moment to crunch down hard on the crayfish pincer, sending a few shell fragments skittering across concrete. Then he raised his head, met my eyes, and made a huffing noise like he was laughing at me.
Something unraveled in me, and a screech tore from my throat as I bucked wildly against restraints that only tightened further.
“Filthy mongrel!” Spittle flew from my lips as I kicked uselessly at the beast. “I’ll skin you alive! Sew your pelt into toilet seat covers! Mother should have drowned you when she first planned to, but no! Amabel said to wait until Serafina grew attached, then do it! Amabel always wants to wait, wait, wait!”
“Too bad you never learned patience yourself.” Casimir arched one pale eyebrow. “Instead, you rashly thought you could touch our wife. In our home.”
“She isnothing,” I spat, my composure fracturing. “She isworthless. She is a weak little worm who belongs beneath my heel, begging for mercy that willnevercome.”
Casimir didn’t react, but Zane laughed as he moved beside his brother, resting a hand on Casimir’s shoulder with casual familiarity that made something in my chest twist with envy. Amabel never touchedmelike that.
“Hate to tell you this, Luney, but that ‘weak little worm’ kicked your ass without even using magic,” Zane said cheerfully, as if we were discussing the weather rather than my humiliating defeat.
“Three blind mice,” I sang, “three blind mice. See how they run. See how they run.”
“Where is our beloved now, Cas?”
My voice trailed off at the way Koa saidbeloved. Like it was something sacred, something holy. It made me want to vomit. To scream. To tear my own hair out in clumps until my scalp bled. Mother said she was nothing but a vessel to be used and discarded, but they thoughtshewas special. They thoughtshewas worthy.
“Kitchen. Worried about Addison,” Casimir answered without breaking eye contact with me, and I preened slightly under his unbroken attention. At least he recognized thatIwas the true threat, the onedeservingof his focus.NotSerafina.
Koa walked to the door, and I watched the way his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides until he was gone from my view.
“Did Mommy send you, Luney?” Zane dragged my attention back to him. “Or did you dream up this shitshow all on your own?”
“Mother is agoddess,” I hissed. “You haveno ideawhat’s coming. What she’s planning. Serafina is just the beginning. Just ataste. Mother will take everything from you, piece by piece, until there’s nothing left, not even dust.”
“Tell us what she’s planning,” Casimir said coolly. “Make it easy on yourself.”
“I’d ratherburnthan help you.” I infused each word with all the venom I could muster.
“I can make that happen!” Zane’s face lit up with unholy glee. “I can make that happen right now! Can I, Cas? Can I?Pleeease?”
“Her fate isn’t in our hands.” Casimir rose, unhurried, and grabbed his jacket with one hand and the folding chair with the other. “There is only one who deserves to make that decision.”
For a moment, I didn’t understand.
“Excellent idea, bro! Seri will definitely enjoy taking out this trash!”
Something cold and heavy settled in the pit of my stomach as realization hit.Serafina, that scared little mouse, was going to pass judgmenton me? For a second, rage choked me. Nother. NotSerafina. The thought of being at her mercy was worse than death. Worse than my mother’s disappointment. Worse than Amabel’s smug I-told-you-so expression that I knew was waiting for me if I ever made it back home.
A manic giggle bubbled up through my lips as I sang in a whisper.
“Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With Serafina Bell
Rotting deep in Hell
And her husbands at her grave in a row.”
Ignoring me, Zane danced out of the room, humming as he swirled around with his arms in the air, and that damn dire followed, dragging the pincer with him.
“You’ve lost, Eluned.” Casimir glanced at me. “The only question is how much dignity Seri will allow you to maintain before the end.”
He flicked off the light and closed the door behind him, leaving me alone in the dark. As their footsteps faded, the walls began breathing and Amabel’s voice whispered in the back of my mind.
