“Svena,” Estella said again, her voice sharpening as she turned a page. “I asked you a question.”
“And I am deciding whether or not it deserves an answer,” Svena replied, hiding her nervousness behind cold indifference. “If you are merely prying into my affairs, then we have nothing to discuss. But then, perhaps you are here because you wish to compare notes? Did you not enjoy a Heartstriker once?”
That was a very sore subject, and Estella closed her book with a snap. “I think there has been a misunderstanding. I instructed you to enchant that chain and give it to the Heartstrikers because I foresaw it would lead to the return of our darling baby sister. I donotrecall suggesting that you continue the acquaintance to the point of absurdity by consorting with the spawn of Bethesda the Broodmare. And not even one of the famous ones. Honestly, Svena, couldn’t you have done better than anI? Isn’t she only on J?”
“I do not recall requesting your opinion on my private dalliances,” Svena replied icily, folding her arms over her chest. “Why are you in my car, Estella? I thought the entire reason behind sending me to the DFZ after Katya was so that you wouldn’t have to lower yourself by entering Algonquin’s little experiment personally. What changed your mind?”
Svena posed the question more out of habit than any real expectation of receiving an answer. Even if Estella did deign to explain herself, her reasons wouldn’t make any sense. Seer logic was only decipherable by other seers. Therefore, Svena wasn’t surprised at all when her sister dropped her paperback into her purse and placed her hands on her knees, announcing in her usual cryptic voice, “You begin to fade.”
“Sounds lovely,” Svena said, leaning over to check the limo’s automated control panel. “Do I get to enjoy this fading now, or is this my ten-year warning?”
Her only answer was silence, and she looked up again to find her sister staring at her with an intensity that suddenly made this conversation very, very serious. “Now is not the time for games,” Estella said. “I came here because your future is vanishing from my sight.”
Svena pressed her hands into the seat to hide her growing nervousness. “Vanishing how?”
“It started as soon as you left,” the seer said, touching her slender fingers to her forehead. “Bits and pieces at first, but now whole decision trees have passed beyond my reach. I didn’t even see Bethesda’s brat sneaking up on you until it was too late.”
Svena fought the urge to sigh in frustration. “So what does that mean? Am I dying?”
“Death would be better,” Estella said bitterly. “I would much rather you be dead than let him take you from me.”
Svena didn’t bother to hide her scorn at such a notion, or her bared teeth. “No one takes me. I am the White Witch of the Three Sisters, feared on seven continents. I am no one’s prey!”
She finished with a roar, but Estella was already shaking her head. “This is not a battle you can fight. Not when you debase yourself so willingly before that pretty whelp of a dragon, listening gladly while he pours poison in your ear against our mothers, againstme.”
Svena narrowed her eyes. “I hope you are not questioning my loyalty to our clan.”
“I don’t need to,” Estella said. “You already have.”
Centuries of experience kept all signs of shock from Svena’s face, but nothing could silence the sudden pounding of her heart. Seer or no, there was no way her sister could know thoughts Svena had barely considered herself, and yet Estella was glaring at her as though she’d already turned traitor.
“You are approaching a crossroads, little sister,” Estella said, leaning forward. “I saw it coming many years ago, but I could never foresee its outcome. Now, at last, I know why. I am being blocked. Another seer has entered the game, andyoulet him in. You took the Heartstriker’s bait. You let yourself be played!”
“That’s absurd,” Svena scoffed. “I would never—”
“You will!” Estella snarled, her ice blue eyes flashing in the dark car. “I know you, Svena. I’ve known you all your life, that which you’ve lived already and that which is yet to come. Of all our mothers’ daughters, you were always the most ambitious. You fought tooth and claw until you stood at the head of the world’s most-feared clan, second only to myself and our mothers. I always admired you for that, but even a dragon can reach too high.” She flashed her sister a deadly smile. “It would be a great shame if you were to lose all you’ve fought for because you believed the empty promises of a handsome young dragon and his grasping clan.”
Svena’s nails bit into the seat beside her, puncturing the soft leather. “I do not appreciate threats.”
“Oh, but it’s not a threat,” her sister said innocently. “It’s a warning, and a courtesy. I can no longer foresee if you will be clever or foolish, so I am forced to tell you what you should already know.”
“Because you think I will be foolish?” Svena growled.
“Because I think you will be fooled,” Estella growled back. “There is no path worthy of the daughters of the Three Sisters save the oneIlay out. I am both the eldest and the seer. Ialwaysknow best. You would do well to keep that in mind.”
Svena met her sister’s icy glare cold for cold as she reached over and stabbed her finger against the limo’s command console. The car pulled over at once, sliding through the skyway’s night traffic into a quiet corporate park. The second they stopped moving, Svena threw open the door. “Get out.”
Her older sister exited the car without another word, the sharp heels of her delicate white stilettos clicking against the pristine sidewalk. It wasn’t until her sister was completely outside that Svena realized she didn’t actually know where they were, but any regrets she might have had about kicking her sister to the curb in a strange city vanished when she spotted a second limo waiting just around the corner, its door already open.
Svena fought the urge to sigh. Of course. Estella was a seer—ofcourseshe would know exactly when and where she was going to be tossed out and make preparations accordingly. The only real surprise was that Svena hadn’t seen it coming. Nothing in this world ever turned out anyway except exactly as a seer wanted.
Like she could read her mind, Estella chose that moment to turn, her lips curling into a cold smile as she slipped her purse over her shoulder. “Remember that, Svena,” she said, her voice haughty. “No matter how it may seem, no matter what you do, Ialwayscome out on top in the end. But while your arrogance suggests otherwise, hope is not yet lost. You have not vanished completely from my sight, which means the future can still be changed. All you have to do is be sure that, when the time comes, you make the right choice. Will you promise me that, little sister?”
Svena’s answer was to slam the door. Her limo pulled out a second later, peeling away from the little park so fast, Svena never had a chance to see the beautiful man with the absurdly long jet black hair and bright green eyes watching the drama play out from a park bench just a few feet away.
Estella was not so unobservant. Long after her sister’s car had vanished, she stood on the curb, watching the man with the sort of intense, focused hatred mortals simply did not live long enough to achieve. The man, in turn, smiled wide and patted the empty spot on the bench beside him.
With a glare that could have frozen the whole of Lake St. Clare, Estella turned on her heel and marched to her limo, slamming the door behind her. A second later, her car shot down the street after her sister’s, passing the man on the bench so fast, the rush of wind sent his long hair whipping into his face. He brushed it back again with a grin and put out his hand to provide a landing spot for the pigeon who’d just flown up through the tiny gap in the skyway below.
