My mind raced through possibilities, each more desperate than the last. But I knew I needed to act fast. Mama wasn’t going to keep the shell around. She would smash it under her boot, just like she smashed everything else.
“How do I know this?” she asked, head bowed. “My own daughter was seduced by it.” The wolves howled. And I realized, she was talking about me. “That’s right. I led a party of valiant warriors, just like yourselves. Fighters for Diana’s love and light. And I watched as she sided with a demon. Helping him spread disease among your brothers and sisters.”
More yelping. More howling. Shayla thrust her fist into the air and added a rallying cry.
Mama continued. “I told her to repent. To make amends. To come back into the light. But she didn’t want to listen.”
I dug my fingernails into thewood, feeling angrier by the second. This was just another one of her stories, and she was leaving out the part where she was the villain.
“She allowed darkness into her heart, and now we must guide her back to Diana.”
I had come here to break the curse at my throat. To take her blood and end this. Instead, I was watching her build an army on my back.
The thunder of paws came from outside the fort, and I carefully glanced over my shoulder to find the black-furred wolf and two pack mates weaving between the trees. My stomach dropped. In seconds, Mama was going to know the truth.That I’d escaped.
My pulse hammered so loudly I was certain they could hear it. The branch beneath my boots felt narrower than it had a moment ago. The wind tugged at my skirts. I could leave. But I wouldn’t be safe. I’d never be safe so long as I had this choker around my neck.
At any time, she could activate the spell and take my life. Or I could do something to activate it myself. No. Leaving was not an option. I had to get a drop of her blood. But staying—staying meant near-certain death.
Unless… unless…
I swallowed hard, not wanting to choose this path but knowing I had no other choice. I was going to have to fall on my knees and ask for forgiveness. Bile rose in my throat at the thought of it. At the humiliation of kneeling in front of Shayla and these wolves and my mother. But if I was close enough to kneel, then I was close enough to grab the shell and slit her hand open.
Daring to let go of the branch, I set one hand on my stomach and made a silent vow. “I protect you. I protect us.”
Then I looked at the crowd, at Mama whipping them into afrenzy. If they wanted a spectacle, I would give them a show they’d never forget.
Head bowed, I stood at the entrance to the fort. Hands shaking. Thick copper-red hair, loose and blowing around my head like flames. The stench of refuse and decaying carcasses filled the air.
“I’m so sorry, Mama,” I said, sucking in a gulping breath. “For everything.”
When I lifted my chin and met my mother’s colorless eyes, I could see she was more than surprised. She wanted to know where the coach was. She wanted to know how I escaped the ropes. She wanted to grab me by the root of my hair and drag me through the mud. I could feel it.
But right now, she wasn’t able to show her true evil. She’d told all these wolves that I was the problem. That I was bad. Yet here I was, ready to come back home.
I took one step, then another, drawing closer to where she stood beside Shayla at the center of the fort. Bastien’s dagger tucked into the leather belt tied around her waist. She still had protection runes drawn on her face to guard against demonic influence.
But I was no demon. No. I was consequence.
“I just wanted to make you proud. But I was deceived.” I wiped away a tear and then the snot from my nose.
The weres didn’t seem to know how to react. Here I was, the daughter of their leader, a Dark Witch, who was seeking forgiveness. When I reached the center of the fort, I fell to my knees. “I know I wasn’t the daughter you prayed for. And I’m sorry for that.”
Mama was rarely at a loss for words, but when I glanced up at her through wet lashes, I knew I had her right where I wanted her.
She set her hand on my head. The same hand that had struck me time and time again and called it my fault. The same one that had secured the choker around my throat. I held my breath, every muscle clenched tight. It was hard not to grab her wrist, reach for my husband’s blade, and end this now. But I knew I had to wait for just the right time.
“I forgive you, child. For bringing darkness into your heart.”
The assembled weres grunted and scratched at the ground. The putrid scent of death hung all around me. I kept my head bowed. Let the tears sting. Let them believe I was breaking.
I hoped that when this was all over, we could find a way to cure them of the disease Shayla had inflicted upon them.
“But,” Mama continued. “Your fate will be decided by Diana. The moon goddess will choose if you should live or die.”
I swore the cold mud had just swallowed me whole. Dread churned in my gut. But I forced myself to breathe. Closing my eyes, I let my magick creep out of me and into her. Hate was as good as rot inside the body, and now, I encouraged that rot to spread. To multiply.
Voices rang out. They wanted my blood. They wanted to see me pay. I waited. A moment longer. Another moment longer. I let the heat inside me build, spreading the sickness to Shayla next. The hate inside her was just as thick and familiar as Mama’s.
