Bastien glanced at them. “I don’t know if there’s a way to help them.” Once he’d finished applying a thick layer of salve, he carefully wrapped silk bandages around my neck, while Tansy held my hair out of the way.
“Your mother is guilty of crimes against the Blood Treaty, and in Marius’s name, the sentence must be carried out.”
I shifted just enough to see her. The woman who had bound me. Betrayed me. Killed me. She thought she was going to get rid of me for good, but she hadn’t. She’d only made me stronger.
“Claire should be the one to do it,” Natalia insisted.
Bastien fixed his frost blue eyes on me. “As the Duchess of Roselyn, you may be the one to carry out her sentence.”
If we waited long enough, Angelina would die from the rot I’d sown inside her. She was already writhing in pain on the ground. But she’d killed me. It was only fitting that I returned the favor. After all she’d done. To these people. To me. I staggered to my feet, and when I nearly stumbled, Bastien offered me his hand. Even though my dress was heavy with blood and mud, I had never stood taller. I had never felt morepowerful.
“I am the consequence,” I muttered. Words that Gorrath had taught me. Bastien placed his dagger in my palm and curled my fingers around it.
Natalia forced her to her feet while Bastien passed judgment. The black rot had turned her once haughty face to a ruin of pustules. Finally, the exterior reflected the hate within.
“Angelina Prideaux, you conspired to start a war. You cast spells that turned innocents into weres. You inflicted unspeakable harm on every member of your family, including the Duchess of Roselyn. For this, you are sentenced to death.”
Angelina’s lips parted, her throat bobbing like she might try to speak. "Don’t," I warned. "You don’t get to say a damn thing. No one asked for your last words.”
Natalia forced her to her knees.
“I was your daughter,” I reminded her. “All you had to do was love me.” Angelina’s nostrils flared. Her chest rose and fell in quick breaths. I took a slow step forward. “You enjoyed watching me suffer."
"You don’t?—"
I struck before she could finish. A flick of my hand, a crackle of dark magick, and suddenly she was gasping, choking on the weight of my power as it wrapped around her throat like an invisible collar. Her eyes widened, panic flashing as she clawed at her skin, trying to tear it away. I let her struggle like I had when she’d done the same to me. I crouched in front of her, my voice dropping to something dark.
“I will ensure you are not buried in our family cemetery. I will ensure no rites are given to you. Your soul will be cursed for all eternity.”
“I always knew you were a demon,” she gurgled. A bubble forming at the corner of her mouth. Black liquid staining her chin.
“No,” I asserted. “I’m a witch.”
For the first time in her wretched existence, she was not the one in control. And sheknewit. “This is for every night I went to sleep, praying I was someone else." I pressed the dagger to her throat. “And for every lie you made me believe."
Just before I slit her throat, a voice said, “Claire! Wait!” I stilled. I would’ve recognized it anywhere. “Before you kill her, there’s something I have to say.”
Chapter 43
Libérer
CLAIRE
Iwas one cut away from my justice, but the dagger in my hand faltered. Barely daring to believe it was her, I chanced a look over my shoulder to find my little sister standing a few yards away. Tears flooded my eyes. It was her. It was really her.
“Sera?”
“Claire.”
Without thinking, I closed the distance between us, my arms finding their way around her, pulling her into a tight hug. At first, it was clumsy and awkward. Neither of us knew how to fit back together after everything that had happened. Her body was different, more rigid and wiry than I remembered. But it was her. My sister. I’d missed her terribly.
“Tell me you got my letter,” I whispered into her hair. “Tell me you understand why I have to do this.”
Sera tightened her hold on me. “No, I didn’t get your letter.”
“Oh, Sera.” I choked on a sob, unable to let her go. “Did she bring you here? Did she hurt you? Tell me she didn’t hurt you.”
Sera cradled the back of my head. “Clairey.” Her voice broke around the old nickname. “I’ve been with you the whole time.” She dropped her voice. “As your wolf.”
