Amira had walked closer too, standing next to Elyssa, warming her heart through her closeness. “Oh, I’m counting on it,” Elyssa replied. “With what we have in store for him, he won’t get to die without first meeting my fists.”
Eyden swallowed, shifting his feet. “We can’t kill him.”
“We can. Wewill.That’s why we came back now. There is a spell to bind a fae’s power,” Elyssa explained. “If we can get our hands on this powerful artefact that’s hidden in the temple here, we can basically disable Karwyn, making sure he doesn’t win the contest. And then we can take him out for good. Give him a taste of his own medicine.”
Tilting his head down, Eyden turned to Lora with a question in his eyes. Lora gave him a subtle nod. “Lora is bound to Karwyn,” he explained.
It was Elyssa’s turn to be shocked. Damn.Goddamn hell.It was worse than she’d expected.
“Like his witch?” Amira asked.
Eyden answered for her. “Lora’s not a witch, but he did use a blood contract. She can’t talk about any of it, so don’t ask her directly. Farren managed to make a magical copy of the agreement. That’s how I know. Lora has to take part in a ritual that will give Karwyn her powers, otherwise, her mother will die.”
Amira’s brows furrowed. “Her mother?”
“Karwyn made her sign with her mother’s blood. Farren could tell.” He didn’t elaborate, but Elyssa knew what he meant. Farren could tell it was human blood. Lora’s wouldn’t have been purely human, so Eyden must have put two and two together.
“Holy fuck. That bastard gets more evil by the minute,” Elyssa exclaimed. After all Lora had done to try and save her mother, Karwyn knew how to get her to behave. “Why Lora, though? Why does he need her power specifically?”
“He’s been trying to get the powers of high-level fae for years,” Eyden explained, letting Elyssa connect the dots. Of fucking course. It was all connected. “Lora is his cousin, and Farren thinks they must have a similar power level. There is an ancient ritual, giving one of them all the power and leaving the other completely drained.”Dead.That was what he avoided to say.
“That’s what his sick experiments are for,” Amira added, apparently also putting the pieces together.
Elyssa crossed her arms, her fingers tapping against her uninjured arm. “If he needed Lora so goddamn badly, it makes sense why he would bother to create and release a virus on Earth.”
“He what?” Eyden said, locking eyes with Lora, whose silence said it all. “I should’ve known. I should have fucking known.”
“You couldn’t have,” Lora whispered, putting her hand on his arm.
“We can all agree Karwyn is the fucking devil,” Elyssa summed up. “Tell me, why can’t we bind his powers and prevent this ritual from happening?”
“If the ritual doesn’t happen, for whatever reason, Lora’s mother will suffer the consequences,” Eyden said. Lora’s hand tightened on his arm. Panic radiated from her.
How the hell would they get out of this one? Their plan had just been sent over the cliff.
“What if, instead of binding his power, we use the artefact to break Lora’s contract?” Amira suggested, her voice somehow both assured and uncertain.
“Is Farren strong enough for that?” Lora asked, turning to Elyssa.
Elyssa met Amira’s trusting eyes, silently asking for permission. Amira bit her lip but tilted her chin down. “Amira can help. She’s…gifted.”
Smiling at the word, Amira’s reaction lit up Elyssa’s whole being. “I’m,” Amira said, her eyes not leaving Elyssa’s, “a witch.”
Though Eyden and Lora both seemed surprised, Lora recovered quickly. “We won’t tell anyone,” she promised Amira.
“I won’t reveal your secrets either,” the princess replied.
“Good, because it would be mutual destruction,” Eyden threw in, earning him a hit to the shoulder by Lora.
“Seriously, Eyden?” Elyssa said.
“I’m only stating a fact,” Eyden replied, rubbing his shoulder. “I trust your instincts, El, but I’ve known Amira for all of five minutes. I’ve known others for years and trusted them with less information.”
“Which is a problem in itself,” Lora observed.
Eyden threw her a dark glance; she merely smiled at him in return.
“Do I need to recap your history of trustingpeople?” he asked, teasingly.
