“Are you like every other elemental?”
Point taken.
“Your counterpart in the Tower of Myda, her mind was taken by the succubus. Her body turned to a weapon, used against her will. Even though she was female.”
She was not staring at the amulet anymore. No, she’d lifted those eyes to me. I’d thought the nails were bad? Her eyes wereworse. It felt as if she could see directly into my soul, past every barrier real and internal.
A second—that was all it would take for the succubus to invade her body and for me to lose this chance.
“Put it on,” I commanded. I left the other half of the sentence unsaid—and then I will tell you the rest.
Her eyes did not twitch from mine as she lifted the amulet overhead and lowered it to her shoulders. Only when she pulled her hands away, and the amorite remained, did I feel my stomach begin to unclench.
“A witch’s mind is not tethered to her body. It is a powerful magic. But a dangerous one, particularly when it leaves your mind open and accessible to the succubus, regardless of gender.”
The witch smiled. Horrible. Every instinct inside of me screamed. “You always were so very clever. Even as a child. But I have watched you for years, Queen of Death and Darkness. You and many others. Why should I fear the succubus now?”
“Because they want me.” And proximity to me might very well draw the succubus directly to the witch. One of the many reasons I’d needed to make this journey alone. I would not put my friends in this kind of danger.
Parys had nearly died in the Tower of Myda. The feat required to reach the witch here in the Spine was different, but no less harrowing. I would not sacrifice another friend on the altar of my own agony.
The witch sank down on a stone, not unlike the one where Excalibur had been lodged, waiting for me to claim all those months ago. She’d called me queen, but she was the one seated upon a throne, grinning as she said, “Indeed, they do.”
I did not linger on that thought. I already knew the succubus was drawn to me; Arran and I had discovered that truth in Palomides’ dungeons.
“My terms are simple,” I said as I stalked around the perimeter of the cave, angling my body so that my strong arm was always angled toward the witch. “Allow me to hold you at my mercy, answer my questions, and you shall live.”
“And then you shall leave me in this frozen hell for another seven thousand years.”
Well, that was my first question, answered. This witchwasthe one of legend, the one deposited by the Ancestors in the terrestrial kingdom after the witches were stripped of their power following the Great War.
“I do take after my Ancestor in more ways than one,” I said, with a casual shrug. Entirely faked. I was aware of every breath the witch took, every twitch of her mouth or cheek or disgusting nails.
“She was a self-righteous, arrogant thing as well,” the witch muttered.
And there was my second. Nimue had been the one to entomb the witches—Nimue and Accolon. For this moment, they’d done it.
They’d known about the Void Prophecy. They’d known the succubus would return. And they had trapped the two witches, one in each of the fae kingdoms, so that when the time came, a prophesized queen would be able to come here to demand answers.
But unlike the witch in the Tower of Myda, I did not taunt this one with the knowledge that I’d extracted answers from her for free. This witch needed to survive, so that if some future descendant—or me, myself—needed her, she would be right here, waiting.
I sighed heavily, the perfect mask of impertinence. “You have watched me for years. You are aware of my skill with a blade. Agree to my terms, or I shall start slicing off limbs. Then, onceI have you at my mercy, you will answer my questions as you bleed out.”
I expected her to take longer to consider, but the witch’s eyes only flickered once.
“Very well.” She folded her hands in her lap, the curled tips of her fingernails scratching across the cave floor. “Come, Queen of blood and vengeance. Ask your questions.”
I approached her from the back, with both blades drawn, just as I’d planned.
When I reached her stone pedestal, I pressed the blades to the back of her neck—not hard, but enough that she could feel the kiss of the amorite-swirled blades. She flicked her colorless eyes over her shoulder for just a second.
She would still try to kill me.
But I would be ready. And in the meantime, I would get the answers to my three questions. I recited the words carefully, just as I had in the tower in Baylaur.
“I have conquered the terrors of the Spine. I come bearing blades and power. You are at my mercy. You will answer my questions.”
Inside of me, the ember of my power danced awake at its mention.
