Danu nodded. “Everything is linked. The lock affected everything. Find the one who did this to you and punish the one who broke your heart. They are linked.”
I thought about it. “How pissed is Dad going to be?”
Danu shrugged. “Very. But he will be relieved when you rise from the earth once more and he sees you are no longer diminished.”
I thought about it. My Floromancy never seemed affected by this lock or whatever it was, but Dad had mentioned something a long time ago. The words escaped me, but a plan formed in my head.
I tilted my head and studied her. “Are you more powerful than my father?”
Danu laughed. “Apples and oranges, girl. We all have different skills.”
DAD. I sent a shout and a mental image through the link we’d occasionally shared.
The ground rumbled a second later.
Danu blinked, her eyes narrowing. “What are you doing?”
A golden hand punched through the dirt, followed by my father’s grinning head, like an upside-down groundhog. “Need a ride?”
“I’ve been manipulated by the best, Danu, and I’m tired. I’ll have Dad remove the lock.”
Dad’s amusement drained from his face. “A lock?” His swirling gaze went to Danu, who wisely shrank away.
“Yep. Can you help?”
He didn’t answer, but I could tell the answer from the look in his eye. “Take my hand, Evangeline.”
I reached up for my father with one hand and flipped Danu off with the other. “You should have opened an IRA when you were younger so you could retire sooner. Fuck you and fuck your job offer. I have enough shit to do.”
Dad’s hand clenched in mine and power roared through my body. Something ripped inside my abdomen, a tearing and rendering pain that made me scream in agony.
A second later, sweet, sweet power flowed through my veins, and I was tunneling up through the earth, safe in my father’s arms.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Icame back to my body in a rush of magic, my hand still clenched around Caelan’s throat, the other still holding the spear. A moment of vicious disorientation made me sway, but it wore off quickly.
“Evie?” Rowan’s eyes glowed with concern.
I turned my attention to Caelan. “FOR THE CRIME OF ATTEMPTED MURDER, YOU ARE CONFINED TO YOUR KEEP LANDS.” Rowan flinched at the power in my voice.
“IF YOU ATTEMPT TO LEAVE, YOU WILL DIE. IF YOU ATTEMPT TO SEND OTHERS OFF THE LANDS TO FURTHER YOUR AGENDA, ALL OF YOU WILL DIE. YOU WILL STAY THERE UNTIL YOU MAKE AMENDS TO ME AND TO ROWAN OR UNTIL YOUR MATE FINDS YOU. YOU WILL SUSPEND YOUR LORD TITLE UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THIS CURSE IS BROKEN.”
My eyes had cast a pink and silver glow over his face.
Caelan’s face went bone white. “You cannot be serious.”
A ball of magic formed in my hand. “I’m completely serious,” I said quietly. “You finally went too far. I am no longer the woman you knew before. Youwillstay confined to your lands,Caelan. As we speak, your territory is surrounded by poisonous thorns. You or any shifter who crosses the boundary with any ill will in their heart will die. If you care about your people, you will heed my words.” I released his throat and rose. “You will bear my mark on your chest. Behind it is the poison that will stay inside your body until the curse breaks.” I bent over him. “Try me at your peril, Lord.”
I yanked the spear from his body and slapped my hand on his chest, healing the wound while still keeping a small capsule of my poison in the area. My power came so easily now it was a simple action.
A dark starburst with a small, stylized flower in the middle was the only sign of the injury. I smiled with too many teeth. “I’ll send you a reminder with the details.”
Caelan’s nostrils flared. “Evie, you cannot do this. I will amass the power of the Lords against you?—”
Ethan stepped up. “The power of the Lords only stands with those who are in the right. I saw you try to kill Rowan, Caelan. Evie’s methods might be unorthodox, but she’s within her rights to punish you.”
