“You’re not my queen, usurper!” she crows. “You were never deserving! I won’t tell you a thing!”
I look at her, and all I can see is the human embodiment of all of Killian’s manipulations. I look at her and see him.
I see the way hesmiledat me after throwing me into my own dungeons.
My vision goes shadowy at the corners. I don’t even try to stop it. My magic surges.Cut it out, is all I can think.Cut him out.
A dark blade cleaves through her wrists.
The magic moves silently and nearly too quick to see. She gasps and looks down at the stumps where her mangled hands were a moment ago. They’re on the ground now, their withered shapes nearly unrecognizable as hands after the Tear’s burn.
Blood pours down like rain onto the frozen ground.
Then her shock and confusion turn to outright pain.
The Mother Priestess opens her mouth to scream. I hear the sharp intake of her breath, and then I break her neck before she has a chance to voice her suffering.
Her body slumps and slips to the ground. It thuds heavily, her skirts falling in a heap around her as blood still leaks from her wrists.
Stark watches me with steady eyes. I’m too angry to question my own actions or weigh the consequences.
“Do you think she was telling the truth? That an army is on its way?” I ask him.
Stark narrows his eyes, glancing down at the body. “I don’t know. Do you…” He pauses, looking like he’s wrestling with himself, then continues. “Do you have the strength to use your foresight?”
I take several deep breaths. “I don’t know,” I reply, but I move to stand next to Anassa so that I can lean against her side and try. “It should be simple to see what’s coming in the next few hours, at least. That’s not as much of a push.”
Closing my eyes, exhaustion swirls. I have to focus on my foresight magic for nearly a full minute before I fall into the snatches of vision.
I see:
Me and Stark, reuniting with Venna and Noemi, Linsfall burning behind us.
And then—yes, a squadron of Bonded riding hard and arriving at Linsfall. Enemies? Friends? I push further into the vision and see a face: Jonah.
There’s no way to tell exactly how quickly this future will come to pass. In the vision, though, it’s still pitch-black night, and the fires of Linsfall still rage.
Gasping, I pull back from the magic.
I fist my hand in Anassa’s coat, holding on to keep from sagging to the ground.
“She wasn’t lying,” I say, my voice choked with weariness. “Jonah and a squadron of Bonded are on their way here.”
“Too many for us to fight?” Stark’s eyes are lethal.
I hesitate. “We could probably take them, you and I.Ifwe were fresh. But what if some of them aren’t truly our enemies? What if they’re under Killian’s influence? I don’t want to kill any more of our own if we don’t need to.”
Stark’s eyes flash, but he mounts up. “Let’s get back to our companions.”
We find Noemi and Venna helping at the makeshift camp that’s formed outside the ruined Linsfall walls. A few Linsfall residents have begun to warily reenter the city now that the quaking has stopped, but most seem to prefer to wait longer until they’re absolutely sure the danger has passed.
Drawing our friends aside, I quickly explain that we need to get moving, that our enemies are coming here and fast.
“But what about these people?” Noemi responds with a pulse of anxiety.
“Noemi,” Stark scolds for resisting my order. She glares at him, but Ephyse’s ears tuck back as Cratos approaches.
I survey the crowd gathered around us. They’re scared, injured, confused. Their home is in ruins. Burning.
