Esetta had kept the secret of Desideria’s death to her own death. So she could have me—and make sure Guillaume was available when I needed him.
My throat ached, my eyes burning with unshed tears. “So in a way, I am responsible for Basilia’s capture.”
“It doesn’t change the risk,” Guillaume said softly.
Closing my eyes, I nodded. Though the guilt choked me. I watched the Dauphine enter this nest as my mother, though her face slipped to Leonie’s. Another jump scare to my system. I didn’t want to watch the torture I expected after hearing what had happened to her in New Orleans.
But I had to know. Suffering with Basilia was the least I could do. Especially if I couldn’t restore her.
The Dauphine’s mighty blow of magic made it impossible for Basilia to fight back in any way. Like Thierry had described, she looked stunned, unable to move under her own power. The Dauphine tossed her down on the ground in her own grotto, unable to move or speak but feeling everything.
Ravaging hunger when her blood was completely drained. Her right hand lay stretched out beside her, still holding the disk. Though now it was silver. I tried to zoom in closer, but Basilia’s eyesight was fading.
Dread squeezed my lungs. If I wanted to know the rest…
I needed to touch the Dauphine’s memory in this place and allow her magic to flow through me.
44
SHARA
Ihated the Dauphine. I hated her power. As I watched what she’d done to Basilia, my hatred burned and boiled with the destructive power of Mount Vesuvius, the place of my conception.
Because Jeanne fucking enjoyed every single moment of torturing Basilia.
I wrapped a delicate metallic chain around her wrist, up her arm, and looped it around her throat, locking it into place.
“This adamantine chain was made more than two thousand years ago,”my mouth moved along with the Dauphine’s, speaking the words out loud for my Blood and Undina.“And its making has been lost forever. I’ve been saving it for the perfect occasion. Don’t you feel honored?”
Guillaume let out a low whistle. “Adamantine is a fabled indestructible metal from Greek mythology.”
“Let’s see if the Athene noctua has done its job.”
I paused the image in my head, focusing on the silver disk so we could identify it. “She called it a tetradrachm.”
“They’re classical currency from the same period,” G said. “Made from silver, usually stamped on one side with Athena’s image, and an owl—the Athene noctua—on the other.”
The physical sensation of pleasure rippled through my body as the Dauphine—I—peeled the silver disk away from Basilia’s hand. Reduced to a bloodless, undead corpse, she screamed and howled, her heels drumming on the ground. Even though her skin had shrunken tightly to her skeleton, I could see the tendons and ligaments straining beneath her skin.
The Dauphine tossed the silver disk onto the ground in the mouth of the cave, though it was still attached to Basilia through the adamantine chain.
“Ah, was that as enjoyable for you as it was for me? No?”Laughter came out of my mouth, twisting my stomach into knots.“Your hydra is now bound by the Athene noctua. She’ll kill anyone who approaches to try and free you. As long as you live, darling, nothing will be able to kill her, either.”
Nausea churned my stomach, bubbling up my throat. Fighting the urge to throw up, I released the memory. I turned my face into Rik’s chest, breathing deeply for a few moments, letting his scent soothe me.
“She lost her hydra?” Even Okeanos’ formidable mother’s voice trembled. “Goddess. I didn’t know that was possible.”
I didn’t have to be inside Basilia’s memory to know it’d fucking hurt to have her creature stripped out of her. A piece of her goddess-given power had been physically ripped from her body.
Closing my eyes, I whispered, “That’s not the end of the torture either.”
“What do you mean?” Undina asked sharply.
“When the Dauphine took a queen, it was more than just stealing her likeness. Even more than stealing her house and her power. When we saw her as Basilia in the Gulf, she spoke as Basilia. I assume she also wrote in Basilia’s handwriting. Evenpeople who knew her wouldn’t see through her disguise. I’ve seen how she accomplished such fakery, and it’s… unpleasant.”
Rik’s fingers slid beneath the heavy bundle of hair at my nape, his grip strong and comforting. “We know enough now, my queen. You don’t have to view the rest.”
I tipped my face up to his. “I owe her.”
