Did she genuinely believe I would be so easily distracted?
I wouldn’t bend to her will this time. She had no claim over the powers that the Stars had bestowed upon me. I would shake the heavens to make sure she never got ahold of Fen’s again either.
“Fuck you.”
“You leave your tower once and suddenly become a sailor.” Firose’s eyes narrowed as she rose and stepped away from Emmerick. “Don’t be a fool.”
She crossed the room toward the hearth and began to prepare something, plucking ingredients from my shelves.
“I won’t be your fool, not anymore,” I spat. “You cannot claim me!”
Then, crying out from the pain in my leg, I stood and faced the back of the woman who had raised me with all the nurture of a Commander training a front-line soldier. I was merely a piece of her grand puzzle—an asset to use when she had pleased.
Firose braced but did not answer. It looked as though her hands shook as she readied a vial.
“I know and Death knows that too now,” she answered, and when she looked at me over her shoulder, I saw the whites of her eyes.
What in hell did that mean?
Firose sucked in a breath. Her gaze returned to cruel indifference once again before she turned back toward the hearth. Emmerick was motionless, steps away from me, but he raised a narrow glare at Firose like a dog on a chain might look at a trespasser just out of its reach.
“What’s your move here, Firose? Unbind my powers from me?”
“No, not quite.” Her tone sounded removed, calm. “Since a Lamoreaux lives, it complicates things. Once we’ve taken Luz and eliminated the risk of Fenris the Destroyer claiming you, then we’ll figure out how we might work together.”
“Work together.”That I doubted—she would try to figure out how to use me.
She kept speaking as though she had allies left. My rage carried me forward a couple steps, and I winced through the fire-like spread of pain up my leg.
“Who is ‘we,’ Firose? I don’t see any of our Sisters standing at your side.”
She did not look at me, she only said plainly, “In time.”
I scanned the ingredients she was using. Lavender, pig’s blood and grated birch bark.
The Skei remedy.
She intends to unbind something. Would she try to unbind the powers from me to take them for herself? Would I survive it…would Fen?When had she realized that Fenris’ magic coursed through my veins?My heartbeat was throbbing in my ears.
“I learned a lot by listening through the castle walls all night. Enough to confirm my suspicion that part of his magic lives in you. It felt so very familiar. Unfortunate that his powers won’t be salvageable.” She seemed to be answering the question I had not asked.
Sources. Could she hear my thoughts as Sybilla could?
My blood ran cold.She intended to kill Fen.
If she unbound that half of his power from me and destroyed it…No.
“Let me guess…he charmed himself right into your breeches, and now you’rein lovewith him?”
When she met my gaze over her shoulder again, my expression must have betrayed me. A sad smile crossed her features. “Your potential exceeds his.”
All the air left my lungs.
She continued, “He’s not coming for you, dear. No one is—but I have always been here, haven’t I?”
A lump grew in the back of my throat. She would kill Fen just to ensure he couldn’t claim my power. But she wouldn’t stop there—she’d find a way to use me.After the awakening of my full power at the welcome celebration, nothing scared me more than my starlight in her hands.
Peace Prevail.She could end it all.
