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“Literature and history are at the crux of a surviving society. Those who fail to learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them. I do not like to fail, lovely Moira.”

I hoped to hell Soren had gone for help, and he wasn’t skulking around about to be a hero. But as soon as I had the thought, my hopes sank to my feet. He couldn’t leave me for more than a few minutes, and we were stuck at the top of a fucking mountain. And if Ari didn’t want to interfere with my mother’s odd magic, she sure as hell wouldn’t interfere when there might be a god in the mix.

Maybe she had gone for help.

Shit.

Or not. Cernunnos had already said he wouldn’t step in.

Fucking gods, man. I was over their bullshit.

Donn shook his head. “A gift freely given,” he murmured. “Your vampire blood is suppressing some of your natural abilities. The magic your mother performed to restart your aging—” He sent a glare her way. Glad to know I wasn’t the only one to think my mother sucked. “Interfered with the process.” He tilted his head, the gesture reptilian. “You are not quite immortal because the transformation was never allowed to come to completion.”

The thought of not being fully immortal didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. Perhaps there was an eventual end to this suffering. “Because my mother needed me to look my age so people wouldn’t realize she was a fucking freak.”

“Yes,” Donn agreed. “Interesting. Would you like me to correct this?”

I licked my lips. “Why would you do such a thing? Aren’t you planning on killing me?”

Donn’s eyebrows flicked up in surprise. “I am no murderer, Moira. While my plan was to hand you over to your mother, her actions have become…distasteful to me.”

“Donn,” my mother breathed. “You can’t⁠—”

He whipped his attention to her. “Do you dare tell me what I can and cannot do?” he snapped.

For the first time in my long life, my mother bowed her head in submission. “No. I—I apologize.”

“I am ancient and have learned to adapt when fate shows me another way. My gift is free of charge. Everyone should have the opportunity to fully avail themselves of their natural gifts. What your mother did was a travesty.”

Huh. What were the odds I’d find myself being held captive by an idealist? “What would happen to me?”

Donn shrugged, a surprisingly human gesture. “You will transform into what you were always meant to be, I suppose. Half witch, half vampire, not the current stasis you appear to be in.”

His eyes flickered down my body. “Your metabolism is faulty, part of the knotted magic your mother is responsible for. I suppose in a day or two, you will be feeling much better.”

“Moira—” There was a warning in my mother’s eyes, a look I had never seen before. She didn’t want me to do this. Why didn’t she want me to? She’d never warned me about anything in my life.

“I accept,” I said quickly, before I could overthink things. If his magic brought me to the state I should have always been in, what harm could it do?

I almost laughed. Maybe my logic was as fucked up as my mother’s. And honestly, if I was going to kick my mother’s ass when this was over, I needed all the help I could get.

“Good choice,” Donn murmured.

Silver magic, pure and clean, ripped me apart.

Chapter

Thirty-Six

SOREN

Moira’s scream shattered the mountainside. Birds flew from the trees, snow burst from the ground. Magic saturated the air.

I hadn’t interfered yet, only moved in closer to listen.

As much as I wanted to scream No at her, I knew what Moira was thinking. She wanted any advantage in this battle, even if a psychopath was the one to give it to her.

I couldn’t disagree. I’d do the same if I were in her shoes. The bargain hadn’t triggered, telling me Moira was not in mortal danger. Yet.