Displeasure twisted the silence, a small victory. I ran my fingers over the passage walls, feeling for the weakness.
“I think you’re very worried about me,” I said. “The wrong choice I made. Barend took Antoine home. The vampires are not happy with you.”
“Many are on my side.”
“Perhaps not, now that you lost the hostage.” I pushed harder. “They say the sires are the worst when they’re angry. Set was also here. Wasn’t she your friend?”
“Betrayer,” hissed Amal, and although she was not physically present, the air moved as if she paced around. “Set never understood.”
“I think she understood what you’d become, and you hated her for it.”
The passage closed in with the grind of moving rocks.
My pulse jumped. “Let me out, Amal. Talk to me face-to-face.”
“Why?”
“I’m a worthy opponent. You’ve known that from the beginning. From the moment I came, I’ve heard you in my head. I’ve seen through your eyes. An alarming connection, don’t you think?”
“Lies.”
“I read your journal. The one where you drew a rune and scribbled about the nymph queens. I talked to them—Metis and Aine. I found the answers. What you were searching for so frantically. What you can’t pull from your muddled memories.”
The passage grew suffocating, and I syphoned energy, pushed the confining magic outward. Inches only, but it was enough to ease the pressure.
“You’d deny yourself the answers out of spite?” I asked. “No one else has what you want.”
A lie, but deceit was part of this game. And I would not feel sorry for Amal. We were different. She had no compassion, and I’d probably die because I had too much.
“I visited Pelonie before I came here,” I said into the waiting dark. “She’s the sorceress who performed the ritual. She wanted the wolves for herself. Wanted to steal your power. She’s immortal… more than a mere witch. They call her the Bone Woman. Sometimes, it’s the Wolf Woman. She still has a fondness for wolves. Bones are everywhere in her cave and she turns them into monstrosities. You two would get along well.”
“Don’t waste my time, rat.”
“Pelonie revealed the ritual, the chant she sang.” I wanted to press my back to the passage wall, slide down until I was sitting. The exhaustion slithered through me with the urge to give up. Let go of a fool’s quest and close my eyes. Drift off to sleep.
More of Amal’s games, I realized. Her messy magic seeping into this pocket with a vampire’s desire to mesmerize. To find my hidden fears and turn them into desires.
I splayed my fingers against the wall. Drew on the cold stone, used it to ground myself.
“The witch told me how Brenna, Malin, even Leonides pushed others aside to get the knife,” I said. “They couldn’t wait to cut their flesh. I suppose you were right beside them, spilling the blood and sacrificing what was most precious for the power you coveted.”
The entire passage vibrated. Bits of dust and debris fell from the ceiling, pelting me the way Amal’s voice pelted. “I’m going to kill your dread lord.”
“Then I’ll kill your wolf,” I said, no longer mesmerized but cold and unforgiving. “I have the rune you used. I stole it from the witch. Did you know the wolf lives as long as the queen? And you never once questioned what your immortality would mean to her. Never tried to find her, rescue her from the prison you created through your lust and greed. How many centuries has she suffered, locked away, and you’re too cold to care?”
“You will rot in that trap.”
“No, I won’t. I am tied to you by fate, Amal. I am a daughter of the daughters’ daughters, and I have suffered because of what you did. Countless other women like me have suffered for your sins. The future was in your scrying bowl, and you killed the Gemini Witches because they shouted the warning. You knew I was coming, and you were afraid.”
“Enough.” Her hiss was savage.
“The truth cuts, doesn’t it?” I pulled the stone from my pocket and pressed my fist against the far end of the passage. Enough of Amal’s energy lingered for the magic to waver, then fall away. Revealing the stone corridor leading into the queen’s second throne room.
Where Grayson hung on the wall.
CHAPTER 39
Noa
