Liar.He makes a harsh, hollow sound that might almost be a laugh.You wear it well, the fear. But I won’t hurt you.
I press back against the wall. He moves forward. A shift and flicker, ashapethat won’t become quite real. Shadows wreathe me, and the air is cold cold cold. I think of the lake. The blackened water. The poisoned shore. How the woundtore in the ground when the ritual failed. How the earth rose up and snared Rowan when he put his cut wrist to the mud.
I can’t breathe.
You asked for my help. Did you find what you wanted?His voice is a kiss in the shell of my ear.The boy, the monster, the truth.
“I don’t know.” I don’t know anything anymore. Only the bitten-down taste of my fear.
I think you do, Violet in the woods.
I hold out my hands. Upturned and empty. My skin is cold, but I can still feel the bloom of heat that gathered in my palms when Arien cast the spell. “My magic was gone. It’s supposed to be gone.”
But it isn’t.
“Last night, when I touched the Corruption… it changed. Why is this happening?”
Let me show you.
The vision clouds over me, sudden and swift. I see the lake, black and endless. Twin moons, both full. One above in the night sky, one below, reflected on the water. There’s a sigil carved into the ground. It’s just like at the ritual, except I’m alone on the shore.
A rush of power sparks beneath my skin like a scatter of embers. Warm and bright andmine.
Magic trails through my fingers, but it’s different from the magic I’ve seen Arien or Clover cast. It’s dark; it’s light. Shadowed and golden, it covers my skin with a mixture of intenseheat and painful cold. The same as the icon in the parlor, where the Lady and the Lord Under have their fingers entwined, light and dark, dark and light.
The rush of power floods through me until I’m sure my heart will stop. I’m in the lake, half beneath the surface. And the water is clear. The shore is smooth.
The vision ends. I am back in the hall.
“I have the power to mend it on my own?”
Not yet. But I could give it to you. You’ve accepted my help before, Violeta. Don’t you want to be able to keep everyone safe?
I do. I do. I want this magic. I want the terrible, wonderfulforceof this power that would make it all stop. “But I don’t understand. You made the Corruption, why can’t you mend it?”
I can’t. Not alone. It’s grown beyond me now.
“If—If I agreed to this, what will happen?”
Why don’t I show you what would happen if you don’t?
The floor softens, turning to mud. My feet start to sink. Black water pours down, turning my whole body to ice. I’m pressed right against the door, carved wood and a cold handle behind me. The Lord Under moves closer.
What happens when Rowan Sylvanan can no longer pay his tithe?
“He will die.” It’s the first time I’ve said it aloud, and it hurts more than I thought it would to speak this truth. “He will die, and the Corruption will be gone.”
Is that what you want?
He bends until his face is right beside mine. His impossiblefeatures shift and shiver as the light cuts through him. He’s there and not there, real and not real. I tip my chin upward. I keep my eyes open, and I meet his darkness.
Do you want to watch it claim him? Take him apart, piece by piece, until there is nothing left? That’s what will happen.
Will you let me help you?
A desperateyesclings to my tongue. But the Lord Under’s help always comes at a cost; I know that all too well. I’ve bargained with him once and paid the price. I can’t do it again.
“No. I don’t want your help.” I flex my hands open and closed. My fingers are wet and numb, but beneath the chill I can feel the faint warmth of power. “I can do this without you.”
