"Goodbye, my loves," I whispered. "To the life given and the life taken too soon, the goddess take you with her golden light to live freely within our hearts where the devoted and young never die…" I gritted my teeth. "Iwillavenge you."
And when they burned from existence, it felt as if I did too. My eyes closing to the memories of their protective love, pure in their darkness, one last time.
Chapter 44
IfeltDeirdre'smonstrousspiritbefore I registered that I was staring at her beautiful figure inside a mirror. Hair of silver that fell in straight glossy waves to the floor, skin that sparkled like water glittering in the sun, a voluptuous body draped in red that made others ache for her against their will.
But all I saw now was a sick rotten soul, festering beneath the illusion of beauty.
Red eyes, Sanguine eyes, once two deep pools of turquoise, glittered back at me with malice from inside the mirror before her full figure stepped from its reflective surface.
"Hello Remi darling," she cooed.
Bile rose inside my mouth and I held back the urge to spit it in her face. Instead I folded my arms andglared. If only the death that whispered in my eyes was enough to end her forever.
Reading me easily, she laughed softly. "You had yourchance to kill me, Remi darling." Stalking around me, heels clicking against a polished floor. "You failed then and you will fail now."
I said nothing. She was no longer even worth the breath it took to speak. Even so, it was amazing how effortlessly lies could spill from her lips because she actually believed them. Deceit and doubt was always her truth.
She sighed and waved her hands. "So dramatic. Honestly, your moods were always so exhausting. Why do you think I sent you away so often?"
A shrill scream echoed in the chambers around us and Deirdre narrowed her eyes when a small burgundy shadow drifted into the room falling down between us like paper from the sky.
She laughed at the suffering Sanguine shadow, the last remaining corrupted darkness that had escaped its death. "You have grown, Remi darling…attempting to kill your shadows, I would have never expected this of you, but again you failed."
Light flared in my hand, Emon's light. And with a quick flick, the shadow burst into flame between us. It burned hot and rapid, leaving behind the ashes of my cherished friends. My protectors since birth.
But upon the air, one final whisper brushed against my skin like a mother's gentle kiss goodbye. "Thank you."
My face was an indifferent mask and I could see every cold apathetic feature of me within the full length mirror Deirdre had stepped out of. Impassioned emerald eyes, relaxed stance void of tension, a steady slow beat of my pulse at the base of my neck, my hands loose at my sides. But on the inside, pain carved through my body like a butcher that enjoyed the slow agonizing cut of its quarry.
I was moments away from shattering but I'd be goddess damned if I'd ever give her that satisfaction ever again. "It is you that has failed. You failed being a queen, you failed your courts, you failed your dead family, you failed me, and you will fail as a blood goddess too. There is no ending for you but death and you know what the best part of being the daughter of a death god is?" I stepped forward, whispering just inches from her lips. "I have the power to annihilate your soul," I breathed, grinning coldly. "And when I do, you will even fail at existing."
The bright red glow of her eyes dimmed, even as they pinched to narrow slits. "You don't have the power to defeat a blood goddess, Remi darling," she smirked at the pile of ash. "Not anymore."
I tiltedmy head at the way her reflection wavered, this close to her I could see her mirage break. Her hair once shiny was coarse and brittle, her skin that was once glittering was dry and wrinkled, her body once ample, was sagging and haggard. Nodding to the mirror behind her, I said dryly. "looks like you will need to find a new source to feed your newfound power, blood goddess."
Panic lit in her eyes right before she spun, her long red train in her dress slapping against my legs.
"No," she hissed, touching her face, smoothing the frizz in her hair, blinking over and over again as if she could undo what her reflection showed her.
I crossed my arms. "You fed from my shadows, fierce vengeful souls. You drained them like beasts, like the blood fae of old, taking their powerful essence." This time it was me that circled her like prey, this time I was the predator—stealthy, patient, silent in my pursuit without the obnoxious clacking of pretentious heels.
"No," she hissed again when her aging continued. Hair turning gray, blemish appearing on her skin, her bones sticking out of her body from her flesh’s flabby remains. Her dimming red eyes looked back up at me, where I stopped to stand silently behind her, watching as she transformed into the wretched creature she had always been on the inside.
"You should have known. The greater the power, the greater the need, the more you need to feed."
Silence stretched. The air still between us, holding its own breath to see who would break first.
Her shoulders started to shake and at first glance, it looked as if her aging body was shaking with rage, but then a coarse cackle struck the silence between us.
"Clever, Remi darling, and cute using the spirit realm to manipulate me," she purred, turning towards me with an evil smile, waving a hand over herself, returning the frightening beauty that was the former queen of Faerie. "It is also cute, that you think your shadows are the greatest source I have obtained." Reaching out she stroked my face. "I look forward to our next meeting, my love." Pulling away she kicked her dress back towards the mirror, stepping through it before turning to look at me over her shoulder, red eyes gleaming once more. "Oh and please enjoy your shifter king, Remi darling, one wouldn't want to waste time, you never know how much you truly have left," she said, blowingme a kiss.
Dread seeped into my already haggard soul but still I held my ground. "Do you know what the saddest thing about all this is, De?"
She paused, looking back at me again with her brow arched.
"All the power in this world couldn't even make you a being worth loving."
