Brianna’s good eye widens. “Are you insane? They’ll—”
“Ah, that’s quite enough, dear.” Nia hisses. “We have to get your big sister straight to theMathairs.”
Rynn opens the cell door again and Nia drags me backward.
Fuck.
“No.” Brianna lurches forward, chains rattling. “No, please.”
“It’s okay,” I say, though we both know it’s a lie. Nothing about this is okay. Bast’s presence flickers inside, growing stronger, like he’s getting closer.No. No. No. You can’t come for me.I push the thoughts to him, warning him away.
They lead me from the cell, Brianna’s protests fading behind us as we climb back into the light. I know these halls. Know exactly where they’re taking me. The throne room awaits, and with it, a reckoning I’ve feared since the moment I first realized I loved Bast.
I close my eyes, holding onto the memory of his smile, his touch, his love. They can’t take those memories. They can’t take his love from me. But as the great doors of the throne room swing open, I realize how wrong I am.
They can take everything.
And they will.
Golden light spills across polished marble as I’m marched down the center aisle. Three thrones rise on the dais ahead, carved from white stone that seems to glow from within. And on those thrones sit the women who have ruled my entire life.
Helen, the eldest, sits in the center. Her silver hair is bound in elaborate braids, her white robes immaculate. To her right,Margaret’s beauty hasn’t faded in all these decades, but her eyes hold the cold calculation of a predator sizing up wounded prey. And Emily, barely older than me, perches on the leftmost throne like a bird ready to take flight.
My hands tremble in the cuffs. They’ll take everything from me—my magick, my memories, my love for Bast. Our link pulses with his determination, his rage, but it only feeds my terror. Because there’s something worse than losing him.
If they discover what he truly means to me, they’ll use our bond to draw him here. To break him. To enslave him. The thought makes bile rise in my throat, but I coerce my face to stay blank. I can endure whatever torture they devise, but I cannot let them reach him through me.
Nia forces me to my knees twenty paces from the dais, then backs away and leaves the room with the Delta Team witches. The marble is hard against my bare knees, and I’m suddenly, painfully aware of how I must look—wearing only Bast’s T-shirt, hair wild, feet dirty from the cobblestones.
“Our wayward daughter is returned.” Helen’s voice carries easily in the vast chamber. She rises, each movement graceful despite her age. Her soft footsteps echo as she descends the dais. “Though not by choice, it seems.”
I fix my eyes on the marble floor, counting the crystalline veins in the stone to keep my anger contained. Inside, my heart pounds against my ribs like a war drum, but I won’t give them the satisfaction of seeing me break. Let them think me cowed—it’s better than letting them see how much I want to tear their perfect world apart.
“Look at me, child.”
I raise my eyes, meeting that ancient gaze. Helen’s face is kind, almost grandmotherly. It’s a lie I learned to recognize long ago.
“Such a disappointment.” She clicks her tongue. “Such a fine student, distracted by a man. And not just any man.” Her fingers grip my chin, forcing my head up further. “A Moonbound wolf. In America, no less. How fascinating.”
Bile rises in my throat. “I don’t—” The lie dies on my tongue. What’s the point of denying it? They already know about Bast. Elsa. My mind races through possible responses, each one more damning than the last. The truth will destroy me, but lies will only make my demise slower and more painful.
Her grip tightens. “Those marks on your wrists—did you think we wouldn’t recognize them? That we wouldn’t know exactly what they mean?”
They know everything.
“What happened to Elsa, dear one? And don’t lie to me.”
I swallow hard. “I haven’t seen her.”
The slap cracks across my face like lightning. “I told you not to lie.” Helen’s voice hasn’t changed, still gentle as a summer breeze. “We know she’s dead. What surprises us is that you were able to do it.”
I was also surprised.I don’t say that, but I definitely thought it. The only thing I want right now is for Brianna to be spared. And Bast. Anything to keep their attention away from them.
“Please.” The word scrapes out of my throat. “I’ll take whatever punishment. Just don’t hurt Brianna anymore. She’s innocent.”
“Innocent?” Helen’s laugh is like breaking glass. “Your sister tried to leave for a human male. You killed your mentor. And now we find you’ve bound yourself to a monster. To a lowly being that belongs here in this court as our slave.” She turns, gesturing to Margaret and Emily. “Come, sisters. Show her the price of such betrayal.”
The others glide down from their thrones, white robes whispering across marble. My heart pounds so hard I think it might break my ribs.
