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“Bold, Morrigan,” she says. “Is it fear that keeps you from visiting me in person? Or something else?”

“I come to warn you, Eilish.”

It’s true. Though I hate her, I still need her… alive.

She glares at me. “Considering what happened to me the last time you supposedly tried to help me, I think I’ll forego the speech and get right to the point.” She crosses her arms and cocks a hip. “I’m not interested in anything you have to say.”

“The Cockatrice hunts you.”

“Yes, I know,” she sighs with exasperation.

“You can’t trust Theren.”

“Why?”

“He may have broken free from my spell, but he was dark long before I interfered. If you don’t believe me, ask Cambion. Theren once studied beneath Abedon himself.That’s why I used him. He’s just as much Abedon’s servant as is the Cockatrice, and I fear they both seek to kill you.”

“Let’s say I believe you,” she starts with narrowed eyes. “Why do you care if I live or die?”

“Of course I care if you die!” I say, sounding shocked.

Eilish takes a step toward me. “Because I’m the key to some prophecy?”

I’m getting sick of these games. I smile and my own eyes narrow. “You are a tool, Eilish. A means to an end.”

“Whose end?” she asks, with a skeptical look on her glowing face. Cambion looks good on her.

“No matter what happens, there will be more death.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means everyone you love is in danger. There are forces moving against you—forces that are far more dangerous than Variant or I could ever be. Believe what you will, but you’re a beacon of destruction. Your very existence challenges the fabrication of this world.”

There it is. The flicker of doubt.

“You’re lying,” she says.

“You know my words to be true,” I insist. “You’ve felt it all along. You, Eilish, are the harbinger of death. So many have already fallen, and your little resistance has only just begun.” My hand reaches out to brush her cheek in a phantom touch. Tingles spear down my arm as she flinches away.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” she seethes.

I drop my hand. “Come with me. You’ve seen the visions, the prophecies... you and I are meant to fight side by side against the darkness that’s coming. We aren’t meant to fight each other.”

She laughs at that. “You think I’d willingly go with you? And leave the others?”

“They won’t survive the war if you continue to deny your fate.”

Eilish lifts her chin defiantly. “From what I hear, there’s more than one ending to this story, Morrigan. Which makes me think if you’re desperate enough to come here, you know not many of those endings are in your favor. I think I’m liking my odds so far.”

My soul snaps back to my body.

Standing up from the onyx throne, I blast one of the columns with my magic and it explodes before my eyes. The tip of my middle finger turns black, charred from the talisman. Each time I use too much magic before the piece has time to charge, I feel it wearing away at me. I must get my power back!

The Cockatrice enters the throne room, casting a disinterested glance toward the destroyed column before meeting my gaze.

“What?” I demand.

“An orc scout has reported that Variant and his party have located Theren and the others. There’s a fight in the forest beneath the volcano, not far from Mount Dolgum.”