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Jade’s face lit up. “Really? Right now?”

I nodded, and she practically jumped with joy.

“But I do the talking. And if she even tries to touch you, I’ll kill her.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second.”

And then we were on our way, marching through the grass to visit my mother in the dungeons of Rewyth.

CHAPTER11

Jade

Malachi’s body stiffened as we descended the stairs into the dungeon. Chills rose on my arms, and I knew it wasn’t entirely from the sudden drop in temperature.

“You’re sure about this?” I asked him as we continued to descend.

“It’s better to get it over with now,” he answered coldly.

I nodded. Fair enough.

I had come down to the dungeons a handful of times since we had been back to Rewyth, but never to see Esther. Or Isaiah, for that matter. I had cared about Sadie, and that was it.

No, I didn’t care about Esther.

Esther was none of my business.

She tried to kill Malachi. The thought alone put a fire in my heart.

Her own son.

I was glad Malachi walked ahead of me. That way, he couldn’t see the flash of anger that came over me.

I wanted to kill her. I wanted to be the reason that witch left this place for good.

Malachi deserved better. Even with all of the terrible things he had done, he deserved better.

Malachi led us through the maze of tunnels in the dark underearth. It continued to get darker and darker, with lanterns of fire spaced out more and more as we continued.

“How far back did you chain her up?” I asked, half-joking.

“She deserved worse,” he said.

I followed him in silence until we walked to the near end of the dungeons. A guard perched just outside of a cell. Her cell, from what I assumed.

“King Malachi,” the guard announced. He stood from his wooden stool so quickly that it nearly fell over behind him as he began brushing his uniform with his hands. “What a pleasure.”

“Leave us,” was all Malachi said.

The guard obeyed without another thought, scurrying into the darkness.

“You have a visitor,” Malachi barked into the cell.

In the dim light, it was hard to make out anything far away. But I squinted my eyes, and within a few seconds, I could see a small figure huddled to the stone ground in the back of the cell.

Esther.

She lifted her head at the sound of Mal’s voice.