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I shove myself to my feet and spit on the floor, Aamon’s blood flying from my mouth.

I twist my palm out toward her and Olaphina goes flying back against the wall, pinned.

A small noise is forced out of her as the breath is knocked from her lungs, the impact stunning her body.

The intricate web of dark cages her in, wrapping around her middle and squeezing tight.

So tight. The deep blue hood slips off her head and that cascade of warm chestnut waves falls about her face.

I go to take a step toward her but feel him.

His presence. Even before he places a hand on my shoulder, I know Ev is there.

He's alive.

Comfort and relief race through my body. Solace. That’s the best description of what I feel as I heave a ragged sigh and press my eyes tight against the tears fighting to spring free.

Alive. He’s alive. The words keep repeating in my head.

“Please, Bria.” His voice is pleading, begging me not to hurt the woman who raised him. Not to kill her.

The loving mother he grew up with, the sweet and gentle Olaphina.

The one who read to him, told him stories of the magical creatures of the world.

Who prayed to the old gods and kept magic alive.

Who believed in the protection of crystals and the power of a prophecy.

The one who showed him what a mother’s love could be, who showed him that he could be a strong and kind and gentle man.

But where is that woman now? All I see is the king’s bitch, the one who murders innocent people in cold blood.

The one who drains their magic until they are merely shells of humans, holds them prisoner in between the realms of life and death like the tortured soul in the corner of this cell.

The woman who tormented and abused my sister.

Who sacrificed all those lives…for what?

There is no excuse for what she has done, no cleaning the blood off her hands.

My body wars with itself as his fingers slide down my arm, trying to grasp my hand.

My teeth clench. I want to pull away, to run from him because he lied to me.

And at the same time, his fingers intertwine with mine and I feel the heat radiating through them, instantly cooling with his touch. I feel complete with him next to me.

He lied to me. He kept the truth from me, and I easily could have died here. Maybe I shouldn’t give in to him so easily. But then again, I just killed his bastard of a father, and he’s still here, still reaching out to me. And not just to keep me from killing his mother, but to comfort me.

Olaphina’s eyes jump to our hands, to the ring I wear, and a smile creeps along her beautiful face. She’s so young, bears no sign of the lines of age his father did.

“My ring,” she remarks softly, the sound of that smile slipping into her voice.

I glance down at the beautiful golden vines as Ev turns our clasped hands toward her, letting her see. The dark crystals gleam brightly even in the damp, dark air of the dungeons.

“Evander, you gave her my ring.” She sounds surprised. And happy.Why is she happy? Olaphina may have liked me as a child, even loved me, but that love is gone. She just tried to kill me, so what the fuck is going on?

Ev slips his body behind, pulling me close to him and curling his other arm around my waist. I don’t pull away.

I just narrow my eyes on his mother and let him encompass me in his warm embrace, ready to pull the vines tighter if needed, prepared to drain the life from her as she has done to so many before.

“Of course I did,” he answers, as if there were no question in his decision. “She’s the love of my life.”

The words tighten my chest, a vice gripping my heart, halting the breath in my throat. My eyes sting as he speaks, and I’m trapped. Unable to move, unable to breathe.

He lied to me but here I am, letting him hold me and comfort me.

I killed his father and here he is, embracing me and calling me the love of his life. Speaking as if nothing has changed between us. But everything has changed. Hasn’t it?

The love of his life.

“The betrothal may have been a ruse, a ploy to get us into the castle for Nimai. But the ring wasn’t, we weren’t. We aren’t.”

She nods, a small movement acknowledging his words. “Nimai. Once I saw her here, I knew Bria would come. But I didn’t expect you, my son.”

Evander sighs behind me, shifting on his feet but not letting go of my waist. “Bria began having visions over the last week or so. She could see Nimai. She could feel her and knew that Nimai was in pain. Bria took off after her.”

“And you followed,” she finishes. “I didn’t think anything would drag you back here, but I suppose I was wrong.

And yes, they are linked. The priests were hoping for that when they took Nimai, hoping to lure Bria here.

” Olaphina’s voice is strained. Despite her casual tone, the vines are tight against her chest and neck.

“Your father didn’t expect you, nor did he expect the betrothal. ”

More shocking revelations. We did fall into a trap.

I acted like a child and brought Evander into this mess.

And now there’s a chance we might never get out.

Because even now, even if I kill Olaphina, there will be no escape.

There will be no way out after killing the captain of the guard and the high priestess.

Maybe I could hold them off long enough for Nimai and Evander to escape. Maybe.

I turn my body in his grasp, unable to keep from him any longer. His gaze is soft, the golden flecks in his irises warming the chocolate brown. His expression is pained, though, lacking its usual teasing nature, and I instantly miss the way he typically looks at me.

This fucking hurts.

“Bria,” he breathes, so quiet I can barely hear him despite how close we are to one another. “I meant what I said, and I need you to know that.”

I have this insane longing to hug him, to kiss him, to wrap my body around him and apologize for what I’ve done and what I’m about to do.

Because I can see the sorrow in his eyes, and I understand he had a reason for lying to me.

I can forgive that, but his mother is still here—the beast that remains in this cell before us—and I cannot risk anything else with her.

She has to be dealt with, and I don’t think we can come back from that. No matter how much I may want us to. I choke on my words, hardly able to speak.

“I can’t,” I say finally, my voice strained and cracking with the effort. “I’m so sorry, Ev.”

He drops his hands from me, confusion and hurt rippling across his features. I’ve wounded him with my words, and I know that. But what I’m about to do to the high priestess will be so much worse.

“Bria, would you mind releasing the binds?” I hear Olaphina’s words ghost over my skin, and I spin on my heel toward her, letting my hands shoot from my sides.

The living shadows tighten around her hands. Sharpened spikes from the mist of black fly out and crash into her palms, blood spurting from her hands in a rain of deep red all around the cell.

She flinches but the smile never leaves her face. It makes my stomach drop as crimson runs down her arms, staining the deep blue of her robes a dark and ghastly color. And she still smiles, her eyes filling with warm golden flames as she watches us.

“Bria, stop!” Ev roars from behind me.

I can’t help it, but I laugh when he screams—harsh and high-pitched, depraved.“Give me one good reason why. She’s tortured hundreds. She tortured my sister. She’s a fucking monster.”

Olaphina glances from me to her son, her gaze flickering but softening. “She’s not wrong, Evander. I did all those things. And more.”

Evander shifts behind me, his form stepping into the blur of shadows swarming between his mother and me. His chestnut hair lifts with the breeze as he trains his gaze on me, the pleading gleam back in his eyes.

“Bria, I promise you, it isn’t what you think.”

I scoff, unsure of what lie the two of them would make up now, what he might say to keep me from harming his flesh and blood.

“She was just trying to pull from me, Ev. Before you woke up. She tried to drain me,” I explain, unsure if he even knows what she tried to do.

Evander’s eyes dart from me to his mother before falling to the body of his father on the ground. Still. Unmoving.A muscle along his jaw flexes.

“But am I now, Bria?” she asks quietly.

Bitch.

She isn’t. And I don’t know why. She dropped the grip on my mind and my body the second Aamon’s hit the ground. I narrow my eyes at her, refusing to respond to what I assume is some scheme.

“I was not and am still not trying to pull your magic from you. I only intended to provoke you.”

“Why would you provoke me?” I shriek, incredulous. She’s making no sense. She dug into my fucking brain and came after me, yet she claims she wasn’t trying to take my magic. I just need to get out of here and get Nimai.To get away from this wicked place.

Evander dips his head toward his father, apparently understanding far more about what she’s saying than I do.

His calm demeanor throws me off even more.

How can he be so calm right now?“Because he never would have let you leave alive.” I watch as Ev drags a hand through his hair, tugging it by the roots, only for a tangle of chestnut to be rustled back up by the swirling shadows. But Olaphina finishes for him.

“He saw your power, Bria, and there is no way he would have trusted you. No matter what the two of you did to try and convince him. I knew you would have to kill him, so I let you. I provoked you, knowing you might well kill me too, but that you would be safe. Both of you.”

So many emotions course through my veins, anger and sadness and confusion all topping the list. I dampen the black mist, allowing the shadows to curl at my feet and hands. I relax my grip on Olaphina but do not release her.