Page 10

MORRIGAN

Oronrel

Dirog and Hastur hold Variant down. He writhes and flails as he attempts to fight off the two hulking demons with large, black horns curling up from their bony heads. Gray, leathery skin covers their bodies, broken only by glowing green eyes and flat noses pierced with a row of gold hoops.

I’m angry with the King of Angels because he’s been attempting to free himself from my influence, such that Theren did.

Variant snarls and wiggles his arm free, just long enough to land a punch to Driog’s face. The demon barely flinches. Variant’s power is useless against Aivii demons, because they’re completely resistant to all forms of magic, spawned deep underground in damp earth and stone.

The heels of my boots crunch down on the shards of mirror scattered across the floor of Theren’s study.

Blood, blackened and congealed, still stains the grain of the hardwood where the former Unseelie King carved the rune from his flesh.

Things aren’t as they seem where Theren, Son of Elioth, is concerned.

“I underestimated Theren’s love for the hybrid.

..” I say. “It won’t happen again. Eilish will answer for her disobedience.

” I take a breath as I look at the destruction of the mirror.

“Theren and the others are useful, but they must be eradicated if their trouble outweighs their use. Eilish, on the other hand—she’s the key to all of this. The prophecy demands—”

“To hell with the prophecies!” Variant shouts. “This is the second time they’ve done this, Morrigan! They’re winning because you’re still too blind to see that Dragan, Cambion, Baron, and whoever else in these godforsaken realms are too strong!”

“I see all, Variant,” I seethe as my eyes narrow.

“We can’t let the succubus come to full strength, or everything will be ruined!” I yell. Then I take a deep breath as another thought occurs to me. “And must I remind you it was your fault they escaped with Theren, not mine?”

“How the fuck was that my fault?” he insists.

I shrug. “I wasn’t here when they rescued Theren. You were supposed to rule Oronrel without divergence from the plan!”

Variant slumps against the desk as Hastur wrenches his arm behind his back. He eyes me with something akin to contempt, and it causes me to chuckle. Though my spell enforces obedience, it doesn’t make the victim mindless. Sadly, whatever arrogance was there before the spell still remains.

But, where Variant is concerned, I have to admit I like his arrogance. I wouldn’t choose for him to be my mindless minion. I like his… spunk.

“When Eilish and the others first escaped your palace in Earlann, you told me they were weak and gullible. That their aimless bickering and hatred for one another would tear them apart long before they became a threat,” I sneer. “And now look at them.”

“You were the one who watched them grow stronger in the Veil and did nothing to stop it.”

Dirog slams his fist into Variant’s abdomen. I walk over to Variant and yank his head back by his hair, forcing him to look into my eyes.

“You seem intent on provoking my anger,” I seethe. “Dirog and Hastur will watch over you, now that you think it’s wise to fight my spell. Everything you do or say will be reported back to me, do you understand?”

“Yes, I fucking understand.”

“Then be a good little soldier and find out where the mercenaries are hiding in the mortal realm.” I release him, and the demons drag Variant from the room.

It’s a pity how far he’s fallen from my good graces, but he can be taught again.

I haven’t given up on Variant. We’ve come too far to turn on one another now.

As the demons move swiftly down the hall, the Cockatrice joins me in the study. He turns up his nose at the gore, despite his own proclivity for violence.

“You still hunt Eilish?” I ask.

The Cockatrice nods. “Indeed. Though not because you ordered me to do so, Morrigan. You may be the Midnight Queen to the lesser species, but I serve my master.”

“Abedon has spoken?” I ask as the creatures nods. I immediately feel as though the ground shifts beneath my feet, this information rocks me so. “When?”

“He speaks only to my kind, for we’re all that’s left of those who are loyal.”

“I am loyal!”

“To yourself,” the creatures snorts. “I’ve watched you, Morrigan, as I’ve watched all the others. You displease him. Siding with a feeble god like Silvanus was unwise.”

“No. I didn’t side with Silvanus!”

“You imprisoned my master so you could devise a plan to kill him and take his power for yourself.” His mocking laughter causes my skin to crawl as he paces toward me. “But you aren’t the only one on this journey. My master will have the girl from the prophecy.”

“You can’t be sure the girl from the prophecy is Eilish!”

“I’m as certain as you are, for I see with my master’s eyes and this Eilish will be the one to bring upon Abedon’s reckoning.

You and Silvanus and all the others who turned your backs on him will suffer greatly.

.. slowly . And when he’s done with you, I will pick the meat from your bones and feast upon your flesh while you still live.

” A long, snake-like tongue spears out of his mouth and licks along the side of my face.

“So play your little game, Morrigan, but you know what comes upon the wings of darkness.”

In the blink of an eye, the Cockatrice is gone, leaving me alone and trembling like the last leaf in autumn that has yet to fall. Tears prick my eyelids.

No. This can’t be true.

Abedon loves me. He would never forsake me, no matter how vile my betrayals have been. I’m his only weakness and he’s mine. Destiny binds us together in ways very few understand.

***

THEREN

Mount Dolgum

Hot, moist soil dampens my cheek as I try to breathe past the putrid odor that causes my nose to tingle.

My fingers are numb and cold, yet I’m sweating.

Rope digs into my wrists and I try to see past the sweat in my eyes as I fight through the nausea still assaulting my body.

The rope is crude, fashioned by raw materials found around the ruins of the old succubus village, but the spells cast on the fibers are strong.

And not fae. They must be the necromancer’s.

The vampire and the gargoyle stand nearby, watching me with their dark eyes.

I know they’re even more wary of me now that they’re aware I use blood magic.

As a catoptromancer, I know the risks of the forbidden arcana more than most. My father succumbed to darkness, but I won’t follow in his steps.

Though I’m of the Unseelie, I’m no more evil than anyone else in the realms. “How far are we to the volcano?’

“Close,” the necromancer responds.

“We can’t stay here long. Morrigan will—”

“Shut up,” Baron hisses, flashing his fangs in a warning that I’m sure causes others to cower. He lifts me off the ground and leans me against a rock that presses against my broken bones that have yet to heal. I rasp painfully, fighting through the black spots in my vision.

“We have questions that need answers before we head for the volcano,” he says.

I grind my teeth together, because I knew this would happen. “And what do you want to know?”

“What are the plans of the Midnight Queen and Variant?” the gargoyle asks. I turn my head to observe him, ignoring the throbbing at my temples.

“Which plan?”

“Don’t toy with us.”

“I’m merely asking because Morrigan always has more than one plan. She’s a schemer, Stone Lord—surely you’ve noticed by now,” I reply, watching the way the harsh planes of his face tighten with anger.

“Don’t fuck with me, Theren,” he says.

“If you mean to ask what Morrigan intends to do with the power she seeks from the Veil, I’m surprised you don’t already know.”

“Be surprised then but fucking answer the question,” Baron says.

“She intends to murder the last being in the realms with a divine title.”

“Silvanus,” the necromancer says.

“Precisely. Once Silvanus is slain, there’s nothing to stop Morrigan from getting her hands on the Eclyp . Then Morrigan can focus on the prophecy.” I see the way they regard me with suspicion. They have every right to do so and they would be wise not to let their guards down.

“What’s the prophecy she wishes to complete?” the vampire asks.

When my answer doesn’t come, a fist collides with the underside of my chin. Blood fills my mouth and I spit it toward the necromancer’s boots as I look up at him. “Get your pups under control. Beating me won’t get you the answers you seek, Necromancer.”

“His name is Pyre,” Baron seethes. “So fucking use it.”

The necromancer rests his hand on Baron’s arm, stopping him from landing another painful blow to my already aching head. I run my tongue along my gums and wince when I touch a sore spot.

“There are other ways I can get the information out of you, Theren,” Pyre threatens. “I don’t need anyone to beat you.”

“But it’s fun to watch after everything you’ve done,” Dragan adds.

“It wasn’t me who did those things... not all of me, anyway,” I insist.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Dragan asks.

I shrug which causes pain to blast my entire body.

It takes me a moment to catch my breath.

I need to heal myself but I currently lack the strength.

“Morrigan’s spell tore… out my darkness and forced it to overcome me.

In doing so… she locked away my empathy, free will, and all the goodness I’ve ever possessed. ”

“Keep explaining,” Baron demands.

“I was trapped in… my own mind, unable to escape the grim… reality Morrigan forced on me. All the while, I was unaware of my actions… until Eilish touched me on the battlefield,” I explain. “ She was the one who set me free.”

The gargoyle paces. “How do we know you are free? How do we know this isn’t one of Morrigan’s plans, and that you won’t turn dark on us again?”

“You don’t.”

“What?” The perplexed expression on the Stone Lord’s face causes me to chuckle until my broken ribs insist I don’t.

“As much as you’re afraid to trust me, and afraid that I might not be entirely free of Morrigan’s spell... I fear it far more than any of you.”

Pyre shakes his head and drops to one knee beside me. “What does the Midnight Queen intend to do once she has all that power? What’s her plan?”

I press my lips into a thin line. If I give them what they want, they’ll surely kill me once they know everything. I can’t risk my only chance of staying alive. Not yet. Not until I see with my own eyes that Eilish is alive. I trust no one, not even myself, with her safety.

“I’m not telling you anything. You’re the ones who released Morrigan in the first place.”

Searing pain bursts from my chest as Pyre punches my sternum.

I feel him grip my heart as magic forces its way into every fiber of my being until I no longer know where I begin and he ends.

His eyes are white as snow and sightless, yet he sees everything.

Everything that I ever was and ever will be.

He pulls back, stumbling slightly as he stares down at his hand in awe.

I look down, staring at the seared earth, unable to meet that unsettling gaze any longer. He knows the horrors of my past and the things I fought to keep hidden for many years. And yet... he says nothing.

I watch his boots retreat from my line of sight as he walks away. The others chase after him and I’m left on my own once more. Morrigan will send forces after me. It’s only a matter of time before we’re running for our lives again.

Part of me wishes they would leave me here, now that Pyre knows everything.