Page 5 of Lady of the Drowned Empire

I squeezed my eyes shut, grabbing the folds of my gown. I didn’t know what to do, only that I’d been in pain for hours, and my future held more of it.

It’s your choice, he thought. Say yes, and I enter. Say no, I leave you to your suffering. But you will succumb to me sooner or later. One day, the pain will be too much. Too hard. Too blinding. You won’t be able to take anymore. And on that day, you’ll take things into your own hands. Or someone else will. Someone will notice. Vorakh hunters stalk your fortress; one is already too close. You know of whom I speak: the young Lord Grey. If you do not gain control, the secret will cease, and your greatest fear will come to pass—your sisters will be exposed.

I stared at the door, the only thing separating him from me. It was unlocked. If he’d wanted to enter, he would have by now—with or without my permission.

Exactly, he confirmed. You’re showing a real talent for reading and discerning thoughts.

Men lie, I thought.

They do. Now make your choice.

I squeezed my eyes shut, my chest heaving. You can really help me?

I don’t allow other vorakh to suffer.

I could feel the truth resonating in his words, the thought carrying far more conviction than anything else he’d communicated. I nodded. Come in.

Turn off the lights. Use your stave, the one you left on your nightstand. Every single light. Don’t just extinguish them, make it black. Call the darkness to you. You know the spell.

He not only knew my thoughts, but he could see through my eyes. He knew my name, my secrets, my fears….

And I knew nothing of him. Why couldn’t I see through his eyes?

There was no answer from him. I was sure he’d heard me and was choosing not to reply, going silent like he had before, keeping me locked out of his mind.

My head was screaming, my heart hammering. But nothing could be worse than this. This pain, this agony.

My hands shaking, I walked alongside the bed and retrieved my stave, the twisting of moon and sun tree branches cool and smooth against my palm.

This was to be my first true show of magic. My first spell, my first act as a mage. Perhaps my last.

I lifted the stave and winced. Every movement worsened the pain in my head. I pointed at the first torch, the stave warming to my touch, the tip glowing with blue light.

“Ani petrova lyla.” A spark shot forth, smothering the flames. A hiss of smoke on a charred stick was all that remained. I turned, directing the stave’s light to the next torch and the next, repeating the spell until I saw nothing but black and heard nothing but the sound of my heavy breaths against the whisper of extinguished flames and the wind hissing across the waves of the ocean.

Good, he thought. Now I ask one last time. Are you sure?

Yes.

Will you let me into your room, Morgana?

Yes.

The door creaked open, filling with his dark shadow.

My heart hammered even louder, as he stepped inside with another caress of his thoughts against my mind.

Hello, kitten.

CHAPTER TWO

LYRIANA

(Present Day)

Control what they see.

A black seraphim tattoo hidden beneath the cuff on her arm.