Page 100 of Pirate Witch

“You are thinking too much about the battle,”my familiar warns.“The battle is over the second we do our job and kill the Eagle. That’s the only thing you should be focusing on. Well, that and making us both a midday snack.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re going to get fat,” I whisper to her, tugging on my underwear and covering it in a simple black shift dress.

“It’s not fat, it’sfluff,”Opal corrects.“And your vampire says it just makes me cuter.”

It takes everything I have to stifle my snort. Somehow, I don’t think she’s lying. Rysen has such a soft spot for my familiar, and it’s exactly the kind of thing he might tell her.

Still, I should warn him not to overfeed her… after we get our midday snack.

Opal leaps onto my shoulders as I pass her, kneading the skin of my neck as I sneak out of the room and make my way towards the kitchens. My conversation with Nos plays on a loop in my head, adding to the pressure that’s already weighing on me.

I won’t do it. I can’t. What if, in accepting the power and allowing myself to fall into the madness, I create a bigger monster than the Eagle or the Alchemist could ever be? A Shadow with the power of both Sun and Moon would be a powerhouse and a nightmare all rolled into one. Accepting the Sun Goddess’s mark and potentially unleashing my maddened self on the world once the Eagle is dead would be irresponsible.

I’m halfway across the courtyard to the kitchen when someone grabs my arm. It’s the middle of the day. Most Lunars are asleep. So my hackles rise instantly.

When I turn on my heel, it’s the last person I want to see.

“Going somewhere, dearie?” Alletta asks.

“Grabbing a snack,” I mumble, pulling my arm out of her grip.

Her dark eyes crinkle at the corners, like she finds something about what I said funny.

“Have you given any more thought to my offer?” She twirls one of the longer strands of her hair around her finger as she talks, almost like a child. The comparison is so disturbing that I have to force myself not to take another step back.

“I have,” I confirm. “I… I won’t do it. If I’m going to defeat the Eagle, it will be as a Shadow, and it won’t come at the cost of myself.”

Some things are more terrifying than death. No matter what Nos says, there has to be another way.

Alletta sighs like I’ve disappointed her. “Well, I’m sure that will work out well for you. Just like it did for all the other silly little Shadows before you.”

“If you’re so insistent that I need both the Sun and Moon’s powers to defeat her, why don’t you do it and prove yourself right?” I challenge.

But the other witch is already shaking her head. “Oh no, dearie, that wouldn’t work at all. You see, even with the powers of both Goddesses, I can’t tap dance on the spirit plane like you can.” She lets out another long sigh. “That’s what will end it, you know. Oh, Lily and I could duel all day and all night, but the one thing we can’t do is become a Shadow.”

She stops and looks at me, as if expecting me to disappear into the spirit plane right then and there.

“It didn’t make much difference the last time I tried.”

“Lily can ward rooms against interference from the spirit plane.” Alletta waves off my concern. “Once you can call on both magics, you’ll be able to wipe those barriers away without effort.”

I bite my lip, and she huffs out an annoyed sigh.

“Ah, well, I always wondered what it would feel like to be part of an extinct species.”

“You can’t know that I’ll fail,” I object.

“Can’t I?”

I’m not falling for this. “If you knew all along that Fate’s mark would stop the madness, why didn’t you have it? Why doesn’t Lily? And how can you know for sure that’s even what it is? No, you’re making shit up.”

Alletta shrugs. “For someone so certain, you sure do have a lot of questions. Do you really want to take the chance that you’re wrong?”

“Why are you doing this?” I growl. “What do you get out of it?”

The crazed witch grins. “Absolutely nothing. When you fail, and all of these witches die, along with the rest of your merry rebellion, I’ll still be here. I’m eternal.”

That’s what frightens me. Most people have some kind of motivation for their actions, whether they realise it or not. Alletta is the exception. She’s so insane, I’m afraid that one day she might burn the world down, simply because she wonders how pretty the flames will look dancing across the horizon.