Page 4 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen (The Heartless and the Wicked #4)

TWO – KOLFINNA

The last time Kolfinna had seen Herja was three days ago; she had been vibrant, full of life, a spitfire, a worthy warrior with the most powerful flames Kolfinna had seen in a woman.

But here, spread out on the floor with maroon-colored splotches of dried blood coloring her uniform, her hair knotted and dirtied, and her skin matching the gray walls, she was nothing like the woman Kolfinna knew. She almost didn’t recognize her.

“Herja?” She couldn’t keep the fear from seeping into her voice and she quickly clamped her mouth shut. They couldn’t know just how important Herja had become to her, but when she glanced over at Vidar and then Rakel, it seemed like they already knew.

Herja lifted her head slowly. Her brilliant blue eyes sparked with recognition. “Kolfinna,” she murmured, her eyelids drooping as if it was difficult for her to stay awake. She opened her mouth to say more, but slumped over the floor.

“What have you done to her?” Kolfinna couldn’t hide the horror from her voice as she ran over and dropped down beside her. She tried pulling her up into a sitting position, but it was like Herja had no strength left in her body. She collapsed over Kolfinna’s lap limply.

Kolfinna pushed back strands of her bright red hair and inspected her body for injuries, but she didn’t find anything too fatal. “What did you do?”

It reminded her too much of a different incident—back with Eyfura, when Revna had sapped her body of all mana.

Kolfinna quickly pressed her palm over Herja’s forehead and closed her eyes to concentrate.

Almost immediately, she could feel the faint pulse of Herja’s mana.

It was barely there, almost completely drained.

Herja’s eyes fluttered open, like she was trying her hardest to remain awake. Her lips parted and she tried to speak, but her eyelids began shutting once more. Kolfinna held her tightly.

“It’s all right,” she murmured. “I’ve got you.”

“Kolfinna, you—you—” Herja’s head flopped to the side.

“How could you do this to her?” Rage like she had never felt before rattled off her bones and flesh, like a bowstring pulled too taut, ready to snap.

This was what it meant to be a mana slave.

To be forced to give up your mana to whoever wanted to steal it.

To be drained of all energy and be teetering on the edge of death. How many people had taken Herja’s mana?

Rakel sniggered, the corner of her mouth raised in a smirk. There was no kindness in her elvish eyes; maybe only cold indifference. She upturned her hands. “Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “I’m only a very small fraction fae, so I can’t take her mana.”

Vidar remained unmoving in his seat. His hands were folded over the map; he was watching her every move, she realized with a jolt. Testing her. But she didn’t care. She couldn’t help the fury that washed over her.

“Why would you do something like this? You want me to believe that your side is the correct side when you do things like this?” Kolfinna tightened her hold on Herja.

The dull flow of her mana fueled her anger even more.

She placed her fingers on Herja’s wrist and forced her own mana into her.

It came in a slow trickle at first, before she pumped more into her.

Slowly, the color returned to Herja’s cheeks and Kolfinna sighed in relief.

At least she wasn’t too far gone. “Turning someone into … into this is just cruel.”

There were times where Herja had annoyed Kolfinna, and sometimes she could barely stand the woman, but the past few days and weeks, their relationship had improved.

She actually liked her. Herja was funny, headstrong, confident …

and there was a part of Kolfinna that was a little jealous of her.

Jealous that she chased after whatever she wanted and seized it, jealous that she was so vibrant and colorful, jealous that she knew where she fit in the world.

Seeing her like this cracked something in Kolfinna that she had thought had been lost ever since Katla’s death.

Fear.

Because now she actually had people she was terrified of losing. Blár. Eyfura. Herja. Inkeri … The list went on and on, and she hadn’t even realized she had amassed a list until that moment.

Vidar watched her like a hawk, and all the color drained from Kolfinna’s face when she met his eyes. Something flickered there—an understanding, perhaps—and it sent a cold, cold shiver down to her bones.

She should have hidden her emotions more, she should have acted like she didn’t care, because now they both knew that Herja was important to her.

“Kolfinna,” Herja murmured.

That snapped her out of her reverie and she slowly craned her neck down to look at her friend.

Herja’s bright sapphire-like eyes peered up at Kolfinna, reminding her of her blue flames, powerful and unrelenting. “What’s happening here?” she croaked.

Kolfinna didn’t know how to answer that.

What should she say? That the half-elf commander had captured her in order to free the last fae queen?

That Herja had likely been imprisoned to be used as leverage?

That Kolfinna was the long-lost daughter of the half-elf and the wicked queen, and that she was the only one who could damn them all?

“Why am I still alive?” Herja’s voice gained some strength and she grasped the front of Kolfinna’s torn uniform. She searched her face for answers, confusion plaguing her beautiful features. “Why are we here?”

Rakel clucked her tongue; disappointment resounded with every click.

She walked over to them, a haze of shadows flicking behind her in ominous streaks.

“You didn’t tell her anything, did you, Kolfinna?

” She purred the words out with a touch of amusement, circling them like a beast who had captured its prey.

“I thought you trusted the humans. But it appears like you’re full of lies and deception.

You say that you’re loyal to the humans, but you can’t even tell them your secret? ”

Kolfinna stilled. She hated the way it sounded, even if it was true. She hadn’t told anyone about her role in all of this because … she knew, deep down, that there had been a chance she would be murdered. It was the only sure-fire way to make sure Queen Aesileif was never awoken from her slumber.

She hadn’t even told Blár.

“You know their nature. You know you can’t trust them,” Rakel continued.

She crouched down beside them both and tilted her head to the side as she watched Kolfinna.

She probably wanted a strong reaction out of her, but Kolfinna could barely meet her gaze.

She could only stare at the floor, her jaw clenched tight together.

“You’re lying to yourself if you believe they’re your best chance of survival,” said Rakel.

“ Stop it .” Kolfinna clutched Herja tighter.

“You’re a fool if you think they won’t kill you.”

Herja weakly pushed herself into a sitting position. The black magic binding her wrists together shifted with the movement. “What are they talking about?”

Kolfinna swallowed down the bile clawing up her throat. She couldn’t bring herself to say it. Her mouth tasted like ash.

“Kolfinna?”

“I …” Her lower lip quivered. “I don’t know, Herja …”

Rakel didn’t laugh like Kolfinna expected her to.

She didn’t sneer or snicker with a I told you so expression.

It was like she’d already known Kolfinna was going to say that, and that drove something deep into her chest, weighing down on her like a heavy anchor.

Kolfinna’s mouth was too dry to speak, and shame and guilt battled within the pit of her stomach, neither relenting to the other.

When she peeked over at Vidar, she saw the same wordless, emotionless look.

If they knew who you are … Do you think they would still want you here?

She hated the doubts rearing their ugly heads in the back of her mind. She hated the knowing looks on Rakel and Vidar’s face. She would much rather they smirked and scoffed at her childishness. It would have been easier to dismiss them that way.

“Kolfinna?” Herja’s confused expression made it all the worse. Embarrassment bubbled beneath the surface of her skin and she prayed it didn’t show on her face, prayed the mask of indifference she tried to keep in place held.

Before Kolfinna could respond to her, Rakel sprang forward and grasped Herja’s hair by the roots and yanked her backward. Herja yelped, her bound hands going straight to her scalp, but Rakel was faster. She tugged her backwards and placed her long-nailed fingers against her pale neck.

Kolfinna jumped to her feet, heart pounding, mana rushing to her fingertips. “Let her?—”

“ Shh .” Rakel dug her claw-like nails deeper into Herja’s throat. Black wisps dripped off her hands, making her fingernails sharp with shadow magic. Blood welled at the tips of her nails and Herja stilled.

If Herja had been able to use her magic, Kolfinna was sure she would have burned Rakel right where she stood.

She would have blasted her blue and purple flames in the room, raised the temperature so much that smoke and steam intermixed in the air, heavy and foggy.

But the shadows restricted her, leaving her completely vulnerable and locked from her own magic.

And even though Kolfinna could use her magic in this room, her confidence waned with the half-elf mere feet away from her, watching her with that disappointed, cold expression.

Kolfinna could probably rip out a chunk of stone from the floor and chuck it at Rakel’s head, grab Herja’s hand, and book it toward the door …

But then what if the half-elf decided to attack too?

Was he faster than her? Could she catch them both by surprise if she shot pieces of stone at them?

What … could she do against a man who could defeat Blár?