He fell silent for a long moment, and I felt like an icy gulf had opened between us. “She cautioned me against you.”
“Against me?” That frigid chasm opened even further. I crossed my arms. “The Winter Witch cautioned you against me? Why, exactly?”
“She warned that your magic is a threat to the world. She believes you’re mentally unstable.”
“Don’t you think in a world that’s on fire, someone who can control ice and water might be an asset? Look, I’m certain that Salem is trying to find a way to bring the Fomorians back.”
He sighed. “They don’t exist anymore.”
“It was in the freaking vision you just showed me. Didn’t you see it in the vision?”
He shook his head. “No, it wasn’t in the vision.”
Frustration simmered. Why hadn’t he seen it? “I killed one today.”
“That’s impossible. They were defeated tens of thousands of years ago.”
I grabbed his arms. “The thing was right out by the seawall. He scorched the trees and all the rain was evaporating. If I have my powers back, I can fight them.”
He arched an eyebrow, pulling his arms from my grasp. “If you killed one, show me the body.”
I wasn’t insane. He was trying to make me think I was insane, but I wasn’t. “He disappeared after I killed him.”
A heavy silence. “It was probably something else. Look, unless you’re a god or completely pure of heart, the amount of power you once wielded could corrupt someone completely.”
Coldness spread across my heart. A distance had crept between us like long shadows. “You still don’t trust me. You trust the Winter Witch more than me.”
“It would be dangerous for anyone to have that much power. It troubled you before. You told me that’s why you drank so much.”
My hands tightened into fists. “Things were too bright, and too loud. I felt things too intensely with my magic. That’s why I had a lot of wine. But I never did anything terrible.”
He lifted his other fist, and when he unfurled his fingers, he revealed another pearl. This one gleamed black. “And yet this is what happens if you are allowed to keep your powers.”
I stared down at it. I was so close to getting back my magic now, within a hummingbird’s breath of it. Restoration to my former greatness, within my grasp.
And the Winter Witch was about to poison it all.
And what if she was lying, or mad? Or just wrong?
I glared at it. “I get the idea. My sea magic is scary. But I don’t need to see this vision, which is just a possibility—”
Lyr stepped forward so swiftly that I didn’t have time to react, and he cupped the side of my head.
Another vision slammed into my mind—a flooded world with chunks of ice floating in the sea. My sea magic shimmered over a frozen landscape, and my mind whirled. Behind me, knights stood frozen, icicles glinting from their beards.
I smacked Lyr’s hands away, and the vision disappeared. “Stop it. I need you to trust me. I’m not going to lose my mind and drown the world in ice.”
“I know you wouldn’t. But Salem might, while controlling you.”
He had a point, but I wasn’t willing to give this up so easily. “That doesn’t jibe with his fire plans, does it?” I exhaled sharply. “Anyway, what if I can learn to resist it? I can practice with Melisande’s enchantment.”
He stepped away from me, and shadows seemed to swallow him. “I’ll see what else I can find out from Beira. Then we can try resisting enchantment with Melisande.”
Beira, again. He definitely trusted her more than he trusted me, even though she was batshit.
He turned and walked away from me, crossing out of the library into the castle’s dark hall. As I watched him go, loneliness ate at my chest.
5
Aenor
In the great hall, I sat across from Gwydion. He grinned at me over his wine, the torchlight dancing over his dark skin. “The knights and I vanquished an entire vampire army south of here today. And what did you accomplish? A half-baked plan to resist the devil?”
I grabbed the bottle of dandelion wine for myself. “I have bigger issues than vampire armies to worry about. Apparently, Gwydion, the fate of the world lies in my hands.”
“I heard. Sounds to me like we’re all completely fucked.” He shrugged. “You do know the spell, don’t you? You can summon us to wherever you are once you screw everything up.”
“I have it memorized. Lyr had me repeat it ten thousand times.”
“Good. Well, I’m just here for the show with Melisande. Not that I particularly care to see her force you to smash your head against the wall again. I mean, it was funny at the time, but I don’t know. A little gauche, perhaps?”
“Not exactly the word I’d use, but it’s a start.”
“Speaking of gauche, does it bother you that Melisande and Lyr used to rut like animals years ago?”
“Like I said. Bigger issues on my mind.” I sipped my wine. “But any animals in particular?”
He let out a dramatic sigh. “It’s not fun if it doesn’t make you jealous. You know, I once cursed an ex-lover to grow a horse’s tail after I caught him looking too long at a human simpleton.” He twirled the stem of his wineglass. “Speaking of human simpletons, what happened to yours?”
Gina was no simpleton. She was back in London, applying to colleges. “None of your business.”
The sound of clanking chains heralded Melisande’s arrival, and I turned to see her walking through the hall behind Lyr, hands bound.
Despite her time in prison, she still managed to look gorgeous, her skin glowing and dark hair cascading over her shoulders.
She hissed at me. “You cut my wings off, Aenor.”
“And you betrayed your own court and tried to kill me.” I smiled sweetly. “You’re lucky I left you alive.”
She blew a strand of dark hair out of her eyes. “Well, my wings are growing back. I’ll work my way back into the court’s good graces. And I didn’t need to kill you because you’re dead inside. I can see it in your eyes. Dead.”
My pulse raced.
“Melisande,” Lyr cut in sharply. “You’re here for one reason and one reason alone. We’re going to see if Aenor can resist a mind-control enchantment.”
“This will be fun.” Gwydion grinned.
“Why?” asked Melisande. “What stupid shit’s she got herself into now?”
“You don’t need to know that.” Lyr pinned me with his pale gaze. “Aenor, this is only a test. But you need to imagine a protective bubble in your mind. It’s like a clear bubble that pushes out another person’s influence. Close your eyes and picture it, clear as you can.”
I nodded, closing my eyes. In my mind’s eye, I envisioned a bubble of shining white light, a crystalline surface. I opened my eyes, keeping the mental image. “All right, Melisande. Hit me with your magic.”
“Wait.” Lyr grabbed her arm. “You do understand that you can’t do anything that hurts her, right? Just enchant her to do something harmless. No injuries.”