“Boring. But fine,” she snapped, and she stared into my eyes.
I summoned a clear bubble in my thoughts, but as soon as Melisande’s eyes began shifting to warm hues, my mental bubble started to melt.
How could I resist the goddess standing before me? She beamed like the sun.
I fell hard to my knees, grinning up at her. There was something I was supposed to be doing now, but it was hard to remember, because I had to worship her.
She snatched the bottle of wine off the table, then handed it to me.
I took it from her, grinning. A gift from a goddess!
“Pour it on yourself, tunnel swine,” she said.
How was I to resist her charm?
I poured out the whole bottle on my head, dousing myself in sweet dandelion wine. It streamed down my hair and face, soaking my shirt, just like she wanted. I licked my lips, tasting its delicious tang.
“Now, from your knees, tell me about how you’re a filthy little mud whore,” she said.
“That’s enough.” Lyr’s barked words broke the spell as Melisande’s gaze snapped away from me.
I looked down at my wine-soaked tank top and shorts. Ugh.
“This obviously isn’t working,” said Lyr.
“Let me try again,” I snapped. “It was just my first try.”
This had to work.
Lyr’s pale hair whipped around his head as his magic whirled around him. He looked furious.
“Fine, Aenor. Try again. Focus. If you are unable to do this, we can’t allow Salem to return your power to you.”
I took a deep breath and rose from where I kneeled. I squeezed out the wine from my tank top onto the stone floor. “I can do this.”
Clear bubble, like a sphere of air in the wide ocean.
I shook out my limbs like an athlete getting ready for a race. Then I closed my eyes, calling to mind a shiny glass sphere. In my mind’s eye, I gave it a pearly sheen—so real I could almost touch it.
“Okay,” I said.
Melisande’s eyes shifted to the color of flames, and my breath caught in my throat.
The bubble gleamed in my mind, and I pushed out the feel of her magic, blocked out her influence. She was talking to me, but I wasn’t going to listen this time. I was Aenor Dahut of Meriadoc, Scourge of the Wicked, and I would resist. This time, I would prove that…
This time…
What was I doing?
Thing was, the goddess before me wanted me to dance on the table. Who was I to argue with a divine being?
Smiling, I leapt onto the table, my hips gyrating to an invisible beat. It was like I could almost hear Elvis floating through the air.
“Stop!” Lyr shouted.
The spell broke.
Son of a gun.
Gwydion smirked. “Was that what humans call twerking?”
Lyr, on the other hand, didn’t find this funny at all. His muscles had gone rigid, and his eyes had shifted to gold. When I looked into them deeply, he looked… haunted.
My heart clenched.
I felt like I was disappointing him.
Swallowing hard, I leapt down from the table. “Look, it’s just like anything else, I’m sure. It will take practice. I’ve only tried twice, and that one was a little better. So we’ll just try again. We can keep trying, until I’m good at it.” My wine-soaked top clung to my skin. “Just give me a second to clear my thoughts again.”
But as I started to call up my clear bubble, a raven swooped into the room. My pulse raced at the sight of a tiny piece of paper in its beak. Another message from Salem.
Circling above my head, the raven opened its beak, and the scrap of paper fluttered to the ground. I picked it up and read it, my heart hammering.
Walk outside to meet my driver now. He will take you to Jerusalem. Don’t try to resist, pet. I control you now.
Tick tock. Time was up.
6
Aenor
Lyr took the paper from me, his body glowing with magical light as he read it. “No. We’re not delivering you to him so he can control your power. It’s like we’re giving him a powerful weapon.”
“Does she have a choice?” asked Gwydion. “Beira said this wine-soaked wretch is supposed to save the world. The books say the Merrow plays a part. She’ll have to get to Salem to make that happen, and he’s not here. He sent a driver. Look, Lyr, a prophecy is a prophecy.”
“Stop talking, Gwydion,” Lyr snarled. “Before I rip your heart out.”
Lyr had shifted into his Ankou form, horns gleaming tall on his head. He liked to be in control, and he wasn’t in control of any of this.
He glared at his brother. “Seneschal, take our prisoner back to the dungeons.”
Gwydion grunted, then started dragging Melisande out by her chained hands. Melisande shot me one last furious look before she skulked away behind the seneschal.
Now, Lyr and I were completely alone in the shadowy hall.
“Just trust me, Lyr,” I said. “I can do this. I’ve memorized the summoning spell if I really need you.”
I felt that icy gulf again between us. I didn’t want to reach for him again only to find him stepping away.
“What is going on with you?” I hadn’t realized I was about to say it before the words were out of my mouth.
For just a second, his determined features softened. Then wildness burned in his eyes.
“I have a new plan,” he said. “I know a way that we can stop your magic. We kill this servant that he has sent. We hang the driver’s body from the castle. We bring Salem to us, then I trap him. We trap him forever. Then you can return to London, and things will be just like they were before.”
For one dreadful moment, I felt like the world was shaking underneath me, that a wave of water was about to swallow me up. This was a freaking punch to the gut, wasn’t it?
“You want me to return to London?”
His brow furrowed. “Things need to return to the way they were. So I can have my mind back. You said you had no interest in ruling Nova Ys. Is that still the case?”
“Yes, but that’s not…” That wasn’t what was hurting my heart. “You want things to return to how they were before we knew each other.”
Salem’s lackey was waiting right outside for me, and this was what Lyr decided to say? I want you to leave.
“You cost me a part of my soul,” he said quietly.
“I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what to say, but it wasn’t like I’d done it on purpose.
His gaze cleared. “Look, we don’t have time for this. We will kill Salem’s servant, and then I will block your power. I have a binding collar that I can put around your neck.”
“What?” So that was why the book had been open in the library. Lyr had been researching how to steal my power for good.
That haunted look returned to his eyes, his pupils going unfocused. “A collar. It will dampen or eradicate any magical power you might acquire. It will help to mitigate the risk in case Salem manages to get his hands on you.”
“I know what it is, but no. Hells no.”
He stepped closer, body tense. “You saw the risk. Fields torched, crops on fire. People burning in the streets, smoke rising from their bodies. Charred corpses. You can’t give him more power. We kill Salem, together. Nothing else matters. Then it can all go back to the way it was before.”