I stare at the cell in front of me.
This was Thalia’s suggestion.
The hexbreaker managed to shatter Lysander’s curse long enough for him to regain his fae form, though every night he shifts again as the moon overrides his instincts.
Baylor steps forward, lifting his torch. “Brother?”
A shadow separates from the wall, a man prowling out of the darkness. He’s completely nude, and even though he’s been provided with every amenity Baylor can offer, Lysander clearly hasn’t bothered to wash in days. His silvery-blond hair is bound back in a ragged knot at the back of his head, his jaw lined with several days’ worth of scruff.
His eyes are a brilliant, flaring gold.
A wolf’s eyes.
“I can smell her,” Lysander whispers, his gaze raking the shadows for me. “Are you here to torment me again, you bitch?”
“That’s enough,” Baylor growls. “She is your queen and you will offer her your respect.”
A hard knot forms in my stomach.
“You don’t have to do this,” Thiago murmurs, at my side.
I have to try. For Baylor’s sake. For Lysander’s sake.
And for Thiago’s sake.
Taking a deep breath, I push the hood of my cloak back and step into the light. “Hello, Lysander.”
He bares his teeth at me, his nails elongating into claws. “I won’t betray my prince.” He shoots us all a glare. “You’re a lie. You’re all a lie.”
“Use your fucking nose,” Baylor growls. “If you’d bothered to take a wash, you’d be able to smell the truth.”
Lysander snaps his teeth at him.
“Vi,” Thiago murmurs. “Make it quick.”
I close my eyes and try to reach for the link I share with the land. The scent of flowers fill the air. Lilies. I can feel them spearing through cracks in the floor and trying to bloom.
“What is this?” Lysander growls. “What sorcery is this?”
“Vi is your bound queen,” Baylor says. “It’s no lie. She’s real. She’s here to help you.”
I reach out but there’s nothing to grasp. I can sense Baylor and Thiago’s presences, and if I wanted to, I could probably link with them.
But Lysander is a burning ball of rage that rejects my touch.
“You witch!” he hisses, throwing himself at the bars. “You won’t fool me again. I won’t—”
“Vi?” Thiago grabs my arm.
“He won’t let me in,” I cry. “There’s nothing to grab. No link between us.”
“I will kill you,” Lysander whispers, rattling the bars of the cell. His jaw starts to twist, his eyes burning hotly amber. “You murderous bitch. You traitorous bitch. This is all a lie. Your lie.”
Baylor steps between us, anguish on his face. “Go,” he says to me.
“I’m sorry.”
There’s no emotion on his face. And maybe that’s harder to take. “This isn’t your fault. This was never your fault,” he says.
A howl tears through the room.
Something slams against the bars.
“Come on,” Thiago says, hauling me up the stairs and out of the cells.
I can still hear Lysander raging after the door is shut. Leaning my back against the wall, I unleash a harsh breath, every inch of me quivering.
Thiago drags me into his arms, kissing my forehead. “You tried, Vi. You tried.”
“When you go up against my mother and her little games you have to do more than try,” I gasp, clinging to his wrists. “She’s won this battle. What are we going to do?”
Thiago strokes my face. “Wait. We’re going to wait and give this hex a chance to vanish completely. Lysander’s taken over by the beast right now, but he was always disciplined. I know he will fight his way back.”
“You’re going to leave him there? In the cells?”
Thiago hesitates. “I have no other choice.”
I can’t sleep. Again.
I see Ayelet screaming as that wall of water washes toward us. I see Lysander’s eyes fusing to gold as he loses all his hard-won gains. And I see Thiago on his knees, his head bowed against the weight of what this revelation has cost him.
What my mother has cost him.
I slip from the bed and steal away from our chambers as soft moonlight gilds Ceres. There are few guards within the heart of the castle, and I manage to evade all of them as I make my way to the second-tallest tower within the keep.
I can’t defeat my mother.
Not with a sword, not with my fae magic…. I can’t even make the land rises against her, because I have no power beyond Evernight’s borders.
The Hallow lies still and dormant as I enter, but I can almost sense someone watching me.
Slowly, I light the torches that surround the room before turning back to the center of the Hallow. It hums like a contented cat, the vibration of that power shivering over my skin. Ever since I made the bargain with the Mother of Night, I’ve felt it whispering to me in the night and singing to me during the day.
I close my eyes. “Are you there?”
Power rushes through me, snatching me up in its gaping maw, and then the trap snaps shut around me. It feels like an enormous hand closes around me and then it’s tugging me through the floor….
I fall a thousand miles, lungs screaming for breath.
And when I hit the water, it’s almost a relief to stop falling.
Splashing desperately, I kick for the surface. Little glowing balls of light stir through the water around me, and as I break the surface, I realize more of them stream toward me as though the ripples of my entrance draw them like a fly twisting in a spider’s web.
Curse it.
The shore—
I reach for the power that envelops me here, and then it’s turning me inside out, twisting me through nothing. I land on my hands and knees in the shallows, cursing under my breath. I hate this place.
But as I lift my head, I know the worst is yet to come….
The Mother of Night walks down the slopes of her island prison, her black silk robes swishing around her ankles and a satisfied smile on her lips. “Of course I’m here, Iskvien. I am always here, watching over you. And
