Chapter 24

Vireena didn't spare us a glance as her warriors separated me from Dane and took the last of my weapons, tossing them in the corner with Tristan's and Tavion's, as if they weren't worth the effort to even bicker over.

And why would they be, when the witches carried those deadly, ruthlessly curved blades?

The High Priestess was surrounded by her advisors, one pale hand flicking up to punctuate a point every so often. They spoke so softly I couldn't catch a single word. But I didn't have to hear them to know they were deciding what to do with Dane and me.

Dane remained untouched, though not every witch agreed with Vireena's decision from the bloodthirsty way they sized him up, like he'd make a tasty snack.

Adele waited expectantly to the side. Waiting, I figured, for her reward.

Well, I wasn't waiting around to be served up on a platter to these wicked creatures. I might be weaponless, but I still had my magic. I could still fight. Maybe with Dane's help we could free Tavion and Tristan then battle our way out of here.

His eyes met mine then flicked to the exit, a silent question there.

I shook my head. Not yet.

We needed a plan. The way out of here was a gauntlet; we'd be picked off by their archers before we made it to the mountains. If we did manage to escape the Barrens, we still had to survive the treacherous passes. I couldn't shift. Would only slow the others down. Chances were we'd get stuck in a snowstorm and either freeze to death or be dragged back here to be executed.

And if I released my magic and turned everyone to monsters…I shivered.

No, there had to be another way.

I whirled on my mother. "You will regret this, Adele."

"This? I'll never regret choosing you over them. This is your time, Anaria. Soon enough you will possess the two most powerful magics in our world. You will become High Queen of all the realms, a child of two worlds. There has never been anyone like you before, and there never will be again."

"You betrayed us," I whispered through numb lips. "Tavion and Tristan saved you, and you sold them out for your own gain." The floor rumbled beneath my feet because even with the iron bands, my magic strained to get out. I had half a mind to strip the iron off, let myself burn, and fuck the consequences.

"And for what? Do you really crave power so badly you would sacrifice everything? You would sacrifice them?"

Adele's eyes took on a maniacal brightness. "They don't matter, and I had to be sure you had a good reason to fight for that throne."

"I don't fucking want it."

"No, but you want your males to survive, and to save them you have to win. If you fail, your wolf and your wyvern are dead. The witches will drain them dry and skin them for their hides. I'll make sure Dane dies, too."

Adele's smile told me she hoped that would happen, no matter how tomorrow's contest turned out, and whatever remaining empathy I had for my mother winked out, leaving behind cold, hard rage.

Vireena finished with her advisors and smoothly descended the dais, stopping in front of us, a cold smile on her face.

She was taller than me by a head, thirty pounds heavier—all muscle—beneath the layers of leather and steel, and she moved like Zorander, graceful and deadly. A trained warrior crafted from darkness itself, a faint stain of dark magic hovering around her like a cape.

"No matter how tomorrow turns out, I thank you for your generous gift, Adele. A golden wyvern…" The High Priestess shook her head in mock sadness, her eyes glinting with greed. "The Shadow King went to great lengths to wipe them out, you know, five or six centuries back. Curious that he allowed one to survive, but no matter. I shall not let him go to waste."

Every muscle in my body clenched in rage, but my mother just smiled back as if everything was working out perfectly. "Until tomorrow, then."

But Vireena was looking at me, her moonlit eyes skimming over me with utter contempt. "Tomorrow at moonrise in the Arena, we will fight for the red throne. Then we will see if you are worthy of that scion mark." Everything narrowed down to her slithering voice, those hateful eyes boring into me.

"But you will fail, girl. I have ruled the Barrens longer than any other, and I will not lose my throne to a half blood."

That night,curled on a cold stone floor in the corner of a storage closet, I dreamed I was nobody.

Not the bearer of a monstrous magic, not someone who had so much blood on her hands she was practically bathed in red.

I would have continued with that fantasy had Tavion, of all people, not crouched before me in the darkness, his pale eyes gleaming. "You aren't real," I told him stubbornly. "This is a dream."

He lifted his shoulders in a careless shrug. "Yes, but why can't we talk to each other in our sleep, Anaria?" His hair hung loose around his shoulders, a sheath of white that was fine as silk. "I couldn't bear you being alone, so I followed you through your dreams until I found you." He looked around. "Where is here, anyway?"

"A closet." I blew out a long breath, sending up a puff of dust. "Dane is outside the door, so no one can get in unless they go through him." Tavion's face relaxed slightly, a muscle in his jaw flexing.

"Adele trapped us. Now I have to fight Vireena and I doubt I'll win."

Tavion considered this for a moment, his face grave as he lowered himself beside me, some phantom heat sinking in when his hand smoothed gently down my side.

"You have your magic," he reminded me gently. "You were trained by Zorander Vayle himself. You are not helpless, Anaria."

"She's a warrior. She's stronger than me. Well trained, from what I can tell."

His palm cupped my cheek and tears pricked my closed eyes, my throat burning from the pressure of the sobs I held back. "When has that ever stopped you? This contest is one you can win. One you must win, and not for me or Tristan, but for yourself."

"I don't want the throne or the crown or her power. I don't want any of this."

"I know, love, but that's not the point." His eyes were so sad, a shimmer of tears gleaming there before he blinked them away. "You must study her carefully tomorrow. All day, until the sun sets. Watch how she moves, which side she favors; use everything to your advantage. Then you have to exploit her weaknesses, no matter how unscrupulous. Cheat if you have to but you must survive."

Tavion's head jerked up as if he'd heard something I didn't, his body tensing.

"I'll watch her but it won't help." I shook my head. "She's too?—"

"I have to go." Tavion's voice shook. "I'm sorry, Anaria. Tomorrow you have to?—"

Then he was gone, his absence a brutal stab to the heart, the cold, damp room closing in around me with its unrelenting darkness, my heart beating out of my chest. Was Tavion hurt? Why did he have to leave so fast? Were he and Tristan in trouble?

Fear turned to anger in the space of a heartbeat, then to pure, undiluted rage.

These bloodthirsty creatures wanted me to prove myself?

Something dark and dangerous raised its head inside me, a hunter scenting her prey, and I wasn't entirely sure I'd rein my monster back this time. Maybe I'd unleash myself tomorrow and wipe them all from this realm for imprisoning Tavion and Tristan.

For that greedy, malicious gleam in their eyes, for what they planned to do to them.

Fuck trying to convince these witches to become allies.

It had felt good to kill Solok. To know he would never hurt another soul. To watch him writhe and suffer and reap the consequences for everything he'd done. Evil felt good, but that was the trap, I supposed, the honey pot that pulled you in then kept you trapped until you were corrupt and ruined.

Maybe that's what happened to the Oracle.

To Adele.

Maybe I'd end up a monster, too, if I wasn't careful, but it appeared there were only two ways to escape the High Barrens—in a box or as its priestess. And if I died, so did Tavion and Tristan, and most likely Dane.

I curled into a tight ball to conserve my body heat, one hand gripping the keystone in my pocket, trying to summon some of its calming magic. But there was nothing there, as if the stone had given up, too.

I'd prove myself tomorrow. Beat Vireena, and once I got Tristan and Tavion free…

It was a fucking good thing these witches didn't believe in rugs, because we would bathe this fucking castle in a sea of blood.