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But what if I’m too late? What if Odette is going to finally finish what she started?
Chapter 18
Maren
The paralytic spell that Odette held over me was far too strong for me to overcome in any way. I was still stunned by her ultimate betrayal, the fact that I had never really been safe, even with the shroud of protection, which could have held catastrophic consequences if I’d ventured out.
But I could see now that Odette was the only real danger that had followed me all along. I had been such a fool for trusting her.
“Are you sulking?” Odette cawed at me, prancing around me in the dank, dark room where she had teleported us both. I sat in a splintered wooden chair, unable to move or speak, my mouth as frozen as the rest of me.
The musky smell told me I was in some kind of basement or cellar, but none of this was familiar to me.
“Don’t worry. Your time here is finally done. You should have just jumped like you were supposed to, and we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
She continued to pace around me, leaving me to wonder why she didn’t just kill me. The fear I felt for myself and my child was unlike any I’d ever known. The last time she had attempted to take my life, drugging me with the hypnotic ebonleaf and luringme to jump, I had been in a haze. Now, I was distinctly and painfully aware of everything going on around me.
I moaned, straining against the invisible barriers holding me down.
“Oh, stop,” she muttered, pausing to look at me in disgust. “You can’t speak.” Impatiently, she waved her right index finger in front of my mouth and freed my lips. “Better?”
“I’m pregnant with the royal child!” I gasped, struggling to breathe.
Odette rolled her sooty eyes. “Who even knows if that baby is Nyx’s? You probably slept with half your audience members.”
Her words offended me, but I could see she was trying to get a rise out of me, and I kept my composure. “Why do you hate me so much, Odette? What have I ever done to you?”
I tried to keep the pleading out of my tone, but it was hopeless. I was begging her for my life, for the life of my child.
She stopped abruptly and spun around to scowl at me as if I were an idiot. “Are you kidding me right now? You’re going to play innocent victim in all this?”
I attempted to shake my head, but I couldn’t move, and instead, I lowered my eyes in contrition to show her that I wasn’t challenging her. “I just want to understand. I have never tried to harm you, but you’re hellbent on destroying me.”
“NYX IS MINE!” she yelled, directly in my face. Her eyes bulged hideously, her mouth gaping to show every tooth in her mouth.
I would have recoiled if I’d been able to, but it was useless trying to get away from her. I was stuck staring into the gruesome display of possessiveness in my face, churning my stomach and freaking me out even more than I already was.
“He is too stupid to see what a good team we’ll make,” she went on, commencing her pacing again. “Instead, he knocks upsome trashy dancer.” She shook her head. “I’m doing him a favor by getting rid of you.”
“I don’t think he’ll see it that way,” I challenged, but I immediately regretted it. She would just seal my mouth shut again if I kept up with this.
Her eyes narrowed. “I want to kill you so badly,” she muttered, raising her hands as if to strike me down, but she held back for some reason I didn’t understand.
Why doesn’t she just kill me? She’s already tried once.
I had no doubt now that it was Odette who was responsible for putting the ebonleaf in my food and coercing me onto the balcony. If Nyx had not walked in when he had, she would have gotten her wish.
It hit me then.She’s trying to figure out how to make my death look like the shapeshifter’s fault or an accident. She wants to be blame-proof when questions arise.
I had to keep her talking, keep her distracted. It was my only hope.
“Who is the shapeshifter?”
She shrugged and smirked. “Some schmuck I found by accident. The idea came to me after Nyx moved you in here. I was furious he would do something like that…”
Sucking air between her teeth, she looked around, her eyes brightening as if she had a thought. The expression terrified me.
“Tell me your plan!” I urged, not liking the look on her face at all, especially when she moved into the shadows and out of my view. “I want to hear how you’re going to explain to Nyx that you killed his mate.”
