The guard pushed me, causing me to lurch forward, catching myself on the chair on the other side of her desk with my bound hands.
“Bastard,” I growled.
“Back down, Elon,” Adreona demanded at the guard as he reached for me. “We need her unharmed.” Her gaze slid to me. “Unless she fails to cooperate.”
“Yes, mistress,” the guard, Elon, said, standing back at attention.
I wished he would come at me. Even with my hands bound, I knew I could cause him pain, and I’d delight in it.
Adreona dipped her chin at the guard, her chin length, onyx hair shifting with the movement. “Lennox, please, have a seat.”
“I prefer to stand.”
The gold ring in Adreona’s nose twitched. “I told you to sit. You’ll learn quickly, following my directions is the easiest path to your freedom.” She gestured her hand to the chair. “Now, I said sit.”
I sat. I had no reason to believe she’d be giving me my freedom anytime soon, but there would be plenty more battles of wills for us to wage. I’d have to choose which battles to fight for now.
“As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, your work for me starts today.”
I said nothing, squaring my shoulders as I held her dark gaze. “I am in need of a witch, a witch with great power.” She drew lines with her pointed, black nails on the desk. “A witch who knows how to control their power.”
She let her gaze settle on mine for a beat before continuing. “My last witch was not so powerful; they did not have control over their powers. They proved useless to me. An utter disappointment,” she sneered. “I do hope you will be more useful.”
I wondered how she had come in possession of a witch. And where was that witch now? Were they killed for their uselessness? Did they give themselves over to her willingly, or was she being forced as I was?
“Now, this would be much easier if you hadn’t gone and ripped pages out of Astria’s journal. But, alas, the most important pages seem to be missing.” She dragged the duplicated journal to the center of the desk, flipping through thepages. “You could have completed the spell and been back with your mate by the morning.” My heart clenched at the mention of Luka.
I would get back to him, no matter what she said.
“But you do have a habit of making things more difficult, don’t you? Now, you need to figure out what we’re missing from this spell, and you will remain here until we have successfully eradicated the vampire species.”
“Wouldn’t that mean you’re dead too? You and all your cronies?” I finally broke my silence. I wasn’t willing to reveal the information I kept hidden, if she pursued this path it would be the end for all vampires, but I wanted to test her. See how far she’d go.
“It would. But it’s a small price to pay for the better of Lethenia, don’t you think,High Queen?Isn’t that what you’ve wanted all along? What your dearly departed parents wanted? A better Lethenia?” Her lips curved into a snarl. “That is, until you went and fell in love with a vampire.”
I swallowed my rage, keeping it for later. I’d make her pay for all of this in due time. I’d delight in seeing the life leave her eyes. “Besides,” she continued. “I will not have the curse reversed on me, a perk of being a vampire who doesn’t prey on others.”
Then who did she prey on? She had to be feeding from someone. So many questions plagued my mind, but I had to be strategic; I couldn’t ask them all at once.
“If I’m going to do this for you, can you first explain to me why you want the vampire race eliminated? What about your family? Your friends?”
Her black eyes darkened, how it was even possible, I wasn’t sure.
“The answer to that question is one you must earn.”
“Then tell me how to earn it.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “I’m so glad you asked.”Her gaze slipped to the guard at my back. “Bring him in,” Adreona demanded.
The door at the side of the room opened, and two guards entered, holding a limp male between them. His clothes were worn and dirty, but he otherwise looked normal, unharmed.
“If you want to earn the answer to my question, you must simply make him High Fae.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Figure it out.” Elon unlocked my cuffs, slipping the key back into his pocket. I ran my hands over my now bare wrists, feeling my magic rushing to my fingertips for the first time in days.
I let myself sigh in relief. My magic was still in me. It was still there. There must have been a spell on my room alone to keep my magic from surfacing. The rush of it flooding my veins felt like coming home. Like my body was alive again—like it was my own once more.
