“Why are you involved in this?” her mother inquired.
“Well, haven’t you heard, Mother? I thought the news had spread through all the realms, but I guess you don’t get the gossip when you choose to live a sheltered life. Elexiandra, Del’s daughter, myniece, is the last living arach.”
She wasn’t going to go into the details about that. Her mother could sit and stew in her curiosity. She hoped it ate her alive.
“There’s a chance we could put a rightful ruler back on the throne, and we’re going to make sure it happens. She and Cole… or, as you know him,KingColburnof the dark fae, are working to raise an army.
“They came to seek the witches’ help, but the attack was underway when they arrived. Perhaps if you stopped hiding in this corner of Verdan, devoting your life to worshipping water and running around naked while others fight anddieto do good in the realms, you would know these things. Instead, you’re an extremely powerful witch hiding here and doingnothingof importance while everyone else is fighting to saveyourlife.”
As she spoke, her mother’s eyes widened with each of her revelations, but they’d narrowed by the time she finished, and hatred simmered in them.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Lydia demanded.
“No one of importance.” With that, Sahira turned to Varo and Orin. “Let’s go.”
She wasn’t strong enough to open a portal to return to the prison, but she refused to reveal her weakness to these women. She could feel their eyes boring into her back as she started through the forest. Orin and Varo walked noiselessly beside her.
“Would you like me to open a portal back to the prison?” Varo inquired.
“Once we’re out of view of them,” Sahira replied, “I would appreciate it.”
Varo’s fingers briefly brushed hers in a show of solidarity. She suspected that if they weren’t still within view of the witches, he would have taken her hand or hugged her.
“Sothatwas your mother,” Orin muttered.
Sahira scowled at him; she wasn’t in the mood for his shit. “Yeah, and…?”
“It’s surprising, is all. You’re nothing alike.”
“That’s probably because she abandoned me when I was born because of the tainted, dirty vampire blood in me and all that nonsense.”
“Her abandonment was probably a good thing.”
Sahira was mad enough to scream as she stopped walking and turned to face him. She glanced back into the woods but couldn’t see the witches anymore.
She planted her hands on her hips as she glared at him. “And why is that?”
Orin shrugged, and as he did so, his glamour faded away. She found herself staring into black eyes that normally twinkled with amusement but were now somber.
“Because she’s a coward, and you’re not,” he said. “You were better off without her.”
His words knocked the anger out of her, and she was too flabbergasted to speak until after Varo opened a portal for them.
“Did you… did you… just say something nice… to me?” she asked in disbelief.
When Orin grinned at her, the twinkle reappeared in his eyes. “Don’t get used to it.”
Before she could reply, Orin entered the portal.
CHAPTERFIFTY-TWO
Lexi couldn’t stopherself from gawking when they stepped out of the portal and into the giants’ realm. Not only were the immortals who lived here giants, but so waseverythingelse in the realm.
Her head tipped further and further back, but she still couldn’t see the treetops above her. And there weresomanytrees. They were all she could see as she turned in a slow circle.
“Where are the giants?” she whispered.
“Some are in the woods, others will be in town, and many will be at their castle in the clouds,” Cole said.
