Page 99 of Immortal Game

“She was wronged,” Aideen pressed. “I’ve never once spokento her. I want to hear what she has to say. I think it might give me some closure.”

“You’re a good person,” Shea said flatly. “But I think this is a terrible idea. In my limited experience, she’s a really unpleasant, spiteful person. She’ll only disappoint you.”

Aideen lifted her chin defiantly. “Maybe. But what more could she do to me?”

A lot of things, probably. Shea thought of the way she’d effortlessly transformed Midir’s guards and the deadly sharp points of her nails. Then, there was the hunger for vengeance that had sustained her for the better part of a thousand years. But that wasn’t helpful to bring up. Who was she, anyway, to stop Aideen from confronting the one person who haunted her? Shea was a lot of things, but she tried not to be a hypocrite.

So she sighed and said, “All right.”

They made their way to the tower that housed Fuamnach’s prison. The stairs had crumbled here and there from Midir’s outburst, which made Shea nervous, but they held fast. Thankfully, the cell carved into the apple tree remained perfectly intact. Shea stepped into the room, her footsteps echoing in the empty space. Aideen trailed just behind her.

The dark shape slumped on the floor lurched forward with sudden ferocity. Fuamnach’s pale face appeared, her teeth bared in a snarl. Aideen shrank back in surprise.

Fuamnach curled sharp-clawed fingers around the iron bars. She did not flinch as her skin smoked and hissed. For a moment, the two women regarded each other in silence. Then, Fuamnach spat a wad of blood onto Aideen’s face.

Aideen looked stunned, but her expression hardened into impassivity soon enough. She wiped the blood off with thebelled sleeve of her gown. The red was garish against the pristine white of the fabric.

It seemed to please Fuamnach. She released the bars and fixed Aideen with a smile that was like a blade parting flesh. “To what do I owe the visit, interloper?”

“You really do hate me,” Aideen said wonderingly, “even after all this time.”

“I don’t hate you, you silly, self-centered girl. I did, maybe, for a time.” Fuamnach paced a slow, prowling circle around her prison. “Butyoudid not cast me aside. You did not try to kill me. You did not turn my own children against me. No, I don’t hate you. But to take you from him again would have destroyed him. I regret I could not see the job finished.”

Aideen let out a soft breath. “I thought you would frighten me more. I worried that I might hate you, too. But I only pity you.”

Fuamnach sneered. “Spare me.”

“I was a child when I came to your home.” Aideen’s voice trembled, but she did not back down. “I am not the same girl you met. I didn’t even know you existed. If I had…”

“You would have done the same thing,” Fuamnach finished. “You had little choice in the matter. Your father sold you to him.”

Aideen recoiled. “You know. And still, you’d punish me.”

“If you’re waiting for an apology, you will be disappointed.” She slid back to the ground. Folded in on herself, with her yellow eyes peering out of the darkness, Fuamnach resembled a black cat. Her gaze slid to Shea at last. Clearly, she’d just noticed her. “What news?”

“I won.”

“And what punishment have you devised?”

“You’re in the presence of the new Queen of the Otherworld,” Shea said flatly. “Show some respect.”

Fuamnach’s lips parted. Her pupils dilated as she drank in Aideen’s crown. “I thought I heard the cry of Lia Fáil. It is true.” She shook her head, recovering herself. “Then I expect you intend to execute me properly this time, or else let me rot in here until I forget who I am entirely.”

“I don’t.”

Fuamnach’s expression turned wary. “Then why have you come? To extract some sort of admission of guilt? To—”

“To tell you that I’m leaving him. I thought you might want to know.” Aideen’s gaze was unwavering.

Fuamnach laughed disbelievingly. It was softer than Shea expected—and as rich and dark as wine. “A punishment of his own making, then. His greed and vanity have consequences at last.”

Aideen wrung her hands together. “I also wanted to tell you that you’re free to go.”

“What?” Shea and Fuamnach cried at once. They exchanged a look.

“Aideen,” Shea protested. “You really want to do that, after everything she’s done to you?”

Her own question—and the vehemence of it—startled her. DidSheawant to see her punished? Part of her felt sorry for Fuamnach, sure. The other, louder part loathed her for what she’d done. It was Midir who’d wronged her, not Aideen. Of course, she’d chosen the easier target, the indirect path to vengeance.Maybe she’d succeeded in inflicting a thousand years of heartsickness on him, but how many other people had been drowned in the tide of her rage?