Page 206 of The Crown’s Temptation

A rush of power slammed into me.

Be careful.

The words did not reach my ears. They reached my blood. Every instinct in me wanted to obey. To stop walking. To lower my eyes.

Something beneath the command answered. Something older. Something that had been sleeping until now.

The pressure vanished.

I looked up slowly.

"I don't want to be careful, Ivanoxa."

Nox stood several paces away. For the first time since I had met her she looked surprised. Then her face lost what little color it had.

"Where the fuck is my daughter?"

"With my husband. And my children." I watched her carefully. "She will receive more love and attention from my household than she ever has from you.”

I thought of the North Tower and the dampeners and Sadie. I was being harsh, I realized. But I didn’t care.

"You know nothing."

She narrowed her eyes. “You shouldn’t be here at all. And even so, your magic shouldn’t work here. And most of all why are your pupils white? Are you possessed?”

“No to everything. And when it comes to Aviaryn, I know enough.” I folded my arms. "I know she spent her entire life trapped in this place while you had enough banked infant feeder blood to free her." Something moved across her face. "I thought perhaps it was leverage over Teorin." I tilted my head. "But he does not know, does he?"

"You know nothing."

The words came with another surge of power. My knees wanted to buckle. They did not.

Nox frowned. Then she moved. She crossed the distance before I had time to track it. Her hand reached my throat.

My body answered before my mind could.

I caught her wrist.

We both stared at each other.

“I also know that she has been gone long enough for me to wonder when you intended to notice, which only further proves my point.”

“What point is that?” Nox seethed.

“You’re. Not. Qualified.”

Even with the Arrolyn activated, my power should be weaker than hers. Feeders were at their strongest in Morrath, everyone knew that.

And yet, she was weak.

“Get your hand off my fucking throat,” I choked out.

I twisted. She flew backward and hit the wall hard enough to crack it.

Silence.

I looked at my own hand. Then back at her.

Nox pushed herself upright slowly. She looked at me as though she had never seen me before. "Your intunar."