Page 55 of Raven in Midwinter

“But you have to think, if it’s been ages, then you’re waging war on people who never did you any harm.”

She scoffed. “You think like someone who craves peace, and I was raised that only blood solves disputes.”

“You would end up slaughtering innocent people.”

“How could they be innocent if they are from the line of a son who usurped me?”

I could tell from the set of her jaw, her flat gaze, and the chill in her voice that her course had been set ages ago. I was wasting my breath. And yes, what happened to her parents was terrible, but she needed to forge a new path. They wouldn’t have wanted her dead, or to cause death to undeserving souls. Or I was wrong. She had been raised to believe in violence rather than peace after all.

The silence dragged on, but I was always good with being quiet.

“Speak,” she ordered.

“What if Giles can’t make you into a hedge-rider like him, but into a skilled master who could move from realm to realm, astrally, and all the while learning?”

“Then he lied to me, and he will die.”

“If you just want to go back to your realm, have him return you there.”

“I need to be stronger than I am now, Xander, to retake what was lost.”

“I see. How do you plan to kill him? He’s very powerful.”

“If he lied, I will find a way.”

“Did you put a spell on the mirrors so he couldn’t see he was aging?”

Quick nod.

“Because if he’s weaker, and you find out he lied, you can kill him.”

“You’re far smarter than Giles gave you credit for.”

“Story of my life. I get underestimated all the time.”

I got a smile from her then and realized she really was stunning. “I didn’t want MacBain for anything but a soldier,” she told me. “I wanted him under my influence so if I needed to kill Giles, he could help me.”

“How would you influence him?”

“Now suddenly I think I gave you that compliment too soon,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “I tried to bespell him, and next I would have seduced him to bind him to me.”

“And you believe you could do this?”

She scoffed again. “My conquests are legend, Xander Corey.”

Of course they were.

“You don’t believe I could take him from you? A man is an easy thing to take and have. They are as changeable as the wind, and only very few are loyal and good.”

“Like your father.”

“Yes.”

“Which is why he needs to be avenged.”

“You sound like you understand.”

“Okay, then, let me keep MacBain and I will be your ally.”