Page 61 of Heart of the Villain

One down, eleven to go.

Marlena was turned around for pictures, but the smile on her face didn’t reach her eyes. Eyes that had a cold, blank darkness stared back from the picture.

Guards led Marlena to a back room, where she was allowed to wash the stain off her face and get her makeup touched up before returning to the party.

But Marlena wouldn’t be returning to the party right away.

Her reflection stared back at her in the bathroom mirror. A flash of the girl she’d been at nine distracted her.

Her eyes looked the same. Dead.

Defeated.

The dress she’d picked tonight had been intentional. A last goodbye to the girl she’d let steal her heart—to the only person who would ever break it.

When Arlet saw her in the green gown she’d bought Marlena for her birthday, it almost looked like she might break their silent no contact agreement.

But once she caught Marlena’s glacial expression, she thought twice of it and dipped off like a coward.

Marlena had known better. The voice in her head had warned her not to let Arlet get too close… and this was what she got for not listening to it.

It had never done her wrong.

And it wouldn’t start now.

“Everyone get out.” The staff and guards all looked at Marlena. Some might have had little question marks floating around their head if that were possible. “Did I fucking stutter?” she shouted.

Everyone scattered, leaving Marlena in the dressing room alone. She’d had a cloak stored inside the closet for her earlier, and the person who’d hidden it for her floated in.

“Is it time?” Ivelle asked.

Marlena grabbed the thick black cloak out of the closet and slipped it over her shoulders. “Is the horse ready?” she asked, ignoring her question.

“Yes. Your mare is waiting for you behind the garden like you asked.” Ivelle leaned against the wall. “Marlena, what are you doing? Where are you going? We’re supposed to attack tonight.”

Marlena’s wind whipped with her growing agitation. “Do you think I’ve forgotten about that?” Her laugh sounded foreign to her ears. “Everything I do, everything I’ve done, is for this night. Nothing has changed. I’m sealing our win.” Marlena strode for the door, letting it open through a gust of silent wind. “Tell the others to wait. They’ll know when it’s time.”

Slipping behind her invisibility, Marlena disappeared, sneaking out of the busy Aeris home and onto her horse without being seen.

Marlena pushed her horse to the brink of total exhaustion, not allowing her a break until they were deep in the patch of woods near a small and unpopular lake outside Stella. Her mare huffed, leading herself to water when Marlena left her unattended after dismounting.

Marlena emptied the bag she’d hidden in her cloak onto the forest floor. A box of matches, twelve candles, and the notebook she’d been hiding since her first trip to Littera fell from inside. Bringing it had been in case of emergencies. Marlena knew everything inside of it like the back of her hand.

Marlena grabbed the matches up and shoved them in her bodice, keeping them away from the snowy ground. Quickly, she placed the twelve candles in a circle around her.

One for each of the dead gods.

Mira had gotten it wrong.

Marlena wouldn’t.

She’d spent too much time researching, too much time preparing.

Mira was careless. Marlena was careful.

With a match and a single breath, Marlena lit the twelve candles. Her control of the air from her exhale sent the flame in a perfect circle. The natural night air was calm, a few lone snowflakes falling from the sky.

Marlena sank to her knees, digging into the wet dirt under a small patch of snow, and opened her leather-bound notebook. She smeared the damp earth across the book, breaking into the very essence of the realm.