Page 169 of Serpent and Shadow

It was all so sickly fitting.

It fit everything I knew about Malefic Bones, and everything Caelum had ever told me and warned me about his father, yet somehow, the sheer, ruthless audacity of it still had the power to shock me.

This was the “ascension” Malefic had just spoken about.

He would remake himself as a pharaoh, as a god.

I had a feeling that mightn’t turn out the way Malefic thought it would. I strongly suspected those powers were given to two different Magicals for a reason.

Unfortunately, I’d never know if I was right about that.

Caelum and I wouldn’t be around to see it.

36

Morwormer Hall

Ileaned against the wall, drained, exhausted, and silent, and watched as the massive hall began to fill up with more black-clad forms.

I tried to look at every face as they entered through the double doors, but there were too many to make a note of every one, much less to decide how many of those faces I actually recognized. I mostly was looking for my friends, half-waiting for them to be dragged into the hall in chains, but no one I cared about ever appeared.

It was the only genuine relief I experienced while sitting there.

A few among the crowd I did recognize, unfortunately.

Sirena entered the room and made the rounds in a sweeping red gown under her black cloak, wearing a headband with a skull of Anubis in gold at her forehead. She walked for a time with a tall, bearded man who must be her husband, Sergius Calvarias, and bowed and held court as the two of them parted the crowd on their way to their place near Malefic.

When she got closer to the stage, she saw me and grinned widely, sauntering in my directly on high heels, her lipsticked mouth matching her hair, which had changed to scarlet and black since I’d last seen her. She conjured magic from her primal, a gold-headed jackal that walked along beside her, making the magic crackle with power by the time she stood directly over me, a manic grin on her face.

She tossed some of that magic at me… once… twice… three times, before Malefic glanced over and tut-tutted at her, and she relented with a faint pout. Each bolt of her magic made me writhe in pain, and caused my nose to bleed again, but I hated the gratitude that rose in me when Malefic waved her off.

She leaned down towards my face instead, and grinned, looking me over.

“Not so pretty now, are you, mongrel?” she hissed. She bent closer, so that her lips nearly brushed my ear. “I’ve been meaning to thank you for lending me your pretty Caelum to play with all these months,” she breathed silkily. “He’s been so very, very naughty for me… you really have no idea. But I suppose I have you to thank for leaving him so hungry.”

My jaw hardened, but I didn’t speak.

When I wouldn’t look at her, she tossed more magic at me, a soft, blown kiss compared to the fire she’d thrown at me those first three times.

I would have preferred the fire.

The instant her magic touched mine, I saw Bones chained to the wall, his face taut, the gold collar holding him to the wall. Disgust was etched in his expression, fury, but every time his magic tried to expand, the collar glowed white and he groaned in pain. He was sweating, and panting, and I watched as Sirena sat astride him, naked but for a gold chain around her waist.

I shook my head, letting out a half-cry, in spite of myself.

“Such a good doggy,” she purred in my ear. “And your brother so loved to watch. If he’d been just a little older, and your Caelum a little less enticing, I might have given little brother the benefit of my experience and wisdom, too. But Caelum seemed so jealous and needy whenever I offered to bring him into our playtime…”

I looked her in the face when she raised her head. I stared at her, oblivious to her appraisal, struggling with a rage unlike anything I’d ever felt.

She laughed at whatever she saw in me, and then rose back to her feet, straightening to her full height. She prodded my chest with the toe of one of her high heels.

“That’s the spirit, mongrel,” she smiled, winking at me.

I struggled not to react, to push it back, to erase what she’d shown me, but the images seemed burned there. I watched her walk away, then closed my eyes, fighting again to blank my mind, but only half succeeded.

I’d known, hadn’t I? I’d known.

Telling myself that didn’t help anything.