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“What the—” I rushed forward, then spun in a circle, looking for my unicorn. Not even a puff of smoke or sparkles or anything signaled her disappearance. Circling back to face the calm woman who’d wished Holly away with a simple flick of her fingers, I cried, “What the fuck did you just do to her?”
I drew my dagger threateningly, ready to defend Quilla. But since my glamour showcased a young girl and my hands were still stuck together due to my shackles, I didn’t appear too intimidating. It looked like I had to hold the blade with two hands because it was too heavy for me to lift with one.
Quilla’s old-man glamour appeared at my side, swords in both her hands. Melaina rushed to our side, brandishing a weapon as well and thankfully remaining loyal to us.
“Hey! What’s going on here?” The ferry master called from his edge of the ferry where he was busy directing the flow of the boat. “No squabbles on my boat or you’re going overboard.”
“No squabbles here, dear,” Nalini assured him with a flirty smile, blowing him a kiss that caused him to blink as if she’d just blown dust in his eyes. “Forget you ever saw me or my two companions and go about your business now. All is well.”
He nodded and obediently turned away, murmuring a monotone, “All is well.”
“What the hell?” I whispered, realizing she’d just taken control of his mind and thoughts, even his memories. No ordinary, everyday magic could do that.
I gaped at Nalini just as she turned back to us, smiling pleasantly. My expression caused her an amused chuckle. “Relax, darling.” She fluttered out a non-concerned hand. “I assure you, your unicorn friend is fine. I just put her in time-out for a bit. I’m sure she’ll be waiting at the shore for you as soon as you dock.”
“That was insane,” Quilla murmured, her voice sounding as shocked as I felt.
“Wasn’t it, though?” Nalini agreed with a serious nod. “I mean, who throws a tantrum like that without any kind of provocation at all? I didn’t even threaten that hussy unicorn. Did you see me threaten her?”
“I saw you poof her out of existence and then mind control the ferry master into forgetting what he just saw,” Quilla countered.
But Nalini didn’t even seem to hear her rebuttal. She was still too busy being insulted by Holly’s behavior. “Honestly, just because I turned her great-whatever-grandmother into the most badass magical creature in existence doesn’t mean she can treat me like that? That was, like, nine generations ago. They should all just get the fuck over it by now, don’t you think?”
She glanced at both Quilla and me as if expecting an answer, but before we could say anything in return, she went on.
“Besides, I did that lying little cow, Margaret, a favor. I could’ve eliminated her entirely for deceiving me the way she did, but no. I was benevolent and spared her life. She could’ve died right then, a forgotten no one. And I was kind enough to alter her only a little for her deceptions. Which she more than deserved. Now you tell me, what would you rather be: a mystical being with unlimited powers that can heal and protect mankind and shift into any other animal you want, or would you rather be dead for betraying your entire world?”
Instead of waiting for a response, she once again kept talking before we could give one. “So her little half-breed horse descendant, Holly, should learn her place. Bitch, just suck my ovaries, is what she can do...”
I glanced questionably at Quilla just as her old-man glamour sent me a similar glance. Nalini’s story sounded eerily like the one Melaina had told me about how the first Graykey ancestor had turned that one woman—Margaret Scott—into the first unicorn.
Silently realizing we were on the same page, we turned back to Nalini together. “Are you trying to tell us you’re actually Corandra Graykey or something?” I asked.
Nalini paused, her eyebrows lifting in surprise. Then she glanced toward Quilla with an almost proud smirk before murmuring, “Someone’s been sharing her family legend with her new mate, I see. That’s wonderful. The romance between you two must be developing nicely, then. Tell me, are you with child yet?”
“What?” Quilla sputtered incredulously, pulling back when Nalini moved too curiously close for her personal space to allow. “Hell no, I’m not with child yet.”
The flamboyant woman waved a hand. “You’re right. Probably too soon for all that. Though if you require assistance in that area,” she added, addressing me with a catty smile. “I can definitely assist. I’ve a tonic that could make her more susceptible to your advances. She’d be willing to tup you within minutes, if you like.”
While Quilla murmured an incredulous, “What the fuck?” my mouth
fell open, mind whirling.
Nicolette had told me that Mydera—the blond Amazon leader of the traveling mages in the Dimway Forest—had secretly given her husband Farrow an aphrodisiac without their knowledge to get him to bed her. This sounded freakily similar.
“You won’t be giving her anything, thanks,” I said slowly.
Nalini shrugged. “Fine. If you prefer the old-fashioned seduction, so be it. That route will take longer, but I’ve heard good things come to us who wait, ergo, I suppose a few extra days won’t harm anything.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Quilla demanded suddenly.
“I’m—” Nalini opened her mouth, only to frown. “Your glamours are really quite distracting, you know. I’d prefer to talk to the true versions of you, if you don’t mind.”
After curling her fingers as if forming a ball from the air around her, she opened her hand, palm up, and blew on it gently. What followed was a massive wave of wind that blew over us, wiping away all traces of our glamours with one swift breeze.
“Oh,” she said in surprise when the shackles appeared on my wrists. “Well, that was unexpected. Keeping him bound, are we, dear?” she asked Quilla with a wink. “Very nice.”
Meanwhile, Melaina was shaking her head and breathing, “Not possible,” as she gaped at Nalini with a mixture of horror and awe.
