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“I’ll ask her what she did with the amethysts.”
“No.That’s a bad idea.”
It was the best idea.“My castle, for today anyway, my dungeon, my rules.”Before he could protest again, she walked out of the vault and into the deepest part of the mountain.She didn’t have to glance back to know Perry had followed her.
“What about the next court session?”he asked.“Your subjects?”
“They’ll wait for a few minutes.”Or for a real queen.Someone who could solve their problems and act like a ruler.She motioned to the guards to unlock the main entry to the dungeon.Steel gleamed against the stone under bright lights.The scents of bleach and alcohol burned her nose.
“This is the dungeon?”Perry asked, close behind her.
“Yeah.”She didn’t slow her pace.“Obviously.I mean—bars and stuff.”
“It’s so…clean.”
“What’d you expect?Torture chambers?We’re goblins, not orcs.”
“But the chains.You came to the throne room shackled like a mass murderer.”
“It was for show.”She stopped and lowered her voice.“Those couldn’t hold me for long.Are you sure you want to come along?You aren’t a fan of jails, and Petra isn’t a fan of yours.”
“Sometimes we say more to enemies than to allies.”
“This isn’t a movie with a villain monologue or a trial with an audience to play to.”The far-offtap-tap-tapof metal on metal grated on her nerves.Pain edged along her injured shoulder.
“Are you all right?”He reached as if to steady her but pulled his hand away at the last moment.Powers forbid that the man touch her now that he’d seen her fight.
“I’m fine.”She wasn’t.Her heart ached to match the throbbing in her shoulder.She rounded the corner to an opening in the middle of the dungeon with the one cell she might’ve been stuck in.Not because she couldn’t crack the locks, but because the damn thing was see-through.There would’ve been no shadows to hide in.“Hello, Petra.”
“Vori, have you come to watch?”The drawled innuendo was as slow and sensual as the way the redhead slid her finger along the barrier between them.“At our first meeting, you said you enjoyed watching.”
Perry cleared his throat, but she ignored him.“Where are the amethysts?”she asked.
Petra laughed.“Like I would tell you.No, I’ll need the rest of them from the cuff on your wrist to complete my collection.”
“But not for Baba Yaga?”
“Nope.All for me.”
Perry pushed closer to the cell.“I thought you were about punishing those who hurt kids.”
“Oh, I am.”Petra didn’t glance at him, keeping her gaze on Vori.“Funny thing that those who have touched the amethysts, those possessed by their greed are so often the same ones who are cruel or neglectful to children.In both realms.Like you representing those who hurt little ones.Or your father who abandoned you to the system.Or the mad king.”
The way the woman said it, as though it was simple if-then logic sent a chill along Vori’s spine and a whoosh of blood rushing through her ears.“If you believe that, then why are you collecting the stones?”
“Because if you complete the right ritual with the right royal blood to recreate the wicked crown?Ka-boom.”Petra said the last as if she were a child playing at cartoon sounds.“Their greed will make them destroy each other, and I’ll create a new order from those who remain.”
“With you in charge.”Vori had heard the legend, had known it was a doomsday weapon, but hadn’t dreamed someone would bethatambitious.Of course, she’d married a man that power hungry.Her stomach twisted, fear sparking in her and catching fire in a burning anger that could consume her.
Perry banged his fist against the cell.“You can’t do that.People will die.”
“What is it the witches say?”Petra asked, her voice singsong instead of serious.“Oh yeah, ‘for the greater good.’To set things right, sacrifice is necessary.Blood, sweat, and tears as the wicked crown’s legend goes.”
Perry huffed a sound of disbelief.“Then it’s a good thing for the humans that Vori will be queen here and can keep you locked up forever.”
“Yes,” Petra drawled.“Hide behind your queen.You’re no better than my dead sister with your thirst for claiming other people’s power, no matter how you can get it.It was so convenient for you to fall for the real queen.To have had that choice.Not that she has one.Do you, my queen?”
“Stop.”Vori curled her hands into fists as if she could hold back her rage like a monster on a fraying leash.This was what her father had wanted.For her to lose control and rule the realm with fear and heartbreak.“I won’t do it.”
