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“I know you want the same as my mother does…”
“If Marius knew the release you could give him, he too would be more than thrilled at the thought. I have seen him beg for his suffering to end. Believe me, you do not want to experience it.”
“That is not the point!” I said, louder this time. “Have you ever had to kill someone you—”
I silenced myself, releasing to whom I spoke to.
“You forget that I was not blessed with the years of living as you have been, Jak. No, is your answer. I have not had to do the unspeakable because I was never given the chance. You must do it,” she seethed.
I bowed my head, unable to apologise to her again. “I feel helpless.”
“And pathetic seeking advice from a child, I suspect?”
“I will take the advice where I can these days. Even if it is from you.”
It was almost wasted that Victorya did not stick her tongue out and pull a face. But as she had explained before, she may have been stuck in that form, but she was far from a child now. Not after what she had seen.
“I know little of your kind, only that it was believed you should not have access to magic. But here you are. Is there not some spell you can do to find out what is happening with Katharine?”
“My magic does not work like that…” I said. “It is control over the elements. Mother never taught me spells for it was not required. The point of my power is to kill Marius. Not hexes and potions.”
“To me it sounds like you have simply been leashed. Taught what they wanted you to know, not what youneededto know.”
I sighed. “I worked that out years ago.”
“Yet you did not demand more knowledge?”
There was no demanding when it came to Mother. Or her coven. Only Lamiere dared whisper about the other possibilities her ancestors had access to before my ancestor took it away from them all.
“Making me admit aloud how terrible I had it with my family is not going to help us find answers to Katharine’s disappearance. If I cannot leave and seek answers myself we will just have to wait for her to turn up when she is ready.”
A roar pierced the night, shaking the very foundations of the castle. I first thought it was an illusion brought on by my tiredness, but Victorya’s reaction was painfully real. She looked, eyes wide, to me as I felt as though my entire body vibrated.
“Marius,” we echoed, already moving for the door of the room.
* * *
I foundhim at edge of the castle where the overgrown paths rolled over to the bridge which connected us to Darkmourn. He stood with his back to me, yet sensed my presence from the slight turn of his face.
“Stay away, Jak,” he warned, voice a rumble of thunder that shook the very shadows around us. “Please…”
“Tell me what is wrong.” I ignored him, testing another footstep closer to where he stood. Peering over his shoulder, I could see the faint glow of the few buildings that had not yet closed down for the evening. Even from my distance I could imagine the local tavern and the bustling crowd whom would be singing and dancing whilst spilling tankards at such a late hour.
“Tell me, Marius, I am here to help.”
“Katharine…” he growled.
I stopped dead in my tracks, my legs going numb. “What do you…” Before I could finish, Marius stepped aside, revealing a mound that lay untouched on the ground before him. The closer I got to it, the clearer it became. A bundle of hair lay by Marius’s feet, gathered by a black ribbon that held the loose strands together. It was not just a cutting of hair. It was every strand possible that would have been attached to her head. The blood-stained ends told a story of struggle.
Marius was stiff beside me. Tension rolled off him in waves. But it did not last long. One moment he was still, the next he was slamming his fists against a wall of air before him.
I stumbled back in shock as he battered the unseen barrier that kept him from leaving. Kept us from leaving.
“Let me out!” he screamed. Roared. His voice blended in with the night, causing his hounds to howl.
I clapped my hands over my ears, shying away from his anger.
“Katharine!”
