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Jesseline’s eyes flashed in warning, her stare frozen on him. It had me wondering if anything had ever happened between them. If I’d come to learn anything, it was that Graceson had his way of making the rounds.
“I’d watch what you say before she pulls out her blade and we all watch as she cuts you up into tiny pieces and feeds you to the witch.” Hattie leaned into her elbow in her seat. I was inclined to agree with her.
“Can we…just?” Dace said slowly, pointing back at Geeta, who still wore her creepy grin.
“Yes, of course!” King Windre clapped his hands and lowered himself into Geeta’s view. Her smile faltered. “First you need blood? Is that right?”
“Yes,” her wicked voice sang. The room shrank away from the eerie harmonies of her voice.
King Windre was already moving, his long sleeves flowing behind him as he went. Along the window ledge was a large clear glass. Empty.
“Fresh would work best?” He gripped the empty glass and returned to her side. “Dace, would you like to do the honor?”
“Not really, but if I must.” Dace was stiff and I could only imagine the horrors of what played inside of his head. His hand was already on his belt, slipping one of the many daggers into his hand. Light reflected off the polished blade as he ran it up his forearm, leaving the tip of it pressed into his skin to keep the cut open. King Windre balanced the cup underneath Dace’s arm, letting it catch his blood.How much blood had he lost lately?
“Lovely, now, may I?” King Windre opened his palm to take the knife as the cup reached half capacity.
Dace lifted his blade from his skin, letting his flesh knit back together. The room watched quietly, as he ran the sharpened edges over the glass, removing any excess blood. Geeta stared down at the cup, her tongue running over her teeth.
“What’s better than the blood of one noble Fae?” King Windre cooed at the witch. “Two, the answer is two,” he finally said when she only blinked back. Taking Dace’s dagger he cut up his arm, letting Dace hold the glass underneath him.
As red sloshed to the brim, King Windre pulled away, allowing his wound to close. Dace took the offered blade back, slipping it, still bloody, back into the sheath. That’s when I knew his mind was somewhere else. Dace took care of his weapons, particularly his favorite daggers that he always wore.
“Drink up.” Dace frowned, placing the cup in Geeta’s hands.
“Mmmm,” she hummed, bringing it up to her mouth. Blood, still hot and crimson coated her lips as she drank, gulping it down to fill her starved belly. I turned my head away, not able to watch. Shavarra turned away too, catching my eye with a weak smile. Her wet swallows were the only sound inside the small meeting room.
Geeta happily sighed as she finished, handing the cup to King Windre, her lips bloodied and smirking. “Only one thing left to do then.”
“You undo the spell. We grant you your freedom,” I reminded her, slowly bringing my gaze back up.
“I’m aware of our deal.”
I’d be happy when this witch was done and gone. She had a blunt nature about her. Well, as blunt as she could be with a deceiving tongue that always danced around the truth. Not only that, but she was a reminder to Dace of what he lost, of what he had tied to his heart as his fault. Yes, I’d rejoice when she was free. And then I would pray that she wouldn’t be an issue.
I sat on the edge of my seat, hands gripping the table, prepared to jump up and hit the witch with a surge of power though I hoped it wasn’t necessary.
Geeta continued to rub at her wrists. “Do not interrupt me once I’ve started. It’s a complex spell that has a complex undoing. You’re lucky that I was even able to slip it in to use as leverage in situations like this.”
“Enough with the speech,” Graceson barked, earning himself a narrow eyed glare from Geeta.
Closing her large eyes, Geeta began chanting. Taking her time, her palms rose to face the ceiling as her words, foreign to us all, grew louder. She was speaking Began, the ancient common tongue of her kind. Was there anyone in the world that would understand such a language even left?
Black strands of hair lifted in her ponytail, pulling up to defy gravity as magic glowed around her in a white light that contrasted her shadowed appearance. Dace and King Windre stumbled back as her magic grew, pushing them away. Her voice rose with the blinding light as she screamed words that we would never understand.
My stomach twisted with unease. She could be dooming us, for all we knew. My trust in a creature so dark didn’t feel the same now that her magic was released.
Pure white, bright undying light, exploded from her washing out her image. My eyes burned as I tried to keep them open, to watch for signs of her escape or the chance she might attack. But the release of her magic was too pure, too blinding, and my eyes squeezed shut on their own. The power she exuded contained a warmth that seemed to travel over my skin. Gentle, like a lover's caress, my skin buzzed with it.
The feeling, as wonderful as it was, left as fast as it came. Magic ripped away from me, following the light as it was absorbed back into Geeta. Hattie shifted next to me and I knew she had felt it too. One finger brushed across her arm, chasing the feeling.
Geeta’s knees cracked against the tiled floor, her shoulders sagging. Her breath came in uneven gasps.
“It’s done.”
“That was it?” Graceson frowned.
“That’s it?” Hattie scoffed. “Could you not feel it?”
