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“Who are you?” I ask the woman, not recognizing her.
“My name is Gertrude, Queen Emily.” She stands from her seat, still cradling the crying child in her arms.
With quick strides, I snatch the baby away from her.
“What sick things are you doing to this baby?” I ask, holding the child close to my chest.
“I am Kiah’s nanny,” she says with an awkward curtsy. “I have been for many years now.”
“Kiah?” I know that name, but it’s been years since I’ve heard it spoken aloud.
Kiah was the name of my older brother, but he died in an accident.
I take a deep breath and look at the baby in my arms. His undead eyes stare up at me, completing my nightmare. I almost drop him, but Gertrude is there to swoop him back into her arms.
I shake my head. Denying what I’m seeing.
“This all has to be some sort of sick joke,” I say, giggling like a mad woman. “This can’t be real.”
“But what is more real than having your family surround you,” I hear my mother say as she steps into the doorway. “Oh Emily, can’t you see the wonderful opportunity we have here?”
My mother. The one sane parent I thought I had sounds totally insane. The look in her eyes makes me wonder how she could have fooled me all this time.
“What have you done?” I ask harshly.
She tilts her head as if she can’t understand my total contempt. “Why do you sound so angry? Isn’t this what you always wanted? Maybe after Ivy joins us you’ll feel differently. She will make our family complete. And after I kill Oberon, you will have full control over all the fae. Really, it’s a dream come true, don’t you think?”
“Kill Oberon?” I ask, aghast at her plan. “Have you lost your mind? Of course, you have. Look at what you’ve done. You’ve trapped my brother’s soul inside a child’s body, and you’ve brought back a Mark who isn’t my Mark. How could you do this to me? I thought you loved me.”
“I do, sweetheart. I do.” Her eyes plead for understanding. “Can’t you see how much I love you? I want us all to be together forever, and once I kill you and bring you back, wecanbe.”
I stop breathing. “You’re going to kill me too?”
“Oh, darling, it’ll only be for a little while. If there was any other way, I would do it, but by killing you, we can all be together, and you’ll be forced to do exactly what I tell you to do. That’s how it works, you know. The one who resurrects basically controls those who are given a second chance at life.” My mother walks over to Mark. “Look at him, Emily. Isn’t he as handsome as you remember him to be?”
“All you’ve done is reanimate his flesh.” I point at Mark. “That thing has no soul. He doesn’t even remember who he is. He’s an empty shell.”
“But you can fill it with whatever you want,” she tries to reason. “You can remind him about your life together. I’m sure with your help, he’ll start to recall memories on his own. I was going to try to help him with that, but things between you and Oberon escalated quite quickly. I never would have thought you would fall in love with someone else in such a short amount of time.”
“I guess that proves you don’t know everything about me.” I feel like a trapped animal. The worst thing is I have no idea where I am or how to escape this dungeon of undead.
“Where are we?” I ask, hoping to glean at least that much information out of her so I can make an escape plan before she turns me into one of her undead dolls.
“Underneath the castle,” she says. “I’ve had these rooms for quite some time, but I don’t allow anyone down here.”
“I can see why,” I say, glancing at Gertrude and Kiah. “How could you do that to him, Mother? How could you trap him inside a baby’s body for all these years?”
“He’s not trapped,” my mother scoffs. “He’s a perfectly happy baby boy. My eternal angel. Being undead isn’t all that bad, Emily. You’ll see in time.”
“No.” I shake my head firmly, so she doesn’t misinterpret what I think of her plan. “I won’t. You have no right to take my life away from me.”
“I’m not taking anything, darling. I’m giving you a brand-new eternal life. Why can’t you understand that? It’s not a hard concept to follow.”
“I understand you want to kill me. To kill Oberon. I won’t let you do that.”
I flee the room, pushing my mother out of the way and knocking her to the floor.
I have no idea if I’m heading in the right direction, but I do know I can’t just stand here and let my mother turn me into one of her zombies.
