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I bit at her, trying to break the hold, but no matter how many times I slashed or clawed, Etta didn’t let go.
“You’ll have to kill her, Abby!” Maisie moaned. “Take her out!”
“NO!” Etta screamed, her face red. “Have you no loyalty, you bitch? We’re fairies! You would order the death of your own kind?”
I didn’t want to kill her, but Etta was leaving me little choice, my own strength waning.
“I have no loyalty to you,” Maisie snapped back. “Not when you’ll buy and sell anyone who will make you a quick buck.”
Etta’s eyes popped beneath me.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she mewled, retracting her demonic expression, the sweet, innocent Etta returning. “That was all Orson. Orson fooled me. He wanted what Elijah had. You can’t fault me for that, Abby. I was in love.”
“Don’t believe it, Abby,” Maisie hissed, her cheeks waning with the effort of maintaining her protection. “She’s trying to get you to lower your guard. Stay on her.”
I eyed Maisie warily. For years, I had always believed that she was the enemy. This twist was doing a number in my head, but the evidence was right in front of my eyes.
“Abby, you know me,” Etta pleaded. “I’m your friend. Your best friend!”
“She put your mate in the ground to live out eternity!” Maisie snarled. “And the trafficking was her idea.”
I fell back in surprise, my paws slipping off Etta’s chest at the revelation.
“T-that’s ridiculous!” Etta roared, the gleam of fury returning to her eyes. “It was all Orson. You can’t blame me for following him. You know how dangerous he is—”
“Anamarie Krueger.”
Etta’s lies died on her lips, her face going oddly blank.
“Oh, you do remember her,” Maisie panted.
She can’t hold this up much longer. I have to do something, or Etta’s going to entrance us both.
“Anamarie was my friend. Like you,” Etta hissed, not bothering to act anymore.
“You sold her, twenty years ago. She was one of the first, wasn’t she? You lured her in with your sweetness and promised her a nice life in Montshire?”
Etta began to scream now, realizing that the gig was up.
“Anamarie is my aunt, you crazy witch,” Maisie rasped, doubling over. She looked at me imploringly. “She’s the reason I started looking into things more carefully. I wouldn’t have ever found Elijah if not for Anamarie.”
“You!” I cried silently. “You’re the one who found him?!”
“Please, Abby, you need to end her now. The second I let her out of my hold, she’s going to kill me.”
I turned my head back toward Etta.
“I’m your friend, Abby. Your only friend. I’ve never done anything to hurt you. You can’t believe any of this, can you?”
“Abby! Don’t fall for her lies! She’s been manipulating everyone for hundreds of years, Orson included. There isn’t much time. You have to do something, and quickly!”
I closed my eyes, collecting my strength. Everything added up. Etta was the one responsible for all the destruction, for destroying Elijah’s life, and for other atrocities I probably didn’t even know yet.
She had to be stopped.
My eyes opened, and I fell back onto my haunches, prepared to attack, but I had waited too long.
“Abby!” Maisie moaned. “I’m sorry…”
