AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What is it you seek?”
“The means to remove an unbound soul.”
She hobbled around the fire toward a table, which held apothecary jars and strange specimens suspended in larger jars filled with liquid. On closer examination, I noticed a tiny foot in one of the jars and frowned. “Is that all you came for,LordVan Croix?”
“This entity stands to harm someone I care about.”
The sound of her dark chuckle sent a shudder down my spine. “You sought me out forlove. How precious.” Her unnerving gaze landed on Soreth. “And is this your love?”
A glance at Soreth showed his face twisted into a scowl. “Absolutely not,” he said.
The older woman sneered, keeping her gaze on him. “You should never trust an angel, Lord Van Croix. The righteous are rarely right, at all.”
Pressed with impatience, I ignored her comment, the desire to return to Farryn clawing at my insides. “The woman I speak of is ill.”
“I am aware. It was I who summoned a doppelganger to Miss Ravenshaw, as she stepped out of that bookstore.”
My muscles tensed, fist gripped tight to the hilt of my dagger. “You murdered my child?”
“No. I think you are quite aware of what murdered your child. She is why you’re here. The one who feeds on the young to remain youthful.”
“Who?”
“Syrisa of Soldethaire.”
I shot Soreth a glance before returning my attention to the woman. “And why would she choose Farryn’s body?”
“Because only you have the power to destroy your father. To carry out Syrisa’s vengeance.”
Smart, really. Of course she would choose the only woman for whom I’d doom all five realms by killing my father. “Was this doppelganger sent on behalf of a favor you entertained?”
“Yes. Your father’s, to be exact. He wanted the unborn murdered. Imagine my surprise on finding something else had laid claim.”
I swallowed back the black, poisonous fury that climbed my throat. “I want her out. Out of Farryn’s body.”
“You are aware every Calling bears a price.”
“I am.”
“For vengeance against the woman who murdered your firstborn, I demand a rather generous payment.” She tapped excessively long and crooked nails against the table, as if impatient for my reaction.
“Name your price.”
“Fate calls you back to Eradye. And when it does, I want Letifer’s heart.”
The literal heartbeat of the barren world, rumored to have been impossible to find. “Are you mad?”
“Why, yes, Lord Van Croix. I am.” She poured apothecary jars into a black, stone mortar and pestle, her whole body moving with the toil. She blew over top of it, and a flame caught, the sound of crackling echoing over that of the bonfire in the center of the room. “I expect payment in kind. You desire vengeance and the destruction of Syrisa. I desire vengeance in return.”
“That is what my father promised you, isn’t it? Letifer’s heart?”
“No. Your father promised me the first child he would bear with Miss Ravenshaw. Now, Lord Van Croix, do you wish to strike a bargain?”
The words cut like a blade down my spine, and the rage from before bubbled to the surface again. What little vitaeilem was left in me vibrated across my skin, the electricity tingling my fingertips. I wanted to kill him so badly, my palms burned with the fantasy of throttling his neck until his eyeballs popped out of their sockets.
“Do not do this, Jer–” Soreth grabbed his throat, his mouth gaping as if something invisible had wrapped itself around his neck. He dropped to his knees, gasping, choking, clawing at the dirt.
“You were saying?” Venefica asked, pouring the black fluid she’d concocted into a vial.
