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“Amara, don’t listen to her!” Gullie yelled.
Malys’ grin widened. “I would say your godmother doth protest too viciously…”
My heart was pounding and my head was spinning; all of this was suddenly made worse by the thought that Malys was right. Gullie had called out far too suddenly, too urgently. I already knew there was something my parents weren’t telling me. Was there a secret Gullie also knew about? Or was the crone trying to trick me by preying on my insecurities?
She had been able to infiltrate my dreams; maybe she also knew what I was thinking.
“Leave them out of this,” I said.
“I will,” said Malys, “I promise. If you do what I need you to do, not only will I ensure you aren’t killed by Fate’s hunter; I will also allow for you and your belore to leave, to retire somewhere nice where you can live out the rest of your days as outcasts… but together.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good deal to me.”
“Oh,I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you don’t like him enough to want to spend more time with him.”
“Don’t twist my words!”
Malys stuck her hands up and grimaced, as if she’d just embarrassed herself. “Oops,” she chuckled, “That’s awkward, isn’t it? I mistakenly assumed someone’s belore was their perfect match. I guess even Fate makes mistakes.”
“Shut up!” I yelled, and having had enough, I lunged, throwing myself to the ground and taking my wolf form. I snarled at her as I approached, stalking closer to her slowly,lethally, my nose close to the ground, my fangs barred.
“That’s cute,” she said. “Is that meant to intimidate me?”
“Undo what you’ve done,” I snarled. “You may be forbidden from killing me, but I’m not forbidden from killing you.”
“My dear, first you have to have the opportunity, and then you need thegall—and you have neither.”
Growling, I launched myself at her. To the hells with her magic, to the hells with how dangerous she was. I was done listening to her speak; it was time to act. Malys was quicker than I gave her credit for, though, and she side-stepped out of the line of my bite. By the time I backpedaled and turned around to go for her again, she was gone.
“Where did she go?!” I yelled.
“Amara!” Melina called out.
I looked over at her; she was pointing across my shoulder. By the time I turned my head, I was hit with something hard and sharp. I staggered, whimpering. My face stung, and I couldn’t open one of my eyes. Looking down at the snow underneath me with my one open eye, I saw blood trickling from my snout.
Now when I turned my head to the side, I didn’t see Malys anymore, but I saw what she had become. Instead of the lithe Fae with the curved horns and the long, black dress that had been standing before me a moment ago was a large jungle cat covered in silky black fur. Her back was curved, her paws pressed against the snow, her long, dark tail swishing almost playfully.
Though she had lost her horns, she still kept those violet eyes.
“Close,” she said, “But not close enough.”
I shook my head, trying to recover from the hit I had just taken. I was just barely able to open my other eye, but I could tell there was blood pouring down my face. “You’re going to have to do better than that if you want to kill me,” I said.
“I can’t kill you… but I can hurt you, and hurt you, and hurt you until you beg for death. Or, you can give me what I need, and I can make this all go away. You can have your happily ever after, and I can have mine. The one that was stolen from me.”
I saw a glimmer of green light go shooting away from Melina.Gullie.I lost track of her instantly, though.
“If you really thought you could hold out long enough for my deal with Fate to run out, you wouldn’t be asking for my help.”
“I’m not asking for you to help me, Amara; I want you to help yourself. Eventually, Fate kills you. That’s how this ends. But I can prevent that.”
I shook my head. “No,” I said. “There’s another way, and I’m going to find it.”
Malys approached, her stance growing deadlier by the second. “I can’t kill you,” she said, “But I can killthem. I can kill both of them right now, right in front of you… and I will. Please, don’t make me… but I will.”
I saw the glimmer of green again, this time acrossMalys’shoulder. “You’re a murderer,” I said, “If you could have, you would have… and you can’t. I think you’re the one who has no power here.”
Malys’ jaw dropped, revealing even more, large, sharp teeth. She was about to pounce, but I knew what I had to do. I had no chance at beating her in a direct confrontation; not from where I was. What I could do was distract her.
