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Thiswas the Magi who’d attacked our kingdom?
Wordlessly, Skyler caught my hand and pulled me toward him.
I glanced over to Jeddak. He had forced the blonde Kovak girl to her knees, his staff poised to strike. Her chest was heaving, and there was blood running down her face, but the vehement look in her eyes dared him to finish it. In response, he slammed his staff into her head, and she collapsed to the ground. He picked up her knife and slid it into his belt.
Outside, thick clouds rolled into the clear sky, unleashing sheets of snow on the terrace. The air in the room turned icy.
Jeddak strode over to the White Widow and handed her the suli map. A malevolent smile spread across her lips as she gazed at it. “Finally.”
“That doesn’t belong to you,” I said through clenched teeth, now certain it washerspell controlling him. “Neither does Jeddak.”
Her smile grew. “Everything belongs to me. Or will soon enough.” She glanced at King Atvek.
“Seize her!” the king commanded.
For a split second, I thought the king was talking about the White Widow, until the Kovak guards ran over to restrain me and Skyler.
“Let go of me!” I struggled wildly as the guards marched me through the wreckage in the great hall toward the open terrace. Snow was now swirling through the terrace doors, stinging my eyes. I shouted for Kah, but he and the tan bear had been forced into a corner.
The guards led me straight to the White Widow. Jeddak stood rigid at her side, staff in hand, eyes empty. Bloodbain appeared a moment later at her other side, his blood cape whipping in the wind. They all stared at me.
My blood turned cold as I realized Bloodbain must have been working with the White Widow all along.
“You remember me, Raven, don’t you?” the Magi said. Her wicked smile was like looking into the sun, terrible and blinding.“If it weren’t for your attempt to stop me from getting the Azurstone that night in Stormrail, I never would’ve had to come to Askeland to elicit the help of the king and this very fine Kovak.” Her finger trailed across Jeddak’s jaw.
I flinched, looking away. If she’d manipulated the Kovak king, Bloodbain, and Jeddak, I wondered how many others were under her influence across Eastlandra, searching for the Azurstone on her behalf.
“You’ll never find the Azurstone,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Why, because you think a little spell on this map will stop me? There’s no spell a Magi like Sal Sahteene could create that I can’t break with my little finger.”
I glanced back at Skyler. He was struggling against the guards, his eyes full of rage.
“This has all been delicious fun,” the White Widow said, eyeing the dead bodies around us. As she spoke, a crystal-white frost began spreading like swarming ants along the terrace, and icicles were forming along the balustrade like an arsenal of daggers. “But now that the Zavien princess herself has so kindly delivered this map to me, I’ll be on my way. Well, almost …”
With a nod from her, Jeddak swung his staff at Bloodbain so hard, a loud crack reverberated off the ceiling. He sank to the ground, not moving.
I could only hope he was dead.
“Unfortunately for him, he didn’t recognize my little Kovak disguise. He was going to betray me and take the map and stone for himself,” the White Widow said. “Something that I know myhusbandwould never do.” Her sly gaze fell on me as she stroked Jeddak’s arm. “I’ll have you know, because of his protection mark, he was quite immune to my …influence. When the spell in the necklace I gave him didn’t work, I had to find another way to control him. Did you know people do the craziest things forlove? I wasn’t even sure I could make him fall in love with sweet, innocent Lila, but it barely took a week before I had him tied around my finger.Men.” She said the last word with disgust.
“Jeddak, you’re stronger than this,” I said, wishing her words didn’t hurt so much. I had to try to reach him—to break through the spell he was under. “Don’t listen to her.”
He stared blankly ahead.
The Magi rolled her eyes like she was growing bored. “Kill her,” she said. “We have a stone to find.”
Jeddak lunged toward me, knocking me to the ground. Harsh snow swirled in angry waves around us as he held me down and drew the knife from his belt.
“Jeddak. Jeddak, please wake up. It’s me. It’s Raven,” I rasped, tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes.
His empty golden eyes bored into mine, and for a moment, I saw past the Magi’s spell, the lies he’d told, the hurt he’d caused, and just sawhim. And there was only one thing I wanted him to know.
“I love you,” I breathed when I felt the sharp metal touch my throat.
At this, he seemed to hesitate. He shook his head and scrunched his face like he was fighting off a headache.
“Raven?” For a second, the hazy smoke cleared from his eyes and his gold irises blazed.
