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“Release Her!” I bellowed.
Opaline burst into fresh peals of laughter while Mother stepped forward, her arms coming to stiffly hold in front of her as though she was coming to embrace me. Her eyes… as she moved into a beam of moonlight, I saw the violet eyes I knew so well were milky white. Bruxsa.
“That mark on her neck,” Reilyn said, moving slightly ahead of me. She used her body to push me aside, keeping her distance between Mother and me. “That’s the mark of theNightshade Coven priestess. It’s the same one that’s on your neck.”
Opaline hummed as she stepped around Mother, walking forward at the same pace. She drew a long, wicked-looking sword from her belt and cast her cloak aside.
“My mother was never a priestess of the coven,” I vehemently said. My shock was wearing off, reminding me of the kingdom's fate hanging above us.
Opaline chuckled. “Of course not. She was the creator.”
Reilyn inhaled sharply.
“Did you never wonder why she took you to train there? With her best pupil? Me.”
“Mother,” I whispered. “Mother, I—” Emotion pulsed through my bond with Reilyn. No words came through, but I still knew what she was thinking. There was no counter spell against death. No potion to bring back the dead. And a vampire was only a dead body. There was no cure. My mother was dead.
The only want to stop this creature that wore her face was to kill it. To kill Opaline.
My resolve hardened as I lifted my sword once more. The Bruxsa screamed and flew at me, long, clawed fingers swiping at my face. Reilyn stepped in front of me, shoving it off, but even as she did, a half-dozen more vampires came bursting through the hedges. Reilyn spun away to face the coming vampires. One was the Bruxsa we had encountered in the tavern. The Bruxsa attacked her while the others formed a blockade around Opaline. And Mother kept coming at me. Opaline’s wicked sword was in her hands now as she sliced at me, moving so swiftly I hardly had time to counter it.
“Mother,” I cried, unable to stop myself. “Mother, it’s me. I’m your son!”
“Mother, Mother,” Opaline taunted.
I ground my teeth and fought against the vampire.
“Look. My best work, the two of you. Ironic, don’t you think?” Opaline taunted. “The pupil turning against the master, just like I turned against your mother.”
“And here I thought you hated me!” Reilyn shouted above the clash of metal.
“I do. You’re an annoying child. But you served your purpose, Reilyn. I made you destroy Araki, and you will yet. But I will let him see you die and bring him with you. And with the two of you gone, the kingdom will be mine.”
Chaos and Harmony
Reilyn
A crack of thunder sounded overhead. Araki’s magic was in chaos. I could feel his constantly changing emotions swirl inside of him. I didn’t dare tap into our magical connection to use his magic. I pulled forward the last pieces of Klaus’s magic I had taken to light my daggers with fire, stabbing through the two vampires I fought before the flames extinguished. The vampires crumpled to dust, only for two more to take their place. I darted to one side as a spell streaked by my head. A chunk of my hair singed away to nothing, and I spun, putting the vampires between Opaline and me. She laughed as she rubbed her fingers together, building magic without saying a single word. Four more vampires stumbled through the bushes and headed for Araki. Araki chopped the head off of one, then deflected a strike from the vampire that had once been his mother and sliced across the chest of a second vampire. Opaline sent another spell my way. I barely managed to dodge. The spell hit a vampire, and all its muscles seized up at once. It froze and fell to the ground.
Something burned inside of me. Something that felt the same as the first time I touched Araki, the first taste of his magic I’d had. It was the feeling of heat and cold and the stars whirling in the sky when we cast the spell together in the Forest of Shadows. The bond between us, like rivers colliding, creating a tumultuous burst of heaving waters.
Creating something more powerful. Truer.
I slashed a strigoi’s head, spun around, and chopped off another bruxsa’s head as it dove for me. I flung one dagger atOpaline. She batted it aside with ease. The connection between Araki and I pulsed, lost in the chaos of his emotions.
Another crack of thunder, followed by a flash of lightning, blinded me. If I could just find a path through our bond… if I could truly connect with Araki, I could find his magic. We could still win this battle! I ground my teeth, torn between continuing this fight with the vampires and the storm between us. Rain burst over us, as thick as a frigid waterfall. It felt like a thousand sharp blades stabbing my skin repeatedly. The heat seeped from my body. Opaline shot another spell at me. It zapped my shoulder. I growled and fell back, working away from Opaline. I hid behind the hedge, protecting myself from her attacks.
“There is nowhere to hide, little mouse,” Opaline goaded. “Come and meet your end.”
I panted harshly and winced from the bleeding cut on my shoulder. I tightened my hold of the dagger in my hand as more vampires appeared. And with a sudden stab of fear, I realized if they were here in the gardens… they were in the palace.
Where some of the civilians have taken shelter.
Nala.
Nadine.
Mirae.
