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Now, I’ll pay for that with something far more valuable than my life.
Priscilla won’t let Casey live. She’ll take great pleasure in destroying the woman I love. She’ll enjoy it so much that she might end my curse herself just for the joy of seeing me suffer the grief and guilt of my loss for another hundred years.
But a hundred years won’t be enough to atone for my part in this.
I want to tell Casey I’m sorry, I want to promise her that I would take her place if I could, and that I’ll never forgive myself for putting one precious hair on her head at risk, but I can’t speak. I can’t move.
All I can do is watch as Priscilla stalks toward Casey in her soaking wet dress with the limp bow at the waist, tapping her fingers together beneath her chin.
“Now, which mistake to correct first? Do I slit your throats and then take care of that tricky little calamari appetizer who destroyed my yacht?” She circles my wife, sending my panic skyrocketing as she trails a finger along Casey’s shoulders. “Or do I leave you all here to contemplate your impending death for an hour or so, kill the calamari, fry it up in your very own witchy kitchen, then make you eat it before you die?”
She stops in front of Casey, propping her hands on her hips. “It’s such a hard decision. On the one hand, pet eating revenge seems like a good time. But on the other hand, three birds in the hand is worth one in the pan. Don’t you agree?” She flutters her fingers Casey’s way. “You may speak, witch, but only to me and only in response to a direct question. So, which do you prefer? Sudden death or delayed death with a side of fried squid?”
“She’s a kraken, not a squid,” Casey says, her voice rough. “And I prefer door number three. You leave all of us alone and get out of here. You can take the Shadowbane’s pirate ship. And as long as you never come back here or hurt anyone else, we won’t shove a stake through your rotten heart.”
Priscilla’s lips turn down hard at the edges. “No, darling, I’m afraid that won’t work. Your squid killed my guards. Decapitated them with her big, ugly tentacles. Even if I thought running away was a good idea, I don’t have anyone to sail for me. And running feels premature.” She flashes a vicious smile my way. “But if you want a third choice, I think forcing Edmond to fuck me while you watch, then frying up the squid and making you eat it, then killing you while Edmond watches sounds like a lovely sequence of events.” Her lips curve into an O of faux concern as she taps her bare wrist. “But will we have time before the Blackmores realize you’re missing and come looking for you both? I just don’t know. Do you Edmond?”
She snaps her fingers and the hold on my throat releases, though the rest of me remains pinned against the cavern wall.
“Go fuck yourself,” I growl. “You evil bag of bones.”
Priscilla clucks her tongue. “Now, now, no need for profanity. I was just asking. I thought you might like the chance to tell me your little friend was waiting behind the dunes. And then I could have told you that I cracked his skull like an egg before shoving a piece of driftwood through his heart, and we could have shared a lovely moment of truth between us. Wouldn’t that have been nice? Before the end? To be honest with each other for the first time in nearly a century?”
“It would,” I say, my stomach sinking as I pray that she’s lying about Ringer, even as something deep within me knows she’s not. “So, I will tell you, honestly, that I loathe you with every fiber of my being. You’re a mad, pitiable, pathetic waste of life force and when you’re dead, not a soul on this earth will mourn you.”
“Ouch.” Her hand flutters to her chest with a laugh, but the sound is strained.
My words hurt her. Not nearly as much as I’d like to hurt her, but I’ll take what petty vengeance I can get.
She sniffs. “Well, Casey. I bet he doesn’t talk to you like that, does he?”
“Of course not,” Casey says, her soulful eyes meeting mine across the cavern. “He’s the best man in the world and my only regret is—”
“That’s enough.” Priscilla snaps her fingers. “No time for lovey dovey monologues. The second battalion of Shadowbane fighters will be attacking from the river soon and I should be at the bridge to warn them that, thanks to a double-crossing little librarian, they’re all that remains of the fighting force.”
Sophie struggles beside me, but she’s not strong enough to break Priscilla’s control. None of us are.
At least not one at time…
But if we all fought her at once…
I try to catch Casey’s eye again, hoping she’ll be able to guess my thoughts the way she has so often before, but her attention is fixed on Priscilla, who’s now twining a lock of her glossy hair around one small finger. “But that’s fine. The second battalion is the bigger one, anyway. They’ll still be able to take the estate by surprise and take back what’s mine. And thanks to you three, I’ll be able to rule alone. They wanted me to marry Erik, but he was such an old-fashioned bore.” She rolls her eyes. “Probably would have wanted to consummate our union through a hole in the sheet. Ugh. Have you ever fucked someone that boring, Cassandra? I would bet money that you have.”
“I’ll answer your question, if you’ll answer one of mine,” Casey says, clearly having to fight to veer even that far from Priscilla’s command.
Priscilla gives Casey’s hair a tug. “Don’t even think about it. I won’t be answering any questions until I’m sure that nasty little potion of yours has worn off. I don’t enjoy being forced into unwanted intimacies, Cassandra.”
“Neither does anyone else,” Casey snaps, her entire body vibrating as she strains toward Priscilla.
I instantly join her, straining against the invisible bonds holding me fixed in place. After only a moment, I feel Priscilla’s hold on my throat begin to weaken. “Fight her,” I whisper to Sophie as Casey answers Priscilla’s question, confessing that sex with Manny wasn’t much to write home about. “Fight her, Sophie. Together we might be able to break her hold.”
Sophie squirms against the wall, hissing back, “If I can get free, I can shift. I have a Wyvern form.”
“She’s unbelievably strong,” I say, certain Casey must sense what we’re doing, or she wouldn’t be going into such detail about Manny’s lack of staying power in the bedroom. She’s keeping Priscilla distracted and I intend to make the most of it. “Once I’m free, I’ll rush her from behind. You go get help.”
“No,” Sophie says, managing to stagger one step away from the wall. “I’m a female Wyvern. We’re not just big. We can breathe fire. I told Annie we couldn’t, because I didn’t want to scare her, but I lied. Some of us can. I can.”
Fire.
