The third piece of the Morrigan’s puzzle is Anita. Her twin, Xavier, was a sacrifice to the Morrigan when our bond allowed the plague to slip from me to him. After his death, Anita took the virus from me and passed it along the citizens of New York before I caught and imprisoned her. Her connection to the Morrigan gives her immunity, but it also simply makes her a pawn.
She deserves death for what she’s done but neither the Morrigan nor I can take her life. Not yet. We need her for the ceremony. My only hope is once her usefulness is over, I can slit her throat myself.
My murderous thoughts must be evident on my face,as a small cough and nudge from Nevis makes me snap my eyes to the room. All eyes are on the two of us and we line up, side by side, and walk down the black rug that leads to the main table.
Four huge stone fireplaces sit against the walls with massive fires burning in them to take the chill off the room. Tapestries hang from the ceiling, each emblazoned with images from long ago battles. The one commonality is the dark raven flying across the sky in each and every one.
“So they’re letting you walk around without chains?” Anita asks, glancing around at the dozens of soldiers that flank the walls of the room. She gives the one closest to us a flirtatious smile and he stands a little straighter. “I guess most of these guys have good aim.”
“Seems like you’d be a little nicer to me since I got you a free ride back to this hellhole,” I reply. The men and women sitting at the tables lining the aisle watch us like celebrities on the red carpet. Many smile. A few narrow their eyes. I don’t understand these people and the world the Morrigan has built for herself. Do they even know what they’re missing?
“I do appreciate that,” Anita whispers. “Although I do wonder how angry your little birds were when they realized you bailed on them.”
I cut her a glance. We’re approaching the dais, where two servants in fine clothing each extend an arm, directing us to walk away from one another and around the back of the table. Before we part, I grab Anita by the arm and she stops, studying me.
“Never speak of my Guardians again.”
The smallest curve graces her lips and she nods, knowing she hit me on a sore spot. I push back my shoulders and walk up the steps, holding my hem from the ground. The instant we step behind our seats a call breaks through the crowd, echoing off the stone walls.
“All stand for the Queen of Ravens,” the voice announces.
The response is instant, something I’ve never seen outside of a movie. People scramble to their feet, dropping their drinks to the table, scuffing the floor with their chair legs. Soon the entire room is on their knees, everyone including Anita.
A sharp jab to the back of my knees with the butt of the nearest soldier’s blade forces me down as well.
She arrives in a wave of frigid air, magic in her every step. There’s a darkness, an ancient power that I have tasted more than once, and the link between us begs to drink from her well of energy once again.
I swallow back the desire, seeking the peace and control my Guardians taught me to draw from. After my healing session with three of them at once and days of repeated fueling with Dylan before I arrived in the Otherside, I am strong, but just being in her presence makes me feel weaker.
The Morrigan is a stunning woman. Her hair is long and sleek, her body curvy and strong. Her eyes are the darkest obsidian, filled with eons of wisdom, rage, and death. There’s evidence that she maintains her youth from the water that flows beneath the castle, and there is no doubt that everyone in the room worships her as much as they fear her.
That’s when I spy the man behind her.
Bunny.
Sweet, sexy, kind, and artistic Bunny.
My betrayer.
My savior.
My…I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with-him-Guardian.
As much as I hate the way the Morrigan makes me feel, dammit, Bunny makes me feel worse. Just seeing him standing there is like a punch in the gut, or really, like he’s reaching across the long table and ripping my heart out with his bare hands.
“Forgive Bunny.” That’s what Nevis said back in the room. He watches me now, his copper eyes taking me in. Despite my anger with him, the spark flares between us—he is one of my mates, after all—which is why his betrayal cuts to the bone.
There’s little to no chance I’m forgiving him. Not in this realm or any other. Not for what he did to me, the risk he exposed our world to, and certainly not for what he did to the other Guardians.
The Morrigan slithers across the dais, her eyes gliding past Anita and then me. Her chair is held out and in moments she’s sitting above the rest of the room, waving her hands as an indication to sit.
I stare at her, my jaw hanging because I cannot understand this world.
The Morrigan glances at me and says, “Sit, and shut your mouth. A fly will get in there.”
I regain my senses. “I doubt flies live in such an icy realm.”
Her black eyes penetrate me and I feel the cold, not only on my skin, but in my heart. “It’s unfortunate you’re only here for the three days, Nemain, we could have had such fun together.”