“Rosalind,” she said, her voice tight. “What have youdone?”
“What haveIdone?” I said. The anger I’d been holding in since I’d first uncovered her scheming seared up through me. It crackled into my throat. “I’ve done what I had to do, to surviveyou. What I want to talk about is what you’ve done, and everything you were planning to donext.”
Celestine’s lips pressed flat. She kept herself propped up on her elbows, braced awkwardly against the floor but unwilling to give in and slump down. Somehow she still had enough elegance in her tailored blouse and dress pants to look as if she’d meant to be lying there. I gritted myteeth.
“You can’t get out of this by staying quiet,” I said. “I know everything. I know you were coming in here to force me to take Derek as my consort tonight, whether I wanted to or not. I know you were going to pervert the ceremony so he would have more control over my magic than I do. I know he’s taken an oath to follow your orders when it comes to me. I don’t even know how many laws of the Assembly that’s already breaking. It can’t get muchworse.”
“Then why are we talking about it?” Celestineasked.
I glared at her. But the truth was, I didn’t know everything. There was something I wanted to hear from her. “Why? Why would you do that to me? I know we’ve never really gotten along, but I didn’t—I’ve never tried tohurtyou.”
A lump rose in my throat through the anger. What could possibly justify my stepmother, the woman who’d acted as my mother for nearly twelve years, turning me into a virtualslave?
Celestine shifted as if testing the bindings I’d placed on her, but they held firm. Her jaw clenched. “Your spark will shine bright. Clearly it already does. That sort of power is better kept incheck.”
“Says who?” I snapped. “You’ve got plenty of power. Should someone be pulling yourstrings?”
She chuckled a little hoarsely. The glint had come back into her eyes. A shine that looked more like terror than anything else now. “Oh, Rosalind. You have no idea yet. Look at you with your spark just kindled and no experience at all wielding your magic. The Hallowell line runs strong in you, and your mother’s blood mingled with that…” She shook her head. “It isn’t safe to give a witch like you freerein.”
There had to be more to it than she was saying, but I was tired of hearing her make up excuses. I drew myself up even straighter, reveling in the magic still pulsing through me with all the strength of my consorts and my spark. “That’s not a decision you get to make. And you’ll be sorry you did. When my father gets back tomorrow, you and my ‘fiancé’ are going to tell him everything you planned, every horribledetail—”
Celestine started to laugh. Real laughter, strained but loud enough to cut off mywords.
“You think I can’t make you?” I said. “I found the contract. I have the proof even if you don’t say anything. And I have enough magic to keep both of you here long enough to face whatever retribution will becoming.”
“From your father?” she said, catching her breath. “Rosalind, this was all his idea. He’s even more a part of it than Iam.”
My mouth snapped shut as if the words had been a chilly slap across my face. I wouldn’t have thought there was anything that could have dampened my anger, but she’d found it. For a second I could only stare at her in adaze.
“You’re lying,” I spat out. “You’re trying to confuse me. Why would he trap his owndaughter?”
“He knows the power you’re coming into even better than I do,” Celestine said. She even smiled, small and sharp. “You’re his little lamb, and he wants you on aleash.”
No. There was no way that could be true. “It’s your name on the contract,” I said. “You met with Master Cortland to discuss it. You tried to do it while Dad wasn’t here to findout.”
My stepmother raised her eyebrows. “All the practicalities went through me because I’m the one with the magic. And because after he gave his instructions, he didn’t want to think about the details too much. He does love you, in his ownway.”
She said the words with a mocking lilt. My hands balled at my sides. “Andtonight?”
“Do you think I want him to come home to our plans potentially on the verge of exposure? He entrusted me with the responsibility to get this done. I meant to doit.”
My stomach had knotted, my dinner threatening to come up. I fought down the nausea. “Why should I even believe you? You could be making all this up just to deflect the blame. To try to stop me from going tohim.”
“I suppose I could be,” Celestine said, “but I’m not. If you’ve read the contract, you know it refers to the Hallowell ‘elders,’ not just to me. It was drawn up right in his home office, you know. I’m surprised you didn’t recognize that linen paper he’s so fondof.”
I wasn’t going to pull the contract out to check it now. “That doesn’t mean anything,” I said. “You could have taken a piece of paper from his office easilyenough.”
“But why would I write in a clause that gives him any authority over the matter if I was trying to do this behind hisback?”
I didn’t know. I just hadn’t had enough time to think it through. I wavered on my feet, uncertainty twisting through my magic—and my stepmotherlunged.
The bindings holding her wrists and ankles had faded with my confidence. She wrenched free with a sizzle. Slamming into me, she tackled me to the ground. The barrier I’d placed against her magic crumbledtoo.
My tailbone jarred against the floor. I shoved away from the slam of her elbow and a smack of magic from her hand. With a sweep of my arm, I propelled herbackward.
Celestine skidded on her feet and spun around. A wave of magical energy crashed through the room toward me. Books tumbled from my shelves. My bed frame rattled. On instinct alone, I waved my hands over my head and huddled in a protectiveball.
Her magic shook me but bounced off my shell. The family photo of me and my parents fell from the wall. It hit the floor with a cracking of brokenglass.