Page 125 of Down Comes the Night

Isabel crouched beside Una’s heaving body, her skirts puddling in her blood. “Do not give orders to me.”

Lowry laughed—actually laughed. It was a raw, unhinged sound, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I swear, you will reel from how quickly I withdraw Cernos’s support from your war.”

Isabel hesitated.

Una was still breathing. But so slowly, interrupted by air-hungry gasps. Her skin was a pallid, waxy blue. Death lurked over her now, one skeletal claw already dug into her heart. They didn’t have time for hesitation.

“Isabel,please.I know you’re hurting.” Wren wobbled over the words. To show kindness to the woman who’d made her so miserable—it was maybe the hardest thing she’d ever done. “I know you want to make our family proud. I know you want to finish what they started. But you’re not like them. We don’t have to continue the things we’ve inherited. We can be better—”

Isabel’s head snapped up. “You know nothing of loyalty or duty. I was entrusted this nation by my mother and her mother before her. It was given to me by the Goddess, and I will not see it ruined. I will not abandon their legacy.”

“You haven’t,” Wren pleaded. “I know how awful it is when it feels like everyone rejected you. When you’ve tried your best, and it’s not enough.”

Isabel said nothing. Lowry, for the first time, stilled.

“But you locked yourself away. You’ve pushed away everyone.” Wren reached out. “But you don’t have to be alone.”

“Iamalone.” Isabel’s voice cracked. “I’m the Paper Queen. Who would love her?”

“I would have loved you, if you let me!” Wren choked back a sob. “I wanted to—so badly. I wanted you to love me, too. After you sent me away, I never stopped hoping you would come for me. And after I got out, I never stopped hoping you would change your mind about me. I never stopped trying to impress you.”

The ferocity in Isabel’s glare faded.

“I needed you, and you weren’t there,” Wren said. “But now your people need you. It’s not too late for them. Revenge won’t bring prosperity. It won’t bring back their families. It won’t bring you their love or acceptance, and it won’t make our ancestors proud. They’re all dead. But no one else has to die for their war.”

“Enough of this,” Lowry growled. “Isabel—”

“Don’t listen to another word he says! He’s manipulating you. Exploiting your hatred for Vesria. As soon as you give into it, he will wrest your power away from you. Una and I—even Hal—we’re trying to do right by Danu. And I know you are, too. Together, I believe we can make it better. We can create a new legacy. So please…”

Her voice broke off as Isabel lowered her gaze to Una, crumpled and bleeding on the floor, and sagged. Her hair enfolded her, closing around her like a waterfall. Isabel had always been thin, but now she looked gaunt. Exhausted and drowning in fabric.

“How touching.” Lowry retrieved the knife from the pool of blood. He lurched toward Una. “Now out of my way—”

“Don’t take another step toward her.” Isabel thrust her palm forward, silver light glimmering at the center of her palm.

The Healing Touch.

All her life, Wren had assumed her magic was her father’s gift. But it was from her mother. As the queen laid her hands over Una’s neck, Wren realized there was something beyond their resentments that bound them.

Una squeezed her eyes shut with relief as the wound sealed. A solid, angry purple line cut across her throat. It was patchy and amateurish, but it didn’t matter. With the bleeding stopped, she had a chance to survive.

The silvery light still illuminated Isabel. When she spoke, her voice was deathly quiet. She did not deign to look up. “It’s over, Alistair.”

Lowry’s face crumpled from fury, to bitterness, to—finally—fear. For once in his miserable life, he had no leverage over anyone in the room.

He ran.

Wren swore, struggling against the rope at her ankles. At last, she managed to slip the bloody scalpel underneath the knot and saw until the restraints came free. “We have to stop him.”

Una propped herself up on her elbow. “I’ll go.”

“No!” Wren and Isabel said in unison. Their eyes locked for a moment before they both awkwardly glanced away. Wren cleared her throat. Had they ever been in agreement before?

“Absolutely not,” she continued. “You’re far too injured.”

Below her, Hal groaned softly. Thank the Goddess, he was alive and whole and—

And he had a speculum wedged in his eye.