Page 104 of Malice

There must be a way out of these bonds. Desperate, I dive beneath the shadows, searching once again for my magic.

Kal is saying something to Aurora. Telling her how to use the wheel. She is so close now. Just another inch.

You found me, pet. At last.

I nearly faint at the sound of someone else’s voice in my head. A voice I know from the flames of the summoning ritual.

Mortania?

A laugh flutters against my eardrums.

Well met, my dear. Well met.

I am losing my mind. Can she read my thoughts? I wonder, verging on hysteria. Can she kill me? But the presence I feel is not ominous. It is strong as it pumps from the place where my magic lives. Comforting. Almost motherly. I swallow back the ache in my throat.

You and I will do wonderful things together. Wait and see.

And it’s then that I notice something else tangled with my power. Something that is not entirely my own.

Yes, Alyce. Yes.

It’s Mortania’s magic. That’s what had happened when Kal released her from the medallion. Why he needed a Vila—someone with a breed of magic hers would recognize. The ancient Vila’s presence undulates within me, her power twining with the cord of my own and strengthening it until it is like that beastly vine I summoned in the royal gardens. At first, all I can feel is fear. Mortania’s magic is foreign. I do not trust it. But then a warm sense of certainty spreads through every limb. Like the way I feel with Aurora. Like coming home.

Go. I tell it.

The magic—Mortania’s and mine—responds in half a heartbeat. Surges out through my body and shreds the shadows like cobwebs. I retch as the darkness expels from my body.

“Aurora!”

She turns, startled, but Kal is faster. He lunges, slams her hand onto the waiting spindle. Aurora yelps, jerking back and staring at the trail of ruby blood welling on her palm.

A wound that has a thin green plume of smoke curling from its center.

I rush to her, catching her as she falls, both of us crashing to the floor in a heap.

“Aurora!” I scramble out from underneath her, pushing her hair from her face, batting at her cheeks. They’re already going cold. Her eyes are closed. A deathly tinge creeps over her face. “What have you done?”

Kal Shifts back to himself with a cold current of air. “Finished what we started. She is dying, Alyce. The last Briar heir. All that is left is to watch the realm collapse.”

“Not like this.” I shake Aurora’s shoulders. “What did you do?”

“Better to ask what you did.” There’s amusement in Kal’s voice and I want to strangle it out of him. “Surely you remember cursing the spindle.”

“That curse was for slumber. Not death.”

“For someone so terribly clever, you never did listen.” He laughs and it cuts me to ribbons. “The sleeping curse you put on this spindle was little stronger than a wish. But it was just the spark Mortania’s magic needed. Her intent is far stronger. It negates whatever pitiful attempt you made.”

Numbness trickles down my back. Dragon’s teeth…that’s what he was doing with the spindle. It’s the same as with the king’s brooches.

“I knew she was inside you.” Kal runs a finger down my cheek. I elbow him in the stomach, but he dodges the blow. “How else could you have freed yourself from the shadows? Her power could never be hindered by so simple a binding.”

My own scalding tears splash against Aurora’s marble-cast features. “You’re lying. You’ve done nothing but lie from the start.”

“It is not my fault if you were not adept enough to discern the truth.” Kal clicks his tongue. “But you misunderstand. The princess’s death is what we need. A new Briar. A beginning for creatures like us. Sacrifices must be made, Alyce.”

A new Briar.Aurora’s words, but twisted and ugly when Kal speaks them. I did this. Mortania’s magic bolstered the curse, but it’smymagic that will kill Aurora. My reckless plan that brought her here.

“She isn’t a sacrifice.” A massive gale roars against the tower. “And you’re a lunatic if you think I would trust you again after this.”