Page 69 of The Witch Queen

“Ruins everything foryou,” Jacquetta comments. “Which sounds fine to me.”

She really is the most infuriating witch alive.

“Pity you won’t be around to see it,” I say, gesturing to her arm. “The guards will soon know exactly what you are. And it doesn’t take long to build a pyre.”

Jacquetta tugs at the iron cuff and winces. She might despise me, but her time is growing painfully thin and she knows it.

“And if I agree?” she asks at last. “What am I supposed to do? I won’t give you any information about the covens, if that’s what you’re hoping for.”

“No.” Her sullen silence over the last days proved that. “You’ll join the palace staff and investigate Margaret. Discover whatever plans or secrets she’s hiding.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” I retort. “After all, you’re so very skilled at skulking around and deceiving people.”

Jacquetta crosses her arms. “And what do I get in return? I’m not doing this for nothing.”

It astonishes me that she believes she’s in a position to negotiate. But she’s obstinate enough that I know she’ll refuse unless I offer something. And there’s only one thing she seems to want.

“You said you’re looking for Nerissa.”

Her self-satisfied expression wilts. “Do you know where she is? If you’ve—”

“I haven’t done anything,” I insist. “And I don’t know where she is. But I’ll send Shade to look for her.”

“Shade?”

“My Huntsman,” I clarify, but Jacquetta still appears confused. I huff a sigh. “Myshadow minion,as you called him.”

Jacquetta gapes at me. “Thatthinghas a name?”

“Yes,hedoes. And you’ll remember it if you want him to find your mother.”

“Why would I want that?” she asks, aghast. “So he can murder her? Steal her magic?”

“He won’t harm her. Not unless I bid him, which I won’t”—I point at her—“ifyou help.”

She weighs this, still skeptical. “And then what?”

“If Shade finds Nerissa,” I go on, “and after you’ve held up your end of the agreement, then the two of you can leave.”

Jacquetta steps closer. Wraps one hand around the bars. For an instant, I remember what those fingers felt like against my skin.

“What do you mean,leave?” she asks.

“You can leave Riven. I won’t look for you. And I won’t send Shade.”

Though I’m not planning on sharing that last detail with my Huntsman. Shade would never agree to such terms. Would remind me thatallmagic must be contained or destroyed in order for this realm to truly belong to Malum. But Jacquetta and Nerissa are only two witches. They can’t possibly make a difference. And Jacquetta won’t agree to any other terms. That’s why I suggested the bargain, I tell myself. Not for any other reason.

“Until our magic runs out, you mean,” Jacquetta counters. “Which won’t be long.”

I shrug. “You don’t know that. And it’s not my problem, anyway.”

She bares her teeth. “Yes, it is. All this is your fault.”

“Believe what you like,” I say. “But ask yourself this while the iron poisoning eats through your blood: Would we be here if you hadn’t walked away all those years ago? You had more than one chance to make things right.”

Jacquetta’s jaw works. Rage smolders in her blue eyes, eyes that once gazed at me with such wonder and softness that I thought I would melt. Now, though, it’s the same way Mother and the rest of the coven stared at me on the night I saw Rhea in the coven fire: like I’m a monster.