Page 77 of The Witch Queen

“I’m not just going to let you wander the forest on your own,” I call after her.

“Are you worried about me?” she shoots back. “How sweet.”

I curse the heat that prickles on the back of my neck.

“If you want willowroot, I’ll get it for you myself.” I summon a nearby shadow and bid it to locate the plant. It slithers off through the trees. “That way.”

Jacquetta eyes the shadow like it’s a snake, but she eventually picks up her skirts and traipses after it. We walk together in silence, the sounds of the forest drifting around us. Owls and other night birds, but also creatures of Malum: the distant wails of banshees or the howling of Nevenwolves. Sounds I used to fear but are now as welcome to me as my own shadows. My own breath. Jacquetta, however, is not as at ease. She flinches at every noise, continually glancing over her shoulder like something might swoop down and swallow her whole.

“Nothing out here will harm you,” I tell her. “Not unless I want it to.”

I grin at her and she scowls back at me.

“Like what youwantedto happen to that woman in there?” she asks, jerking her chin toward the palace.

I stiffen. “You saw that?”

“Of course I did,” she scoffs. “I assume that was the whole point.”

“No,” I reply, then regret it. Because I shouldn’t give Jacquetta the impression that I’m ashamed. “I don’t care what you saw. But you should be grateful it was her and not you.”

“Is that meant to be a threat?” she asks. “Because it’s going to take more than your little show to frighten me.”

“Because my steward noticed a discrepancy in the prisoner log,” I retort. “He’s looking into the possibility of an escape.”

Jacquetta stops short. “What?”

She’s not so smug anymore, I see. But I can’t take much pleasure in the petty victory. Not when I have so much to lose.

“Just stay out of his way,” I tell her. “He’ll move on when he doesn’t find anything.”

“And if he does find something?” Jacquetta throws back.

That same worry from earlier nips at me. WhatwillI do if Parnell discovers Jacquetta?

Let her burn,that deep instinct whispers.

“Then I suppose you’d better be quick,” I say. “As soon as you finish your end of the bargain, you can leave.”

Jacquetta’s jaw works, clearly wanting to say more. But she just mutters something under her breath and then starts walking again, noticeably faster this time. Soon enough, my shadow halts at the base of a tree up ahead, curling among the leaves of the willowroot.

“There,” I say, motioning in its direction. “You’re welcome.”

Jacquetta doesn’t deign to reply as she tromps over to the tree and kneels down to dig up the plant.

“And what aboutyourend of this bargain?” She asks. “Has that pet shadow thing of yours found my mother?”

I don’t bother to correct her about Shade’s name. “It’s only been a few days.”

“And? You said it could find her.”

“Hecan’t find what isn’t there. Maybe Nerissa went back to Rycinthia.”

Jacquetta gives a short shake of her head. “She would have sent a raven.”

Then Nerissa isn’t like my own mother. Despite the brief snatches I’ve glimpsed in my mirror, I haven’t heard a word from Mother since she left the palace. It’s no surprise, given our last encounter. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have replied if Mother did try to communicate. Even so, jealousy digs between my ribs, just as it always has where Jacquetta and Nerissa are concerned. When the two of them lived atStonehaven, I was always wishing that my relationship with my mother could be more like theirs. Anyone could see how Nerissa adored Jacquetta. Andshenever once tried to force her daughter to conform to the covens’ demands.

Malum pulses in its den. I have never been more grateful for its presence.