Page 106 of Omen of ice
“You’re wrong. And if she attacked you, it was out of fear. She—”
“Did you tell her I knew about the tear?”
“Yes…” Still, would Tania attack her? Knowing what she meant to me?
“There is all the motivation you need.” She cups my face, bending her forehead to mine. “My child… I know that you try to see the good in others, but this time I fear it’s pointless.”
“Please, just let her go and allow us to talk. We can clear it up.”
Liani snorts. The most unladylike sound I’ve heard her make. “I will not allow her to wander free. You cannot ask me to take a chance with your life.”
The guards stop a few feet from us, and I find myself moving toward Tania. She looks horrible. “Are you okay?” I ask. She doesn’t answer.
“Fae magic is obviously too much for a pathetic human. If I were a wicked one, I’d insist we simply wait and let it take her slowly.” Liani sneers at her. “Painfully. But, given your fondness for the traitor—”
“Let me die,” Tania says with venom. She glares at Liani, who regards her as little more than a gnat. “That magic belongs to us, and even if I don’t take it back now, eventually, one of us will.”
Liani laughs. It’s a hysterical sound, almost unhinged. “Pathetic human. You really are clueless, aren’t you?”
“Liani, let her go. Please.”
Tania struggles against the bonds. It’s a weak attempt, hardly rattling the chains. “Let me go and I’ll rip your head from your body!”
“Tania! You’re not helping.”
“Why would I let her go?” Liani says. “You heard her with your own ears. She intends to steal back our magic. She wants to harm me.”
I grab her arm. “It’s notourmagic.”
Liani shrugs me off and squares her shoulders. “Semantics.”
Tania forces a smile. She snickers to hide a cough. “I’d think you’d deem this rather poetic.”
Every time I used my magic… “Why the hell didn’t you say something?”
She looks away. “I did.”
“Yes, but you made it seem like—” I shake my head. “I thought you were referring to whatever was happening between us.”
She shakes her head and the action almost sends her toppling over. “It wouldn’t have changed anything.”
A small flicker of something passes through the link. It’s weak and it’s guarded, but I feel it nonetheless.
As we’re standing there, her sigils begin to shimmer. The lines begin to change. “Your face…” It takes every ounce of control I have not to reach out and run the tips of my fingers over what just yesterday was the dull red sigil below her eye. Now, the red lines are turning smooth, glittering white. Like fallen snow made into paint. I take her hand in mine, flipping it to look at the sigil on her forearm. Just like the fresh one on her face, the older one, from her first day at the estate, is changing as well. It’s beautiful.
“Must have something to do with your magic.” She squares her shoulders for a moment before faltering and curling inward with a series of coughs.
“Is the druid priestess here?” I turn back to Liani. She’s trying to protect me, and I appreciate it, but she doesn’t know Tania the way I do. “We have to break the link. Now.”
“She is,” Liani says. “I left her just outside of Ventin. She’s preparing the ritual needed to separate you.” She motions for me to follow. “Come. Let’s get this done so we can return home to our people. They need you.”
I start to follow but pause. What about Delkin and Benj? They’re out there searching for Tania. And even if I could let them know I found her—should I? The way they reacted at the possibility of someone seeing our resemblance… There’s something Delkin isn’t telling me. The question is, how bad is it?
I nod. “Agreed.” If there’s some reason they don’t want Liani to see them, they’ll stay hidden.
I follow Liani past the building and the guards. Instead of keeping her head bowed, Tania meets my gaze with defiance. “We’ll get this sorted out,” I promise her.
“You better hope not.” Tania inclines her head toward Liani. “Because as soon as I’m out, I’m killing that bitch first. You might have an excuse for not returning our magic, Valen, but she knew all along, right?”
