Page 217 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

CAMILLA. TWO DAYS LATER

My nerves were shot. Even though I knew I had to do it, I still didn’t want to. Hilma, Tessa, and Tara watched closely as I held the last piece of the medallion up. They held their breath as I spoke the last incantation. Magic, powerful and fierce, bound our hands, the sparking emerald vines reaching for the pieces. I had a newfound strength and purpose, and I would succeed.

The last piece snapped into place, and a silent explosion detonated in the room. We were all slammed to the ground by whatever force wished for that medallion to stay in a million pieces. I used the table for balance and pulled myself to my feet. Hilma’s eyes were huge as she looked at me over the tabletop, her hair sticking up in every direction as Tessa and Tara whopped from the other side of the room.

“You did it,” Hilma whispered.

“I did.”

I SAT ON MY BED, HOLDING THE MEDALLION. THE CIRCULAR CROSS covered my palm, the ends of each branch flaring to points. At the center, a face was carved into the dark metal, its eyes and mouth wide open and blank. Magic, thick and heavy, pulsed behind it, iridescent swirls against the darkness, reminding me of oil on water. I traced the loops and swirls etched into each leg of the cross. The patterns did not look familiar, but I could tell it wasn’t just a random design. I flipped it over, trying to identify the metal, but ended up wondering if it was stone. Either way, it wasn’t something I had ever seen. I slid my fingers over the precisely engraved letters, words of a language I did not know.

I looked out the window at the setting sun, tracing the shape of the medallion absently. Hilma had wanted to tell Nismera immediately, but I told her to wait, to give me a day to make sure it wasn’t defective and wouldn’t crumble. Some of the pieces we had combined had done just that, so it was a valid reasoning.

It was a lie, though. I had another plan, and it helped that Nismera was nowhere to be found. Apparently, she had left. No one knew where she had gone or when she would return, but I assumed she was up to more threats and intimidation. The realms were finally settling into their place and accepting her as their ruler. The witches hadn’t heard anything else about the rebels since she burned the East.

The sudden knock on my door startled me from my thoughts, and I hopped to my feet. I tucked the medallion under my pillow and hurried to the door. Vincent grinned at me when I opened it and stepped past me. The door had barely shut before he pulled me into his arms, his mouth covering mine. Warmth like thick syrup flowed through me, pooling low in my belly, but I pulled back, tasting the tension in him. His arms tightened a fraction more as if he feared I would try to break contact with him. I slid my hands over the back of his neck, stroking soothingly, and rested my forehead against his.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, nuzzling my cheek against his, careful not to break contact or pull away from him.

He shook his head. “Long day.”

“Oh,” I said, knowing better than to ask for more details.

He kissed me before stepping back, a sudden bitter cold sweeping between us.

“I did it,” I said.

Vincent’s eyes went flat. “You finished it?”

I nodded and walked to the bed. I pulled the medallion from the ridiculous hiding spot and hurried back to him. He hadn’t moved, but his eyes focused on the medallion. His eyes danced across it before he held his hand out. “Can I?”

I nodded and placed it on his palm. He shivered and said, “Powerful.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “I have no idea what magic broke it, but putting it back together was nearly impossible.”

“But you did it,” he said, placing it in his pocket. “Nismera will be happy.”

“Yeah.” I shook my head. “Only, I don’t plan to give it to her. I told Hilma to give me a day to make sure it wouldn’t combust and that my magic was strong enough to hold it together. But this is it, Vincent. We take it, and we leave. We can leave now.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Camilla,” he said, his smile fading. “But you are.”

“What?” My heart thudded in my chest, echoing the sound of his boots as he stomped to the door and flung it open. A soldier entered, holding a long, blunt-ended golden trident. Electricity shot from the prongs, wrapping me in a net of sizzling sparks. My body shook, and my magic fizzled as my knees hit the floor.

My eyes widened and filled with tears. “You treacherous snake.”

Vincent folded his arms over his broad chest. “I never lied about who I was. You were just too simple to believe it.”

“I’ll kill you!” I gritted my teeth, sweat beading on every bit of my exposed skin as I tried to summon my magic to fight, but nothing came.

“No,” he said as the world drew dark. “No, you won’t.”

MY HEAD LOLLED TO THE SIDE AS THEY DRAGGED ME BY MY ARMS TO the floors below the palace. Voices pierced the darkness clouding my mind, and I blinked, trying to dispel the fog. Commanders and generals lined the perimeter of the room, but she was what I focused on. I knew who the biggest threat was.

Nismera stood in the center of the room next to a stone block, her soldiers surrounding her and a large one-eyed man at her side. His smirk turned my blood to ice as I was dragged toward them, and I saw a hunger that bordered on lust in his gaze. He wore dark gray leather, his collar held tight by a line of buttons, but his arms were completely bare. He held the handle of a large ax in one enormous three-fingered hand. Its edges were worn and caked in dried blood, but the power coming off it sent a frisson of fear down my spine.

The soldiers stopped and yanked me up by my arms as Vincent passed. He didn’t even spare me a glance as he walked toward her.

“I heard my medallion is done.”

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