Page 95 of When Wishes Bleed

“Chose… it’s such an interesting word. As if Fate ever offers a choice.”

Fate growled within me, a rumble resonating through my bones.

Her eyes speared me like a fish on the end of a trident. “I could offer you one, though. I can break his hold on you, the way I broke his hold on me. I could set you free, once and for all,” she offered. “No more fire inside, no more orders to follow, or frigid hands and lips. No more answering to anyone.”

“Except you, I wager.” And I bet she would try to lure Fate back into herself as well…

She smiled. “I am the Priestess now.”

“Where are Wayra, Ethne, and Bay?”

Her eyes narrowed, and her lip curled into a snarl. “I do not answer to you, child.”

Her eyes caught on something over my left shoulder. I’d shifted and revealed Tauren to her. “I see…” she said. “You’re as handsome as your father was in his youth,” Cyril said slowly, calculatingly. “You’ve done well, Sable. Luring him in, weaving a strong enough web to hold him there. Now that you have his heart, the crown is as good as yours.”

As a dark, glittering ribbon slid out of the smooth glass and slithered toward Tauren, I flung the mirror across the room. The glass shattered on impact, skittering shards of mirrored glass across the floor.

Had her magic reached him?

I spun around to find him looking at me as if he didn’t know me at all. As if my mother’s words had poisoned his heart instead of his food.

“Tauren?” I said softly, approaching slowly. “Please tell me you don’t believe her.”

“Is it true? Do you only want the crown? The power?” he asked.

His words stung. “Surely you know that isn’t what I want, Tauren.”

He braced his hands on his hips. “I honestly don’t know what to think anymore.” Pinching the bridge of his nose, he let out a growl and threw the door open, striding out into the hall.

I wondered if he would come to his senses. I didn’t want his crown, the Kingdom, or any of the trappings that went with it. I just wanted him safe, and for my meddling mother to stop manipulating his thoughts. With one sentence, she’d muddied his feelings for me. And the worst part was that he let her.

I stared out the empty door, willing him to return and say he believed me over Cyril, but he didn’t.

Brecan leveled me with a glare. “Let him go. He doesn’t deserve you if he so easily dismisses your feelings.”

Ugh. I didn’t want to deal with Brecan or his feelings, either. Not now.

Mira finally let out a breath. “I should’ve told you, Sable. About the water. I was just so scared.”

“I understand.”

“What can we do to help Bay?” she asked. “And Ethne and Wayra, too.”

I didn’t know what to do. Fate was still clinging to Tauren, but the witches in Thirteen needed help. If I left, Fate would tear me apart for defying him; if I stayed, I’d rend myself for not going to help them. Not that I’d stand a chance against Cyril if Fate wasn’t with me.

Brecan knelt and gathered the slivers of glass. “I’m getting rid of this. She could still use the shards to spy on you. There are a hundred tiny mirrors she could use now, all still enchanted. I can smell the spell on them.”

“I need to know Tauren is okay,” I said under my breath.

Mira’s hand found my elbow. “I can help.”

She removed a brooch from my trunk. “I snooped a little,” she admitted. The trinket was old and tarnished, one I found along the trail on the path to my cabin one day, but I liked it so much I took it home with me. It was silver, a death moth so intricately carved, it looked as if it might flutter its wings and take flight. When Mira breathed on it, that’s exactly what it did. The moth peeled away from the pin back and took flight. She went to the door and whispered for it to find Prince Tauren. Her eyes glazed over as she eased into a chair near the window.

“You can see through its eyes?” I asked.

Mira nodded. “It will find him.” A handful of precious seconds passed before she spoke. “It’s flying up… up the stairs. Up again. A twist, and then... down a long hallway. It flutters near a door that is closed.”

“His bedroom?”

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