Page 152 of The Blood Witch

The metal was cold against the base of her skull as she positioned the scissors against her skin.

And with one quick snip, she freed herself from all those soft curls.

Chapter 74

AMALIA

The cell in Lunairea would be cold.

Amalia considered bringing her jacket. But Vivian had been the one to choose it for her, hadn’t she? That memory had stayed her hand when she’d reached for it this morning.

She could handle the cold.

Her silk shoes made very little noise on the stones as she made her way down the stairwell and into the dungeons.

Amalia hadn’t been sure what to expect. She’d never been to see the prisons housed underneath Lunairea. Maybe she’d expected the prison cell to be dirtier, to be nothing but a pile of straw in the corner of a muddy room and a bucket. Maybe she’d expected it to be a miniature version of the guest rooms in the Western Wing of the palace, opulent and garish.

Whatever it had once looked like, Vivian’s prison cell was now destroyed.

There had been a mattress. And what Amalia could only assume was a chair, or maybe a wooden table. It was nothing but splinters now, scattered amongst the shredded bed sheets on the ground.

The mattress had been shredded. Long claw marks marred the softcushiony top, and feathers and padding had been pulled from the corpse of what looked to have once been a rather decent bed.

Otherwise, the room was unremarkable. Just another room if you could ignore the bars that lined one wall. Thick, iron bars, set mere inches apart. Close enough together that even Vee couldn’t fit her way through them.

Vee.

She was sitting on the ground when Amalia approached, knees pulled against her chest, head down. For a moment, Amalia thought she might be sleeping.

“Good morning, Princess,” Vee greeted her, lifting her head and smiling.

Amalia’s gait stumbled as they locked eyes. Vee’s eyes…

Shadows. Dark, twisting beasts made of shadow danced in Vee’s eyes as they stared at one another. A swirling abyss, with no bottom.

She’s gone insane, Amalia thought, suddenly frightened. Her resolve faltered.

But then Vee blinked, and suddenly those shadows were gone, and her eyes were that perfect green once again.

“You cut your hair,” Vee said suddenly. She sounded almost sad.

Amalia resisted the urge to reach up and touch her short curls.

“I did,” she confirmed.

“You said you were thinking about it, before?—”

The shadows came back, filling Vee’s eyes for just a moment before they cleared away once more.

“Why are you here, Princess?” she asked, twisting her head to the side and picking at the hem of her pants, almost nervously. “Have you come to gloat? The big bad Wolf has been captured, and all the little Witches are safe again. You’ve won.”

There was so much hate in her voice, so much resentment. But this time, at least, Amalia could understand why.

“No,” Amalia said, drawing her shoulders back. “I didn’t come to gloat. I came to tell you that you were right.”

Vee looked up and blinked, and Amalia took a deep breath to steady herself.

“You were right,” she said. “About me being nothing but a doll.”

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