Page 79 of Shadow's End

“That is bullshit, and we both know it.”

“I know many things that you do not, dear Jaqueline, and it is perhaps time you understood the true reason for your being.” The insubstantial presence partially solidified. It was indeed a snake. A snake whose body was as thick as an anaconda’s. “The lies have dripped from Marie’s lips since your rebirth, and you have swallowed them all without thought or reason.”

Jaqueline snorted. “She loves me in ways you couldn’t even understand.”

“She doesn’t love you, my dear. She has never loved anyone in her entire life, not even me, and I was her consort for moredecades than I care to remember. She uses you, uses your abilities and powers to benefit herself. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“You lie. You have always lied. This is nothing more than a game to you?—”

“And the biggest game of all is the quest for power, Jaqueline. You know this. It is the creed by which we all have lived.”

“Until you fucking destroyed the coven and my life.”

Meaning Jaqueline reallyhadn’tgotten over Maelle destroying her lover. That was definitely something I could understand, because if any of these bastards threatened anyone I loved, I would hunt them down and kill them without a goddamn second thought.

“Marie crossed a line,” Maelle replied, in that same calm and controlled manner. “She broke a promise and faced the consequences. By killing Roger, she broke it yet again.”

“Roger was a thrall,” Jaqueline bit back. “He was your strength and your sanity, and as such, always fair game in any revenge or war.”

“Except our darling maker swore an oath never to turn or kill any of my line without my consent. She broke that oath with Augustine, and then with Roger.” She paused, and just for an instant, her anger rose, so thick and heated it sucked my breath away. “He, my dear child, was Augustine’s brother. Your great-great-uncle.”

Chapter

Ten

Holy fuck … Roger had been one of Maelle’s descendants?

That certainly explained her fury at Marie snatching him. It wasn’t just the fact he was her thrall, but also a grandson a few times removed.

“That is impossible,” Jaqueline said. “Augustine never had any siblings. He told us that many times.”

“He told you that because he feared what Marie would do if she discovered his sibling existed. She has always had a taste for our bloodline. I was not the first, but I did all in my power to ensure Augustine was the last.”

“By making his brother a thrall?” She snorted. “You are no better than Marie.”

“Roger wanted revenge. He was a willing participant in the transition.”

Jaqueline’s fingers twitched, and the darkness boiled around them with greater intensity. “Even if that were true, why seek retribution for the wrong done to Augustine and not to me? Some would say the choice was not mine, either.”

“Then some would lie. Magic did play a part in your ceremony, but the decision to turn was always yours. In truth, Iwished you had not, but you were always an impetuous, foolish young woman and would not listen?—”

Jaqueline made a low sound in the back of her throat and unleashed the spell spinning around her fingers. It hit the wild magic hard, splashing across its surface like paint, briefly staining the luminous threads. Pain shuddered through me, along with a warning; the sphere could not withstand too many more attacks like that without the stain becoming permanent.

“We will never agree on any of these matters, because our memories and experiences are very different,” she growled. “What do you want, Mother?”

“I came to give you a choice. Leave this life of darkness Marie has pulled you into?—”

“And what? Join your coven?” She laughed bitterly. “Why? So that you can use me as you believe Marie uses me?”

“You are of my blood, but will never be as I am. I have no desire for what you hold, because what you hold is less than mine.”

Wow,I thought,way to win back your daughter, Maelle.

Jaqueline laughed again. “Oh, I do so love the way the endearments drip from your tongue, Mother. And my other option? Because the first is very unappealing.”

Maelle remained silent for several interminably long seconds, but her creature was on the move. It swirled down her body to the floor, and just for a second, seemed to look my way. My breath caught in my throat. Death stared at me through eyes that were little more than pockets of shadows.

Maelle snapped her fingers, and it looked away, leaving me able to breathe again.

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