Page 2 of Shadow's End

I flexed my fingers again. Heat pressed against their tips but didn’t spark around them as it would have in the real world—perhaps because she didn’t know about it. I doubted the wild magic that had initially accompanied me in this dream—or nightmare, or whatever the hell it actually was—could be used because it, like the shadows who’d padded beside and behind me, hadn’t entered this clearing. But my inner wild magic—which had fused to my DNA after Mom had been sent to contain and protect a newly emerging wellspring when she’d been unknowingly pregnant with me—could not be curtailed so easily, even by someone as powerful as her.

And that press of heat said it was here with me now.

Of course, it did mean that, unless she’d lured me here to kill me, I also couldn’t use it. It would reveal too much about me, and she already knew far too much, thanks to her recent mind invasion of the man who lay in her circle.

But again, I doubted her intent was to kill. Not tonight, at any rate.

“Why have you called me here, Marie?”

She raised a pale eyebrow. “She speaks.”

“You’d prefer I didn’t?”

“That is always my preference, yes. Listening to victims whine is not only tedious but can ultimately spoil the pleasure of a meal.”

“Then I will definitely speak a whole lot more.”

She laughed and waved a pale hand, the movement eloquent. Regal. Long before she’d come into this reservation seeking bloody revenge on Maelle, I’d had a vision of her sitting on a throne of dark red velvet. At the time, I thought it meant she was royalty, and in some respects I hadn’t been wrong. She was the queen—the maker—of her coven.

Until Maelle had all but erased it in a fit of bloody fury, of course.

“False courage is always preferable to whining, so please do.”

“Are you going to tell me what you want? Or are we just going to throw threats at each other for a few minutes and then go our separate ways?”

Her responding smile was warm and friendly, and it chilled me to the core. “I gave you a warning not to interfere?—”

“Technically,” I cut in, probably unwisely, “that warning came from Jaqueline rather than your good self.”

“She and I speak as one.”

“Do you, though? She’s Maelle’s child by birth, even if yours by rebirth. Bloodlines always matter.”

It hadn’t for me when it came to one of my parents, of course, but she wasn’t to know that. Unless, of course, that was one of the things she’d pulled from Roger’s mind. Maelle seemed to know entirely too much about me and my family.

“If you are trying to rile me, you will not succeed. It is also not very wise, especially when I hold you in this walking dream.”

“Do you, though?” I repeated, and called to the power within. With a flick of my fingers, I willed myself onto the other side of the fire, standing six feet away from her.

If only it was that easy to break out of this goddamn dream.

Surprise flitted briefly through her expression before her scary-as-fuck smile fell back into place. “Interesting. I had not thought you capable of such a feat, especially when your connection to the wild magic has been curtailed. I shall have to ramp up my defenses.”

Not what I’d intended, but still… “Underestimating those within this reservation would be a big mistake, Marie.”

Her gaze swept me, cool and amused. “Oh, I am well aware of what this reservation is and isn’t capable of. Dear Roger gave me a great deal of useful information in that regard.”

“Dear Roger” hadn’t done so willingly. She’d used a telepath to trample through his memories, not only ripping everything vital from his brain but setting him up to attack us. Belle—who was not only my best friend and familiar, but also one of the strongest telepaths around—had prevented the latter but neither she nor even Maelle had been able to fully restore all of his memories. Though, to be honest, I think Maelle only cared about the ones involving her.

I crossed my arms, aware it could be seen as a defensive gesture—and perhaps it was. The cold amusement rolling from her certainly had more goose bumps crawling across nonexistent skin. But it was also very necessary. The heat pressing at my fingers was growing, as was the need to unleash.

Restraint, restraint, I intoned to myself.

I’d already shown her I was not as enthralled by this dreaming spell as she’d hoped. That was more than enough.

“To yet again repeat my earlier question,” I said, somehow managing to keep my voice flat and without emotion. “What do want with me, Marie? Or did you just call me here to impress me with your power? Because, granted, I am impressed, but it won’t stop me from coming after you.”

“Courage. I do like it.” She waved eloquently toward Roger. “We both know that he is her sanity. Tell her that she has twenty-four hours to present herself to our court of justice or I will kill him and then destroy her.”

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