Page 142 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“Shebelongsin that cage to rot. She is a monster,” Luke sneered as he pointed to where I knew her prison still stood open behind me. Like it waited for her.

“And what do you think I am?” I laughed.

The young man appraised me as if he had just realized how absurd it was to try and convince another “monster” that his sister deserved to be imprisoned.

“You do not belong in this world,” he accused me.

“Oh, you are very wrong about that, witch. This world was ours before the human species had even opened their eyes on it. We are in its blood,” I assured the young man. “That magic you think belongs to you does not.”

“And yet humans drove you away with a bit of plastic and carbon. I guess that means it’s not yours anymore,” Luke retorted, and to his credit, his voice only cracked a little with fear.

“And what do you think your sister’s visions showed?” I asked him evenly, relishing the way his feigned bravado wavered in uncertainty. “When the earth is reborn in fire, it will be free at last from the hateful infestation of both humansandwitches.”

“The fey are not strong enough or they wouldn’t have been driven out,” he murmured, trying in vain to reassure himself, and I could not help laughing at his naivety.

“Our old kings and queens were weakened, it is true, although certainly not by humans. But kings and queens can be replaced.Consumed and then remade. Much as I am going to have done to you.”

Luke straightened at my threat, somehow looking at once alarmed and offended.

“You have much in common with humans,” I mused, allowing my eyes to encompass all the men behind him. “Nothing but lesser beasts diseased with entitlement and ignorance and a desperation to feel some semblance of the power you crave. And you think that exerting yourself over another makes their power belong to you, but what you want cannot truly be taken by force.”

And heknewthat. It was why hehatedhis sister who had been born with the power he craved in her veins.

I heard the soft padding of Nuala’s slippers on the floor just before her brother’s eyes drifted behind me, and then he froze. I could see a brief second of desperation fleeting through his eyes, like he considered begging for mercy, but his pride and loathing would not let him.

“Nuala,please!” some of the other men began to cry, but Luke just glowered at her.

“You still look like a used-up whore,” he snarled.

I tutted quickly when I sensed Darragh stirring behind me like he might slaughter the vile creature before I could take what I needed from him.

“We are here to rectify what you’ve done, and all we require is your blood, bone, and flesh,” I told Luke.

“Blood magic,” hissed one of the others.

“I will not give you anything!” Luke scoffed at me as if offended by the suggestion.

“Oh, I was not asking,” I assured him, grinning when his eyes widened in understanding. He looked at Nuala, ready to spew more venom at her, but I’d heard enough. “I’ll put that barbed tongue to better use,” I promised as my shadows darted forward to seize him before he could utter another poisoned word. “Iwant you to know that the last thing you will do in this world is give up your body to restore hers and erase all trace of you.”

He made a futile yell, attempting to wrench himself free from me before my shadows plunged into his mouth and broke his jaw. He screamed, the sound resounding in the room the way his sister’s must have.

The other men recoiled in horror rather than laugh or rejoice in his pain as they no doubt had done when it was Nuala in anguish. Much as they all might hate Luke for planting the seeds of it in their minds, they participated. They had enjoyed some part of it too or they would not have allowed him to convince them to abuse her.

I removed one of my blades from my belt and stalked toward him while my shadows forced him to kneel with his eyes rolling and his jaw hinged at an awkward angle. The other men drew back from me, clambering to be the one furthest from me. I did not spare them another glance, though the wall of shadows at my back flared to keep them corralled like sheep bleating in panic.

“These are nice teeth,” I mused once I reached Luke and tapped the tip of my blade on them. “I best take them now before I bloody them while removing your tongue.”

I shifted the knife into one hand which I used to hold his jaw steady, and then I began to pluck his teeth out like I was picking flowers. His screams sounded sweet.

I took the last of his best teeth and then stepped back from him, carefully stowing them in an emptycneasútin that I had tucked into my pocket for this purpose.

“Nuala?” I beckoned for my witch now that I’d shown her that her tormentor and his flock were subdued.

She was standing with Darragh, clenching his arm and watching me with a mixture of fascination and hunger. She craved what I was offering her.

Luke tried to make a sound so I stuffed my shadows down his throat until he was struggling to breathe.

“You can just watch me if you prefer,” I assured her when she did not answer.

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