Page 202 of A Vow of Wrath and Ruin

“I wondered if you’d have the guts to come here.”

I whirled around to see Erissa as she had been before the potions destroyed her face. She wore her traditional white silken robes. Her long, red hair flowed in a wave over her shoulders. Her hips shifted from side to side as she approached me.

A chill ran down my spine.

“Did you orchestrate this whole thing to get me here, alone?”

She chuckled.

“No, this was just a happy coincidence. I knew you would show me to the Well.” We circled one another. “I just didn’t realize what was in your chest.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You know about the knot?”

“I could sense it as soon as I entered the chamber. Morta was smart to hide something so powerful in plain sight. No one would’ve looked twice at a normal, human girl.” She tapped her lush lips with her index finger. “But what I can’t figure out is how she got it in you without killing you or setting it off.”

“So, what is it?”

“You could call it a weapon of sorts.”

“Of sorts…”

She waved me off.

“I can’t be sure without examining you, but there were always rumors the Fates possessed the power to reset the world if they needed to.”

“It can’t be.” Thorns grew in my throat at the words.

“It’s whirling right now, isn’t it?”

I nodded.

“Hmm… It must have something to do with the Trinity Well. The magic is loosening the knot.”

I sucked in a shaky breath.

“I know what you’re doing, Erissa, and I will not let you leave here with the Trinity Stone.”

She clicked her tongue as we continued to circle one another.

“Oh, but I don’t think you’ll have a choice.” Erissa pooled power between her hands before sending a ball of white light my way.

On the outside I had no real magic, but in here, I was the master.

Holding up my palm I blocked her attack, sending it flying back at her.

The bolt of magic lit up the dark space, hitting her in the gut and sending her flying backwards. Slamming into a wall, she slumped to the ground.

“You forgot I have power here,” I said, carefully approaching her.

She dug her long fingernails into the stone floor, before pushing herself up the wall. A grimace graced her macabre face.

“This is my mind, child. You have no power here.”

Erissa’s body twisted and contorted in an unnatural way. Thousands of insect legs appeared from beneath her satin robe, and she grew in height. The linen fell away, revealing her bottom half to be that of a centipede. Her eyes glowed an eerie green and her teeth elongated into fangs.

I swallowed the fear rising in my gut. Two could play this game.

An evil cackled reverberated throughout the chamber.

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