Page 35 of Midnight Kingdom

His surprise is to be expected as I only just informed Variant that Baron lives again. That was a long and tedious conversation in which I had to explain my reasons for breathing new life into the vampire once again. Especially after it was I who ordered Variant to murder Baron in the first place.

“I still am not fully convinced that your reasons for resurrecting the vampire were good ones,” he says as he faces me.

“The prophecy required it, my liege,” I answer quickly. I do not appreciate being questioned but I must go along with it. For now. “I only do as the prophecy requests.”

“And thisOluri?” he continues, as he looks up at me. “Do you think there could be more like it?”

I shake my head. “The way Baron protected theOluri, leads me to believe it is very rare. We’ll need to find another way. Once we do, you can bring your army through the rift and take the power for yourself. Become the Guardian of The Veil, even.”

This seems like the perfect way for me to absorb the power of this realm. Perhaps it would be enough life energy for me to free my own powers which were stolen from me so long ago.

“I like the sound of that—Variant, King of All Worlds.”

My hips sway as I saunter over to my little pet. He tilts his head toward me, subconsciously seeking my approval even as he believes that I serve him. Though I may not be a succubus, I still know how to tease and beguile a man. “With that power, we can finally fulfill our destinies. The prophecy spoke of a great power rising to rule over all. That power must be you, my King.”

“We need to plan ahead, Morrigan. No more recklessness.”

“You forget who I am,” I hiss.

“You mean who youwere.” Variant pins me with a devastating glare, but I do not tremble in fear like all the rest. “My memory works fine, Morrigan. And I have not forgotten the fact that Abedon stole your power and locked it inside theEclyp. Which, might I remind you, neither of us can reach.”

Abedon.

Just his name causes me unrest. He was once my lover. Now he’s my fiercest enemy. Yes, Variant believes I slit Abedon’s throat, but the truth is far more complicated. Abedon is an immortal being, so while it is true that I slit his throat, Abedon did not die. And Variant knows this. “Abedon’s power is ineffable, but it is not infinite.”

“I have figured it out, Morrigan,” Variant says with a shrug.

“And what have you figured out?”

He shrugs. “You need me to stay in power while you use the others to do your bidding. Without them, you can’t even hope to think you can beat Abedon.” Variant takes a long drag on his blackroot. He releases the smoke from his mouth and inhales it through his nose. “Now, on your knees. I want you to beg me for forgiveness.”

“Forgiveness?”

“Yes. It will be difficult for me to look past this little overstep in your authority.”

The words cause bile to crawl up my throat and burn the back of my tongue. I lean in to kiss Variant, but my corporeal form snaps back into my body like an elastic band. Thankfully, it saves me from having to grovel at the false king’s feet. But I cannot deny that I allowed his words to provoke me. It is true. I cannot beat Abedon on my own. TheEclypmust be located.

I grip the linens beneath me and exhale a pained breath. I can still recall with absolute vivid detail the day my power was ripped from my body and trapped within the enchanted mirror. Before I slit Abedon’s throat and he disappeared, he vowed to never allow me to rise to power again. It ishimwho I fear. No one else knows Abedon the way I do. I knew him before the darkness came, and I knew him after.

The gods once trembled in his presence, for he was the force that brought upon the singularity. Never before has there been a being so powerful he defied prophecies and laughed in the faces of the creators. Nothing in the Lexicon speaks of a power like Abedon’s, but neither does it speak of Pyre and his world. I must learn more.

If Pyre is the key to immense power and Eilish is... well, she is everything, then I will finally be able to unleash my full potential, to rise as the ultimate power the legends speak of. A smile curls my lips as I drift into a trance-like sleep.

***

FLUMPH

The Veil

I watch the Queen Mother Heifer or whatever the fucks her name is as she catch up on her beauty sleep. It remind me o’ the times when Pretty was asleep an’ my companions were actin’ all creepy lookin’ at her an’ stuff. ‘Specially Cambion. I like him less and less the more he get us into trouble. The whole point o’ him steppin’ up as our leader was ‘cause he say he’s better than Shadow King, but I ain’t seen it.

The Mother Heifer interrupt my thoughts as she starts talkin’ in her sleep again. I lean my ears real close-like an’ try to hear what she sayin’.

“Ineffable... power…”

While I been good-lookin’ my entire life, I ain’t exactly a genius. I don’t know what the fuck “ineffable” mean, but I know “power.” An’ anyone dreamin’ about power so much that it come out their mouth? That can’t be good.

Now she sayin’ somethin’ ‘bout her ex-lover, Abby. No... that ain’t right. Abbydone? Maybe? I thinks that what she sayin’. If that fuckin’ house brownie were here, she be able to understands it, but I can’t.

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