Page 124 of When the Wicked Sing
Mariana crushed the shell furiously in her hand. “You’re a snake.”
The witchtsked, shaking her head. “You’re looking at this the wrong way, little one.” Leaning forward, she rested her arms against the table where Mariana and Celeste used to make tea together. “Your destiny has always been entwined with mine. Everything I did, and everything I will do, is for you. For us. Forour people to thrive and survive. Don’t you see? The fae will never be able to harm us again with your power and my control of the amulet. We’ll be unstoppable.”
She was a monster. A lying, cheating monster.
“Did you enjoy killing Stavros?” Mariana asked in a near whisper.
The witch began to laugh. “How could I not? The male was a walking wraith. I put him out of his misery. That fae should be thanking me. In fact,everyoneshould be thanking me.”
“So, you killed both son and father.” The witch’s smile faded. Mariana glared at her. “How does it feel? Just as you had hoped?”
The Siren Witch smirked. “I’d say, even better. Stavros had to die anyway. He served no purpose other than darkening those palace hallways.”
Mariana glanced away. The witch was avoiding anything to do with Helios, and Mariana suspected she knew why. “Do you miss him?”
The witch’s cold, black eyes narrowed on her. “Miss who?”
“Your lover, Prince Helios. If you listened to my conversation with King Stavros, then you’re aware I know that you were having an affair with his son.”
With a roll of her eyes, the witch stood, her hands curled into fists.
“Did you enjoy killing him too? Did you enjoy causing all of your sisters to be banished, causing our queendom to fall?” Mariana’s voice rose in volume with each word until she was shouting at the witch. “You did this! You have so much blood on your hands, you’re practically soaked in it!”
“And I LOVE IT!”
Breathing heavily, the witch chuckled and gave her a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “You know, whatever this place is to you, whoever this Celeste was, I think it’s time you finally let her go. Be free of all this …emotion.” She spat the word out like it burned her tongue.
“What? Like you think you’re free of your past?”
The witch gave her a pointed look. “I am, Mari. And I’ll help you be free of the poison this place has inflicted upon you.” The witch nodded toward a shadow in the corner, and suddenly, flames erupted in the kitchen.
Standing, Mariana watched the fire climb the sides of the cabin, scorching everything in its path. Her hands shot up to her mouth.
“What are you doing?” she breathed in horror.
“Helping you rid yourself of this toxic place.” The witch grabbed Mariana’s arm and roughly pulled her toward the cabin’s front door.
“No! NO!” Mariana shouted, tears flooding her eyes as Celeste’s prized plants began to burn, her homemade quilt catching fire along with all her books. “Stop! It’s all I have left of her!”
“It won’t stop, little one. Let it go.”
The witch yanked Mariana out the door and wrapped her arms tightly around Mariana’s chest, trapping her. Mariana kicked and screamed, but the stabbing pain in her chest just kept growing as the fire consumed Celeste’s cabin. The place where she had always escaped to, the place she’d felt safe, loved, and appreciated.
Mariana’s chest heaved. She could barely breathe through her sobbing.
“You need to let her go,” the witch whispered into her ear, gripping her wrists tight.
“Stop!” Mariana begged. “Please! Please don’t do this!”
But the flames never stopped, even as it began to rain. The sky rippled with dark clouds, and thunder growled through the air, followed by bright flashes of lightning. Mariana screamed for help, but it seemed the villagers knew to stay away. Through it all, the witch held on, not letting her go until the cabin was nothing but a pile of smoldering ash.
“There.” The witch let her fall to the sand. “Now you’re free. Free from the false sense of safety, free from the poisoned past. It’s time to move forward, Mariana.”
“You’re a monster,” Mariana whispered coldly, her eyes never straying from the ashes of her friend’s home. “How could you do this?”
“Because I love you, little one. I’d do anything for you. That’s why.”
Mariana’s teary eyes shot up to hers. “Love?” She shook her head. “You don’t know what love is. The Scourge and its lies made sure of that when it sank its wicked teeth into your black heart.”
