Page 54 of Dishonor Among Thieves
She walked a wide, slow circle around me.
“That is not true.” I glared at her. “I am not a spy. I did steal your coins. But after years in your service without so much as a quarter-penny’s pay, I thought it my due.”
“You are owed nothing.” As she circled behind me, something seemed to strike behind my knees, and I dropped to the floor with a grunt.
“Don’t hurt her!” Tabby cried, holding on to the baby as though she was a toy.
“I’m all right,” I said, roughly struggling to stand. The illusion of being struck was over, so I stood tall and pointed to the baby. “Tabby, why don’t you take Fina for a nap. Kiva, take the children outside so Gini and I can talk.”
Valkiva’s eyes widened, but I just smiled at her. It would be safer for her to leave me. Gini wouldn’t waste energy controlling the girl if she was out of reach.
“It’s all right,” I urged. “We’ll be right here if you need us.”
Kiva nodded and hurried the children out of the kitchen while Gini again knocked me to my knees with a blow that only existed in my mind. My knees struck hard against the floor, the breath rushing from my lips. I would not give her the satisfaction of seeing my pain. I gritted my teeth and struggled to stand.
“You betrayed me,” Gini said. “I know you did. You’ve consorted with spies of the queen. You mean to destroy everything I’ve worked for.” She never took her eyes from me as she made her accusations, walking another long, slow circle around me.
I didn’t move. Held my chin high. “I did no such thing. Do you think I would bring harm to the only home I’ve known? To the innocent children here?”
Suddenly, a blow struck me in the stomach, knocking the wind from my lungs. I staggered back, trying not fall. I leaned forward, my hands on my knees for support, as I tried to force air into my chest.
“I notice you didn’t includemein that heartfelt list.” Gini’s voice was calm but bitter. With every accusation, every name she called me, she delivered another illusion that struck like a hammer against my body. “You’re a thief. A liar. You’ve betrayed me,andyou’re common.”
I coughed and sputtered but stayed on my feet. I knew if I fell, she might see the knives. It didn’t matter what she did to me as long as I could stay on my feet.
“I…am…common.” I coughed, gasping for air as I tried to speak. “You know I would be put to death if I admitted I hid magic users. If I admitted I’d lived among the species these children are. Why would I do that? Betray you and sentence myself to death?”
“You wanted all of us out of the way.” A sick smile on her face, she knocked me back against the wall, once, twice… Again and again and as she listed one by one the names of the foundlings now under her care: Valkiva. Tabitha. Remy. Ivo. Faustina.
I was breathless and in pain when vines of ice crept up my neck and tightened around my throat.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I sputtered.
“You ran away and took a vampire lover. How perfectly dishonest of you.”
No matter what she said or did, I would never admit that I’d seen her at the manor. If she was going to kill me, she’d have to do so without ever hearing from my lips that I’d seen her. “I bought a horse,” I wheezed, trying not to panic, trying to stop my hands from clutching at the choking vines that were not really there. “Didn’t you see it outside?”
She seemed unmoved, silent as she glared into me. Through me. I braced for what was to come but was shocked by bone-chilling cold bathing my body. As though I’d been plunged into an icy pond, I shivered uncontrollably, unable to fight the illusion.
“I came home.” I struggled to utter the words. Between the breathlessness of being struck and the ice that closed around my limbs, I could hardly move my lips. “I came back!”
She walked slowly up to me, each silent footstep reminding me that she was not human. She wielded magic against which I was common. Weak. Powerless.
My mouth was open, my tongue fixed in a soundless scream. I didn’t know how to fight my way through the illusion. My hands and feet felt as though they were dying, the limbs so cold I couldn’t move them. Except of course the agonizing shivering, over which I had even less control.
“The damage you’ve done cannot be repaired. There is no forgiveness for you here.” She closed her eyes, and suddenly my entire body went rigid, icy cold and unable to move. I was freezing.
“Please,” I panted, forcing my lips and tongue to cooperate for just one, tiny syllable.
Icy fingers throttled my throat, and I closed my eyes. I felt pain through the frozen stiffness, my body reacting to what it believed was happening. I tried to look inside my memories. Although my eyes were open, I pictured the beautiful things I’d loved in this world. The warmth of Neo’s body. The heat of the fire in the sitting room. The sweaty heat of running with the foundlings in play.
My mind was strong, but the power she wielded was stronger. I felt my lips go cold, and I started feeling drowsy, like I could fall asleep pressed where I was against the kitchen wall.
“You’re…killing…me,” I wheezed.
“This is not even a taste of what you deserve,” she said, her rageful whisper soft as she focused every bit of vitality she had into the illusion. “Consider yourself lucky I don’t have any interest in cleaning up blood, or this would be a very different kind of suffering.”
I struggled to lick my lips, to ease the stiffness that made speaking so difficult. My head lolled back against the wall, and I let my eyes flutter shut.
