Page 130 of Cherish

I promised myself I’d never do this again, make a bargain with someone so untrustworthy. But if I don’t, then Mekhi dies. It’s no longer about whether I want to do this. It’s about the fact that I have to.

So I take a deep breath, use it to force the nausea and the revulsion down, and then I reach forward and clasp her hand in mine.

The second our palms meet, a flash of heat flares from her hand. A dark-purple shadow vine springs forward from the spark, wrapping itself around our hands and wrists and tying them together. As it does, the heat continues to grow and grow until—suddenly—there’s a second flash.

The vine disappears, and when I look down, there’s yet another tattoo on my arm. And as I stare at the glowing purple tree on the inside of my wrist, I know any chance I have of backing out is gone now.

The bargain has been sealed.

71

Go Smudge

Yourself

“Now what?” the queen asks as I pull my hand away as quickly as possible.

“Now we leave,” Hudson tells her. “As soon as we have what we need to split your daughters’ souls apart, we’ll be back, and you can hold up your side of the bargain.”

“I can’t just let you walk out of here,” the Shadow Queen counters. “No one knows where I am.”

“Is that how you want to spend your life?” Macy speaks up for the first time since the negotiating started. “In hiding from your own people?”

The Shadow Queen glides across the room to a crystal bar set up against the back wall. For the first time, I notice that the whole wall is made of a conglomeration of murals depicting battle scenes. And while I wouldn’t swear on it, I’m pretty sure the part she’s stopped in front of right now depicts the fight she had with Hudson and me our first time in Adarie. Of course, in her version, she and her creatures are kicking his ass—which, to be honest, isn’t far from how most of the battle went. I do wish she had included a representation of Hudson tossing her back over the wall, though.

If we were staying longer, I’d be tempted to sneak in here and paint it over the glass shards myself—just to see her face. Then again, reminding her of that moment probably isn’t the best way to get out of here safely.

“I’m in hiding because I tried to free most of my people from this prison and reunite my daughters,” she hisses at us as she pours herself a glass of wine, and I ignore how that’s not entirely true. “And failed, courtesy of your friend here, so don’t sound so sanctimonious.”

“If you’d prefer to have your guards escort us out, we can live with that,” Hudson tells her. “But it will be without restraints.”

She takes a sip of her drink, staring at him over the rim of the delicate crystal glass. “Or else?”

He leans a shoulder against the nearest wall, looking bored. “Or else we’re going to have a problem.” It’s a simple statement more than it is a challenge, but the Shadow Queen’s eyes still narrow to slits.

But before she can say anything else, the side doors to the room fly open.

My friends and I turn as one to see a young woman sauntering toward us in no particular hurry, carrying a large bucket of purple popcorn.

My first thought is that she is the opposite of Lorelei in every way.

My second thought is that she’s gorgeous but also somehow completely unattractive.

And my third thought is as much a warning as it is a thought. I should never, ever turn my back on her.

If eyes are the windows to the soul, then something really disturbing is going on inside this woman’s. Looking into her eyes is like looking into an abyss—black, empty, totally devastating.

She’s tall where Lorelei is short.

Hard where Lorelei is soft.

And dark in a way that Lorelei is just pure light.

Her skin is lavender here in the Shadow Realm, her eyes a deep, rich aubergine. Her long, dark hair is a beautiful shade of violet instead of the black of Lorelei’s, and it looks like there’s something tied to the end of every strand, though I can’t quite figure out what it is.

At least not until she walks closer and I hear the rattling sound with every step she takes.

Jewels. She has tiny purple jewels tied to the ends of her hair, and they slide together as she moves, making her sound just like the diamondback rattlesnakes I grew up watching for in San Diego.

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