by Sarina Dorie
The Raven Queen turned back to Thatch. “Shall we see her progress? Show me what you’ve taught her.”
“As I told you before, two and a half years after having her magic suppressed her entire life is hardly enough time to test her.” Thatch steepled his fingers before him, partially hiding his face. “Then there’s the matter of her being drained. She’s only recently regained use of her natural talents. I would rather wait longer. It would be better to delay this test until there is a proficiency to show off.”
“Surely you don’t mean to say she can’t do anything.” She smiled at me. “Show me what you can do, ma chérie.”
I swallowed. Thatch drummed his fingers against the table, giving me no hint at what I was to do.
“You want to see a magic trick?” I asked.
“Yes, like when I saw you at that quaint human fair.” Her black eyes glittered with excitement. “Only, I want to see real magic. No paltry parlor tricks and stage illusions.”
I quickly assessed what I knew. I could move my awareness to others, grope someone from another room, and drain a cell phone battery or light it up. I doubted she wanted to see me light up the room, nor was I certain I wanted to see into the shadows and spot what monsters lurked there. Again, I glanced at Thatch, trying to guess what he wanted me to show her.
I selected a dirty spoon from the table and demonstrated Josie’s cleaning spell. Yellow light swirled, and lemon scent filled the air. I held up the untarnished spoon.
“Well done,” Thatch said unenthusiastically.
Queen Morgaine eyed Thatch, her blood-red lips pressing into a line. “Please say you’ve taught her more than domestic spells.”
“I didn’t teach Miss Lawrence that one. An Amni Plandai did.” Thatch wet his lips. “The other teachers at the school have educated Miss Lawrence with the same curriculum as the students: simple herbology and healing potions, an occasional charm of protection, and possibly other frivolous spells like . . . changing one’s hair color.” His gaze drifted to my pink hair.
“What about something from your lessons?” the Raven Queen asked. “Fertility magic? Pain magic? Pleasure magic? How does her affinity work?”
“Dancing, from what I gather. She’s like Priscilla.” He lied smoothly, his face giving away no indication that he was concerned she might pick up on this.
I wasn’t like his younger sister, but I supposed he didn’t want the queen to know pleasure was my strength and pain my weakness. He was trying to protect me. That meant he wasn’t completely in her control.
Her lips pressed into a flat line. “No. I don’t believe you.”
“She can’t do what you want. She doesn’t know Alouette Loraline’s secrets, nor will you be able to use her to create an army for you when she has no idea how to use this kind of magic. Only Loraline knew how to do that, and she never shared this knowledge with me.” Thatch gestured to me. “Our lessons with the Red affinity have explored Miss Lawrence’s strengths: using the subconscious mind, shifting into other Witchkin’s dreams, remotely viewing places outside of her body, and other skills easy to camouflage as Celestor abilities. It has been of the utmost importance to hide what she is from other Witchkin.”
“Oui. We wouldn’t want anyone using her for their own purposes after the disaster with that dreadful Julian Thistledown. If I had known he would betray me for his own court, I would have killed him myself.”
“Indeed. It’s fortunate I happened upon him and killed him,” Thatch said.
He hadn’t killed him. I had. It sounded like Thatch wanted to cover for me. Did he not want her to know I was capable of murder? Or did he not want her to know what my magic was capable of? Thatch gave away no indication that he’d lied.
I wanted to believe all these lies were because he was trying to protect me, but I still wasn’t sure.
The queen regarded him thoughtfully. “I want to be entertained. Show me something amusing. Show me pain magic.”
“She isn’t ready for that.”
I could do pain magic. I didn’t know why he didn’t show her. I trusted his judgment. Mostly. I started preparing myself.
She looked to me expectantly. “Any sex magic? Even just a little?”
I stopped my mental preparation for pain as I considered her request. “There is something I could do, but I’m afraid it might be kind of embarrassing—probably for Mr. Thatch.”
He gave me his crabbiest grimace. “Naturally.”
The queen smiled. “Shall we see it, then?”
I closed my eyes and shifted my awareness to his body. I pressed my consciousness into his skin, smoothing an invisible hand over his chest. The calm of his heartbeat sped up. I massaged his crotch until his erection poked against his pants. He could have blocked me if he wanted to, but he chose not to. Probably because he was forced to pander to his queen’s whims, and this might divert her.
“Ta da!” I said, with a sheepish grin on my face.
I opened my eyes. He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “Very entertaining.”
Wind rustled the gloom of plants, though I couldn’t feel the wind myself. It sounded like hissing, rasping laughter.
The queen raised an eyebrow. “That’s all?”
“Between her incompetence and the former principal’s interference, we’re fortunate she’s learned that much,” Thatch said.
“Silence.” She stared into my eyes. “Tell me the truth. Has he taught you any pain magic?”
I opened my mouth to answer.
“It isn’t her affinity,” Thatch said.
She raised a hand and Thatch silenced. His face turned red. He shook, and I realized he wasn’t breathing.
“I asked you a question,” she said to me.
“Only a little.” My eyes cut over to Thatch. “What are you doing to him? I don’t think he can breathe.”
She smiled. “Those who disobey me are punished.”
He leaned back into his chair and clasped at his throat, but there was nothing he could do. There was nothing I could do. I stared in horror.
She watched me in amusement, her lips curling upward at my discomfort.
I didn’t know how long she intended to choke him. Was this the moment he had spoken about in his art visions? Is this how he was to die?
I frantically searched my brain for something to convince her to stop. If there was one thing I had learned from Elric and his big, fat Fae family, royalty did as they pleased. Only if you could convince them something was in their best interest would they consider your request. “If I’m to show you, I need Mr. Thatch’s help. Please, release him.”
“Aren’t you precious, trying to rescue your teacher? Loyalty is a virtue, though I doubt he deserves it.” She waved a hand at him.
Immediately he began to cough. His eyes watered, and he cleared his throat.
I waited for him to stop before I went on. “I want to show Queen, um, Morgaine what I can do to block pain.”
Thatch’s voice came out as a gravelly rasp. “Give me your hand.”
He pushed up my sleeve. I closed my eyes and imagined my energies blocking the ability to feel pain. Something poked against my arm. Before the pain had a chance to sink in, I transformed the energy into cool, soothing light that flowed up my arm and into my core.
The queen spoke, but I wasn’t listening. I opened my eyes. Thatch’s wand was pointed into the flesh of my arm, a glow emanating from the tip.
“I wish to see more. Cut her,” the queen said.
Thatch sliced his wand against my skin. It was a second before blood trickled out. I didn’t feel it. I used the energy inside me, thinking of warm arms hugging me to transform pain into healing. Slowly the wound sealed up.
The Raven Queen licked her lips. “Burn her.”
Thatch’s fingers tightened around mine. He squared his shoulders and used his wand again. I closed my eyes and repeated the exercise. This was easier than the burns from the dress becau
se I wasn’t already in pain. I had time to prepare.
His pupils expanded, swallowing the familiar gray. Where the cold of his fingers met the flush of my skin, the energy drained away. He wasn’t allowing me to turn the pain into fuel. He stole it from me and fed on it himself.
It grew more difficult to shield myself without being able to recycle the energy for my own purposes.
He wasn’t the only one absorbing my magic. The queen inhaled, closing her eyes and leaning back in the chair. She moaned as if tasting the best chocolate in the world. Maybe my pain was dark chocolate with crack cocaine laced inside.
“Cut her deeper. Crush her bones. Hurt her and steal her pain.” The queen leaned forward in excitement. “See if she can stop you.”
I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop him for much longer.
He looked alien and birdlike as he studied me. “I’ve already told you. She isn’t strong enough.”
I wasn’t the only one. Soon the pain would consume him, and he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. I had no doubt she knew it.
“I’ve heard otherwise,” she said. “My spies tell me she stopped you in the Silver Court.”
“Only because I allowed it. Had I not, she would belong to them.”
The queen held up a hand, her fingers slowly squeezing around something invisible. A grid of wards flashed around me, layers of light woven like a Celtic tapestry. She pushed these aside. Runes glowed and then popped and sizzled. I stared in horror as she destroyed the wards. Thatch’s face was impassive.
The queen grinned, her teeth even and sharp. A lance of fire jolted through my body, contracting every muscle before it rendered me inert. I slid out of my chair and collapsed on the floor under the table. I hadn’t prepared for that much pain.
The signet of the Silver Court flashed before me like a shield. I wasn’t sure whether it protected me from further attack or it only flashed in warning and the Raven Queen had decided on her own not to inflict further damage.
“Get up,” Thatch said.
I stared up at them through a fog of misery. He grabbed me under the arms and tried to stand me on my feet, but my knees buckled. Where his fingers dug into my arms, I could feel the pain wicking away. He was drinking it up. The black of his eyes expanded farther.
“That’s enough of a demonstration. I suppose she truly isn’t a pain affinity.” Queen Morgaine’s gaze watched the fading crest of the Silver Court.
“I told you dancing and kinesthetic movement would better fuel her affinity.” He plopped me into a chair.
She drummed her hand on the table. “What of her biological mother’s experiments?”
I struggled to stay upright. I was so weak.
Thatch kept a hand on my shoulder. “What about them? I told you she knows nothing.”
“I provided her with access to Alouette Loraline’s journal.” The queen leaned toward me, her liquid-black eyes curious. Any moment it looked like she might lean closer and peck at me. “Does she know how to solve the Fae Fertility Paradox?”
The pain magic had robbed me of energy so thoroughly I couldn’t even flinch back from her. I closed my eyes in exhaustion.
Thatch seated himself in his chair, scooting it slightly closer to me. I hoped that didn’t give away his protective nature.
He spoke with composure. “No. Clarissa Lawrence possesses an astonishing lack of curiosity about Loraline and her experiments.”
Me? A lack of curiosity? He was the one who’d kept me from finding out my mother’s secrets. Thatch had removed Alouette Loraline’s journal from my possession after Derrick had given it to me. Not that I would have protested his fib even if my limbs hadn’t felt like jelly and I had the energy to speak. Despite my weakened physical and mental state, I could see Thatch was trying to ensure she had no interest in me.
Hope blossomed in my heart. He was trying to save me.
Thatch’s expression conveyed a complete lack of interest. “As a matter of fact, it was Miss Lawrence who burned the book.”
I had, but it had magically repaired itself. I didn’t know if she knew that.
“Hmm. See to it that you provide the proper enticement in the future.” The Raven Queen waved a hand at me. “Now that we’ve established she is indeed able to perform some pain magic, shall we see what she can do with blood magic? Sex magic?”
“Preliminary exercises are the extent of her abilities. What she already showed you.” His tone was the professional distance of a teacher. “Nothing that would be of interest.”
“Entertain me, Felix. Show me what she can do.”
I felt like a little dog playing fetch and rolling over for someone’s amusement.
“Not today. You’ve used her up. Look at her.” His lips curled into a sneer. “She’s weak. You’ve rendered her useless with your insistence on using pain magic. She can’t even dance.”
“She’s part succubus. Recharge her.” She played her fingers against the table. “That would amuse me.”
I fought to keep my eyes open against the rising tide of fatigue. I did need to recharge, but that didn’t make me a succubus. My mother hadn’t been one either. At least that’s what he had told me. I now wondered otherwise.
“No,” he said. “I don’t want her.”
“Fine. I’ll have one of my loyal subjects . . . entice the magic out of her.”
“That isn’t how a touch affinity works. She needs to feel enjoyment. Your subjects would torture her as soon as they would pleasure her. And I doubt your Fae minions have enough experience with human anatomy to know the difference.”
She placed a hand on his, the gesture cloying. “I’ll make it worth your while. I’ll give you a piece of your soul back.”
So he had been telling the truth. That also meant she had a hold on him.
“Why would I want my soul? So I can feel remorse about what I’ve done afterward?”
She laughed.
He drew his hand away from her talons. “Give me something better. Free me from your employment. I’m tired of being asked to serve at your beck and call. I have other things I’d like to do these days.”
“Like what?”
He lifted his nose into the air. “Torturing Witchkin children in my dungeon.”
Detentions hardly counted as torture, but I supposed she didn’t know what he did at Womby’s.
“If you do this one little thing for me, I will grant you freedom from my service. The moment you leave here, you needn’t ever return if you don’t wish,” she said.
I wanted to believe he was smart enough not to fall for it.
His lips pressed into a line. “You’ll let both of us go free afterward.”
She drummed her fingernails on the table, thinking it over. Fae were notorious for wording bargains to their benefit. Thatch was a master of trickery himself. He’d even managed to trick Elric—assuming Elric hadn’t allowed that loophole in their agreement out of concern for me.
Queen Morgaine smiled, reminding me of a Cheshire cat. “I will allow you both to be free of my service so long as you do as I bid and demonstrate a properly entertaining performance. When you leave here, neither of you need return unless you decide to do so for business or pleasure.”
I didn’t know what her trick was, but I knew she believed she had the better end of the deal. Did she intend to kill us after she freed him from her service so that neither of us could leave? I couldn’t tell from his blank expression if he realized this. Not a hint of worry touched his eyes.
What we needed was leverage over her. We both might have been Red affinities with magic that rivaled a Fae’s, but she was faster than us. She would see an attack coming. Not that I could attack in my state. She wanted the Fae Fertility Paradox, but I couldn’t give her that. Was there any other information I could give her to help us gain our freedom and safety?
There was.
Enough of my strength had returned that I was able to sit up in my chair. �
��I can give you useful information about one of your enemies. The Princess of Lies and Truth.”
Her eyelashes batted twice, my words taking her off guard. “I beg your pardon, ma chérie. You are mistaken. The princess is my ally.”
Finally, I had met someone who knew who this was. Only I didn’t know how to get the identity of the princess out of her. If I was clever, I might be able to get her to name this enemy without realizing it. The problem was, I didn’t think I would be clever enough to face a trickster Fae.
“That’s what you think.” I forced myself to sit upright, to project strength and confidence I didn’t feel. “I have information about your supposed ally that will leave you in my debt. I can tell you the details of how she betrayed you. For a price.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What is your price?”
“I want you to leave me and my loved ones alone. You won’t try to hurt any of my friends and family.”
“Do your loved ones include the Silver Court?” Her gaze drifted to the amulet peeking out from under my collar. “That’s too large a lineage to protect with a paltry bargain.”
I smoothed my fingers over the amulet. I could call Elric if I needed to. Thatch had said I should only use the amulet if the Raven Queen intended to hurt me. If I was lucky and I played my cards right, I wouldn’t need to lose more of my soul to any Fae.
I lifted my chin. “I want you to promise not to hurt me, my family, or anyone at my school.”
“If you can prove to me that my alliance with the princess is false, I shall leave your loved ones be for a period of . . . three months.” A sly smile curved her lips upward.
“Agreed.” Thatch said.
“No. Not agreed,” I said. “Three months isn’t long enough. I want a year.”
The Raven Queen drummed her talons against the table, thinking it over. “Four months.”
“Eight months,” I said, trying not to let her see my desperation, but I didn’t have Thatch’s poker face.
“Five months. That’s more than generous. And that’s if you provide me with sufficient evidence,” she said.
“I assure you the evidence is sufficient,” Thatch said.
Perhaps five months was as good as it could get. That meant I had until mid-June, the end of the school year.
