The Witch Queen

by Juliana Haygert

  It was now or never.

  “With all due respect, my Princess, I might have another idea,” I said, praying they didn’t see how my hands were shaking. “I think we should attack the vampires instead.”

  The witches fell on me.

  “What?”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “The vampires? We’re talking about the witches.”

  Morda raised her hand, silencing the others. “Thea, explain.”

  I willed my entire self to remain calm, composed, strong. “Ever since Lord Reynard was murdered, DuMoir Castle hasn’t been the same. The vampires are fighting among themselves, and a prince was killed after an argument,” I said, stretching the truth. I would spin whatever lie I needed to make sure they realized how crucial my idea was. “They are unstable and disorganized. Prince Alex is now Lord Alex, but before leaving the castle, I found out there was a group strongly against him. They promised an uprising if he came to power.” I paused for effect. “If we attacked DuMoir Castle now, the vampires wouldn’t stand a chance. And if we took the DuMoir vampires down, it wouldn’t be just the other witch covens who feared us. It would be all supernaturals. The Silverblood coven would rule all others.”

  Morda’s eyes sparkled as she processed my words. “That’s …”

  “Absurd!” Adya snapped.

  “Impossible!” Polina said.

  “Crazy!” Vera spat.

  “Hopeless!” Soraya offered.

  “Brilliant,” Morda whispered, shocking them all. Me too. “If we overthrow Lord Alex and take the castle for us, no one would dare attack us again.” She beamed at me, her smile an odd mix of wicked and exciting. “It’s brilliant.”

  I gulped, hiding my surprise. I had expected more resistance from her. I thought I would have to lie more, to beg, to grovel. Actually, I thought I would have to convince Soraya first, making her believe it would be an easy win from the tactical side.

  “My princess?” Soraya asked, sounding almost afraid of Morda. “Think about this for a moment. Our war isn’t with the vampires. It’s with the witches.”

  Morda turned to Soraya, her smile changing into a snarl. “Our war isn’t with the vampires? Of course it is. It always has been. Despite stealing the coven’s heart back, we never got revenge for all we have suffered, for all they put us through for having taken our most powerful item.” She let out a long breath. “They must pay!”

  Soraya shot me a glare. “You’re right, my Princess.”

  “Get everyone ready,” Morda ordered. “We’ll attack DuMoir Castle on the second sunrise!”

  Soraya bowed. “Yes, my Princess.” She scurried out of the main hall, followed by most of the witches.

  Morda smiled at me. “You’re surprising me, Thea. I didn’t know the potential you harbored. Keep up like this and you might become a permanent member of my inner circle.”

  I lowered my head. “You honor me, my Princess.”

  She waved me off. “Now go and get some rest. I’ll need you strong and ready for the attack.”

  “Yes, my Princess,” I said, bowing once more.

  I did my best to maintain my posture and composure while I walked out of the main hall. Keeran was waiting for me in the hallway, even though I had asked him to wait for me in my bedroom. I saw the flash of curiosity and worry once he saw me coming his way. But I gave him the slightest head shake. He understood and fell into step with me.

  In tense silence, we made our way to my bedroom. Once we were safe inside, I grabbed a pen and notepad and sank down on the love seat.

  “What happened?” Keeran asked, his tone clearly concerned. “What did she want?”

  “She wanted to take advantage of our victory and attack the other witch covens,” I said, quickly writing a message down. “But I was able to convince her to attack DuMoir Castle instead.”

  Keeran went rigid. “You did?”

  “I did.” I was feeling proud of myself, but on edge. The show would work. The war would start. There was no going back now. I folded the note and handed it to Keeran. “Here. Take this to Drake as soon as you can.”

  He took the note and placed it inside his pocket. “What if I can’t reach him again?”

  I shook my head. “That’s not an option. He has to get that note. Otherwise, he won’t be ready. He won’t call the werewolves.” I took Keeran’s hand and squeezed it hard. “Please, find a way to make sure this note gets into Drake’s hand.”

  Keeran pressed his lips together. “I’ll do my best.”

  18

  Drake

  After drinking from Thea, the blood from the bottles was almost tasteless. I stared at the full glass in front of me. Plain, that was one word to call it. But still, I had to push it down my throat. I needed my strength if I wanted to be ready to attack.

  In the living room, Luana grunted. She had been pacing in front of the couch for the last hour, grunting every few seconds. Her fast heartbeat and breathing told me she was nervous. Anxious. I was too, but I could do nothing about it other than wait for the right moment.

  I sighed and my thoughts returned to Thea. She hadn’t been this annoying. I mean, yes, she had pissed me off in the beginning, but she had calmed down. Thea used to lie down on the couch, read, and talk to me. She had been my safe haven, and she still had no idea.

  Luana wouldn’t stop. She paced, she complained, she grunted, she marched up and down the hallway, and she complained some more. I had to refrain from squeezing her neck at least three times a day.

  Luana grunted. “This is maddening. You saw her last night. She must have told you when the witches will be ready.”

  “Thea doesn’t know.” I had probably told her that several times since I came back from the cottage last night. “She’ll send a message when it’s time.”

  She crossed her arms. “So we’re supposed to sit here and wait?”

  I nodded. “Pretty much.”

  Luana grunted once more then stormed off. Acting like a teenager, she slammed the door to her bedroom and hid inside.

  I sighed. She was nineteen years old, for hell’s sake. She was still a teenager. And not much younger than Thea, who had gone through worse.

  I had to give these young women credit. Here I was, dealing with upcoming wars when I was almost five hundred years old, and they were only twenty and nineteen.

  I felt like an old man. Now all I needed was white hair, a beard, and a beer belly.

  A smile spread over my face. Until I remembered I would never grow old.

  I didn’t like to think about that because it reminded me of Thea. Witches lived long lives. I had heard of some who had been a little over a thousand years old before they passed, but even if Thea lived that long, she would one day die, and I wouldn’t.

  Not liking the direction of my thoughts, I downed the blood in the glass and went for a walk. Being outside, taking in fresh air, and watching the moon would do me some good and ease my worries, if only for a few minutes.

  I was in the second hallway near the main stairs when I sensed him.

  Every nerve in my body tensed, and I clenched my teeth.

  “Alex,” I snarled, once I was sure he was in hearing distance.

  In the blink of an eye, he was standing in front of me. “It’s Lord Alex now.” His lips curled into a smug smile. But worse than his grin was the necklace hanging from his neck. I hated seeing Lord Reynard’s silver cross pendant, the symbol of our coven, resting against Alex’s chest.

  I bent at my waist, going low, even lower than I had ever gone for Lord Reynard. “Yes, my Lord,” I spat out.

  Alex pushed me against the wall, his arm in front of my neck. “Show me respect, worm. I’m your Lord now and you’re …” He stared at me from my head to my toes and back. “You’re nothing.”

  I wouldn’t fall for his tricks. I wouldn’t let him get to me. The moment I retaliated, he would know I had been lying about my lost memories and Thea’s control.

  He would win.


  “If you say so.”

  “That’s right,” he said in a low growl. “You’re nothing, and you’ll always be nothing.” I bit my tongue to refrain from saying anything. This was harder than I thought. “Now that I’m Lord, I can do anything I want. I can kill as many humans as I want. Did you know we’re having another feast soon?” My eyes widened, but I smoothed my expression before he noticed. He continued, “Of course you don’t. You’re not a prince anymore. You don’t participate in the meetings anymore. You don’t have a say in any of it.” He smiled. “I was going to have a feast every month, but I think every week serves better. This way, we don’t need to drink from bottles. Only fresh. So much better.”

  Rage grew inside me. What the hell was he thinking? Lord Reynard had asked me to put down a werewolf alpha who didn’t mind the humans finding out about supernaturals. Alex was going in the same direction by hosting feasts every week. The humans would notice. It would be hard to erase or change everyone’s mind. It was grotesque and wrong.

  “If you say so,” I said through gritted teeth. What I really wanted was to push him back and break his neck.

  He shoved me against the wall. “What’s wrong with you? Do something. Show me some emotion. Where’s your rage? It seems you’re truly nothing.” He eased his grip on me. “Oh well. When I take a dozen blood slaves and drain them dry, you won’t have a say in it. And when I come for your blood slave, you won’t be able to say anything either.”

  My mind filled with images that made me sick: Thea in his arms in this same corridor as he was about to bite her neck; Thomas crying and jerking at the guillotine and Alex laughing in pleasure.

  What would he do to Luana?

  I didn’t want to know.

  The rage erupted, and I pushed him back until he was against the wall and my hands around his neck.

  “Don’t you dare—”

  Alex laughed. “What? Do you think you can stop me?”

  He retaliated by spinning us around and shoving me into the wall. Then, he did something I wasn’t prepared for.

  He bit me.

  Alex bared his fangs and sank his teeth in my neck. Pain erupted under my skin.

  I had a choice here. To fight back and only hell knew what would happen. If I fought back, he would make things harder for me. He would probably put more guards by my door, and he would grill Luana. He would punish my men, the same ones he kept away from me.

  But if I let him bite me, he would think I admitted he was stronger, he was better. He was the lord of the castle. Biting another vampire was a great show of disrespect, and it was showing Alex I was his bitch. As much as I hated it, I needed Alex off my back for the takeover plan to work.

  So I let him bite me.

  He pulled back a few second later, licking his lips. “Stay down, dog.” With a winning grin, Alex stormed off.

  I leaned against the wall, ashamed, but proud of my self-control. I ran a hand over my neck, but it had already stopped bleeding and the holes were closing. Thankfully, I wouldn’t have a mark left behind.

  Conflicted, I thought about going back to my quarters and lying down on my bed and dreaming about Thea, but that was the coward in me talking, and I wasn’t a freaking coward.

  Ignoring my hurt pride, I resumed my walk to the gardens.

  More guards than usual patrolled the outside of the castle, but they didn’t bother me as I made my way to the stone bench where I first kissed Thea. I didn’t know why, but I always ended up there.

  I sat down on the bench and closed my eyes, conjuring memories of Thea and holding on to them. Better than thinking about what I had let Alex do.

  I felt like my honor was slipping between my fingers like water.

  “My Prince,” Thomas called me.

  I snapped my eyes open and stared at the whitish shape forming in front of me. It was odd how I hadn’t sensed him coming, but I guess I couldn’t sense ghosts.

  “Thomas, it’s good to see you,” I said, being honest. After my encounter with Alex, seeing a friendly face was a nice relief. Even if that friendly face was a ghost. His form looked brighter today. “It seems you’re getting the hang of the ghost thing.”

  He looked down at himself. “It’s getting easier, I guess.”

  I nodded, unsure what to say. He was a ghost, after all, because of me. “So, anything to tell me?”

  “Actually, yes, my Prince,” he said. “I think I found something.”

  I held my breath. “What?”

  “A rebel camp of vampires.”

  19

  Thea

  “Do you need anything, Thea?” Morda asked.

  Heat warmed my cheeks as all eyes turned to me.

  Morda had invited me to breakfast, and this time I was seating on her left side. If the other witches had glared at me the first time, now they were skinning me alive with their heated stares.

  I hated being here. And I hated that I was alone. Keeran was still gone. He had left to take the note to Drake and hadn’t returned, which made me incredibly sick. What had happened to him? Morda had asked about him once I came into the dining room alone. I lied that I left him resting after an active night. She had seemed pleased.

  Ebby wasn’t here either. I hadn’t seen her since the beginning of the Blackmarsh attack, though I had heard she had helped clean up the mansion and heal the wounded witches.

  I set down my coffee mug. “No, my Princess, thank you.”

  She shook her head once. “There must be something our now twice savior wants.”

  This had to be a game. She had never offered something, insisted on giving something, to someone. To anyone.

  I offered her a confident smile. “I already have all I need, my princess. Thank you.”

  Seated across the table from me, Soraya scoffed.

  Morda ignored her and went on. “Well, my offer stands. If you think of something, let me know. I’ll be glad to reward you again.”

  The rest of breakfast was awkward and tense. I felt like every witch in there would have jumped at the opportunity to beat me up, except for Morda. She looked at me as if I were her best witch and she was proud of me.

  Once breakfast was done, Morda stood from her chair and looked at all of us. “Go get ready or rest if you need to, because we leave for the DuMoir Castle in less than twenty hours.”

  She spun around and sashayed out of the dining room, followed closely by Soraya and two other witchguards. After a few more glares my way, the other witches rose to their feet and walked out of Morda’s chambers, talking and whispering about the upcoming attack.

  When no one else was looking, I hurried to my bedroom, hoping to find Keeran. But he wasn’t there. I hadn’t seen him in hours, and the desperation inside me would soon explode and carry me down with it.

  I had no idea what had happened. Had Keeran bumped into a werewolf while trying to get past the woods around DuMoir Castle? Had a vampire found him? Had he been able to deliver the message to Drake, but got lost on the way back? Or hurt?

  Or worse …

  I didn’t think he was dead, because I didn’t feel different. I couldn’t sense him with our bond, but I could feel its magic and it still held true.

  Even so, something wasn’t right. I knew something wasn’t right.

  If Keeran hadn’t reached Drake, then Drake didn’t know about the attack tomorrow. He wouldn’t tell the werewolves. He wouldn’t be ready for it. The witches would charge into the castle and win—and Drake would be slaughtered with the rest of the vampires. Morda wouldn’t spare him, even if I begged for his life.

  We couldn’t attack DuMoir Castle tomorrow.

  There was only one thing I could think of that would postpone tomorrow’s battle.

  After constructing a detailed plan, I went to Ebby’s bedroom on the other side of the mansion. I wasn’t sure if she would be there, but it was my first guess.

  I knocked on her door once, twice … I was turning around to go look for her somewhere else, when the door op
ened.

  “Thea?” Ebby rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

  I gaped at her. Her hair was messy and she was still wearing a nightgown. “Were you sleeping?” She nodded. “But it’s almost noon.”

  “I heard Princess Morda ordered everyone to rest, so that’s what I was doing.”

  “Sorry.” I pushed her in and closed the door behind me. “But we have no time for that.”

  “What’s going on?” She blinked. The sleepiness faded away. “What happened?”

  I bit my lower lip. “I need your help.”

  “What for?”

  “You need to distract the witchguards for me.”

  Ebby crossed her arms and tilted her head. “And what stupid thing are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to steal the heart of the coven.”

  20

  Drake

  I followed Thomas to the village outside the castle, while trying to wrap my head around everything he had told me.

  Apparently, a group of vampires lived in one of the houses in the village. Some still lived in the castle, but met with the others often to discuss plans and express their rage. They started the rebel group years ago, when some of them disagreed with Lord Reynard’s rules. Now under Alex’s thumb, they were infuriated. Talks about revolts and takeovers were constant among them, but because their numbers weren’t large, they kept it all quiet. They were more like a support group.

  “You can change that,” Thomas said when telling me about them. “You have a plan; you have other allies. If they join you, they will have a purpose; they will have a strategy.”

  That sounded too good to be true.

  Thomas guided me to one of the last houses in the village, where there was an antique store in the front. The house was similar to the rest of the village. Wood painted a shade of brown, two stories, dark brown roof, and a big glass window in the front displaying the store inside. But unlike the other houses, this one had all its lights out.