1
The love of my life sat tied to a chair, thrashing against the bonds as his eyes glowed gold and black. I gripped my sister’s hand and stared at him. My legs were so weak that I thought I might turn into a puddle at any moment.
“He’s under her spell still,” Aeri said. “It’s been over an hour, and it hasn’t faded.”
I swallowed hard, nodding. Unable to speak.
An hour ago, we’d escaped the Unseelie kingdom. The land of the Dark Fae was ruled by my mother, the false queen, and she’d hit Tarron with something awful as we’d escaped through the portal back to earth. We’d brought him directly back to our workshop and bound him with unbreakable chains. The rest of our friends were recovering after the battle, but we had work to do.
Namely, curing Tarron.
“Whatever that spell was, it’s infected his mind. The false queen is particularly good with mind control.” I stepped closer to him, and he growled, his eyes alight with hatred. We’d magically gagged him, but the growls were clear enough.
He’d been poisoned to hate me.
To want to kill me.
I dropped to my knees next to his chair and drew a knife from the ether. My heart thundered as I dragged the blade across my wrists.
“What are you doing?” Aeri demanded.
“The only thing I can.” My voice broke. “Healing him.”
“You don’t even know if it’s possible.”
“I have to try.” I was a Dragon Blood, for fates’ sake. I could create any kind of magic I wanted.
More blood equaled more magic, and I wanted the biggest magic there was.
Pain flared as I dug the knife deeper, determined to pour out as much of my blood as I could.
Aeri fell to her knees at my side and gripped my arm. “Mari, slow down.”
I looked at her, desperate. “I have to fix him, Aeri. I have to try.”
Giving this much blood—all of it, really—would make the power permanent within me. It could also kill me.
Which Aeri knew.
It was always dangerous to make a new, permanent power.
My head grew light from blood loss and I swayed.
“Fine,” Aeri snapped. She began to feed her magic into me, giving me strength.
Burn, the Thorn Wolf, appeared at my side, pressing his spiky body against my leg for support. I leaned into him despite the prickliness.
He and Aeri kept me upright as I poured my blood to the ground. It gleamed around me, black and bright. I gave my magic along with it, forcing it outside of myself. Darkness began to creep in at the edges of my vision.
I imagined the power I wanted—the ability to heal whatever ailed Tarron. I can do this. I have to.
I kept going, forcing my life and my magic out of me. My breathing quickened and my skin grew cold. Blindness stole over me.
“It’s too much.” Aeri’s voice filtered in as if from a distance.
I swayed, nearly toppling over. Fear pierced me.
If this didn’t work—if the magic didn’t turn—I would die.
Then it snapped in the air. The magic changed, growing to suit my visions. The power surged back into me, and I gasped. Strength filled my muscles, and magic sparked through my soul.
My eyes popped open, and I could see, clearer and sharper than ever. The air felt fresh. And I felt powerful.
I stood, pushing away from Aeri and Burn.
Tarron stared at me, hatred and rage in his eyes.
It’s not him.
Shaking, I pressed a hand to his shoulder. My new magic raged inside of me, the healing power bursting to break free. I fed it into him, watching with delight as the cut on his brow healed.
It’s working.
I gave it everything I had, pouring as much healing energy as I could into him. I would force away the false queen’s influence, drive away the curse that twisted his mind. Heal him.
It took everything I had, though. He soaked up my magic like a sponge, but never stopped growling at me.
Weak, I went to my knees. He thrashed, trying to get away. I kept going.
“Mari, stop.” Aeri grabbed my arm. “It’s not working.”
I didn’t stop. She yanked at me, and I was too weak to fight her.
Gasping, I sat back.
Tarron glared at me, his lips forcibly shut by our magical gag.
Tears pricked at my eyes. “It didn’t work.”
“We’ll find an antidote.” Aeri pulled me to my feet.
“I tried, and I’m not strong enough. I don’t have what it takes.” I would never be as strong as the false queen. Never be able to undo her curse on Tarron or stop her from destroying our kingdoms.
“Get it together.” Aeri shook me, her eyes intense. “This isn’t you. Come on, now.”
I gasped, blinking back tears.
She was right.
I staggered backward, staring at Tarron.
This was rock bottom.
I drew in a shuddery breath. “We need a plan.”
“Let’s figure out what the curse is exactly,” Aeri said. “Then we can find the right antidote.”
I nodded. Just because I couldn’t heal him didn’t mean there wasn’t a solution. “Yeah. We’ll heal Tarron. Then, I’m going to find a way to become stronger so that I stop that bitch from ever doing anything like this again.”
I wasn’t strong enough now, but I would be.
Aeri squeezed my shoulder. “Come on.”
I sucked in a deep breath and went to the shelf full of my blood sorcery supplies. We had a spell for this. It wasn’t super precise, but it would give us a clue about what was wrong with him. I’d hoped I could hit him with such a huge healing blast that I’d drive out whatever curse there was, but apparently we needed to do this the hard way.
Quickly, I gathered the tiny bottles of ingredients. Aeri collected the onyx bowl and silver dagger. I retrieved the pink crystal that came from a realm not on earth, and we got to work mixing the potion that would reveal the nature of Tarron’s curse.
She carefully measured out the ingredients, and I dropped the crystal in. Slowly, I stirred the mixture with the silver blade.
“We’ll fix him, Mari. Don’t worry.”
My throat tightened. Tarron and I had just confessed our love for each other. And then this. He’d thrown himself in front of the curse to save me.
In the chair, he thrashed.
“We’ll fix you, I promise,” I said.
He just growled.
Tarron was gone. In his place was a creature I didn’t recognize. It wore the face and body of my beloved, but it wasn’t Tarron.
Burn prowled toward him, big head low and eyes flaming as he watched the Seelie king. The Thorn Wolf positioned himself between us, and I turned my back to Tarron. I couldn’t bear to see him like this.
Carefully, I added the ingredients to the bowl. The hearth flickered with warmth and light, but it did nothing to drive away the coldness in my soul.
When all the ingredients had been added, Aeri raised the silver dagger. “Ready?”
I nodded.
She sliced her fingertip, wincing slightly, and let the white blood drip into the bowl.
I took the glinting blade from her and did the same, feeling the pinch of pain as it bit into my flesh. We only used this blade when the spell was extra important—and this definitely qualified.
I shook my finger so a few drops of black blood dripped into the potion. The mixtures sizzled. Quickly, I stirred the potion with the blade, watching as the black and white blood mixed with the purple liquid.