My body froze. I should’ve known better. I should’ve let Aveen request passage the moment she came back. I should’ve done everything differently. But I’d been selfish, and now the Queen had found her.
I turned toward the ancient witch. The wards should’ve kept her out. I’d used every spell I knew, poured years’ worth of magic into that protective barrier, and yet here she stood, in my sanctuary, glaring at my human.
I had to get Aveen out. I couldn’t let the Queen take her the way she’d taken Leesha.
What the hell was I going to do?
30
“Hello,Mother. Lovely as always to see you,” I said, knowing full-well she’d taste my lie. Her hand felt like a corpse’s when I pressed my lips to her translucent skin.
The Queen pulled away, glowering down her nose at me, cursed eyes narrowed into slits. “You always were a deceitful boy.” She glanced to where Tadhg and Ruairi stood, her eyebrows lifting. “What’s this? Another human in Tearmann?”
She may have sounded surprised, but I had a sinking feeling this visit wasn’t a coincidence. Muireann must’ve told the Queen. That was the only explanation that made any sense. I should’ve taken my time killing her. I should’ve sent her to the dungeon and carved her flesh in search of answers.
The color leaked from Aveen’s cheeks.
I should’ve done a lot of things.
When Ruairi draped an arm around my human’s shoulders, I did my best not to flinch. “We liked her so much,” he said, “we decided to keep her.”
Maybe the Queen would believe Aveen had stayed for him. To save her, I would look past his possessive hand on hers.
The Queen’s head tilted ever so slightly. “When you tire of it, send it across the border.”
Aveen clutched the hem of Ruairi’s shirt. I wasn’t even sure either of them noticed. But I did. I noticed that she clung to him in a way she could never cling to me.
Tadhg started toward us, muttering about feeding the Queen already.
“I’m always hungry,” she replied. The Queen could consume every life on this island and I suspected she would still hunger for more death. Her feathered cape dragged with each step she took, following my brother into the hallway and across to the dining hall. The two of us sat on either side of her. Aveen had the good sense to sit next to Tadhg. Ruairi flanked her, leaving me all alone across the table.
I tried to think of ways to remove Aveen from this confrontation, but each one only ended with me showing the Queen how much I cared and with Aveen’s heart carved from her chest.
Tadhg shifted a bottle of wine and a bottle of blood we reserved on the off-chance one of the ancient Abartach showed up. I could count the number of times the Queen had visited the castle on two fingers. Once when our father had been murdered, and today.
Tadhg was the first to speak, asking the Queen what brought her to the castle.
She gave some shite excuse about visiting me, phrasing it as a question so it wasn’t a lie.
Tadgh muttered a response, none of the tension in his shoulders lingering in his congenial tone.
The Queen’s gaze drifted farther down the table, to where Aveen and Ruairi sat far too close together. “I wasn’t aware you let your pets sit at the table.”
Ruairi seemed to take no notice of her tone, showing off his fangs when he grinned. “Seeing you is always such a delight, my Queen.”
The air turned sour with the lie.
“Careful now,boy. I’m in need of a new steed.”
“I’d give just about anyone a ride, but I’m afraid the Black Forest wouldn’t suit my sunny disposition. And I prefer the living over the dead.”
The dog walked a thin line, antagonizing her like that, but if he kept her focus on him, it wouldn’t be on Aveen. I almost respected him for it. Almost.
The rich, coppery tang of blood danced in the air when the Queen tilted the black bottle toward my untouched goblet. I tried to focus on everything but the tingling sensation on the back of my tongue, determined to ignore it. Aveen already knew I was the spawn of a monster. She didn’t need to know how deep the depravity in me truly ran.
“Speaking of the dead,” the Queen said, her tone light and airy, as if discussing the shape of a passing cloud, “I heard a pack of pooka were executed near Mistlaline.”
Ruairi’s head swung toward Tadhg, accusation in his narrowed golden eyes. “Is that true?”