The last time I’d stood at these gates, Rían had used his own blood to enter. I may not have had Rían’s blood now…but I had something better.
The Queen’s blackened blood still coating the blade.
If only I knew some sort of spell to turn it back into a liquid.
Instead, I spat on the end and rubbed my thumb across the dried black blood. Sending up a quick prayer, I smeared the mixture across the lock. A clicking noise pierced the silence, and the gate opened.
About bloody time something went right today. With hope burning anew, I crossed beneath the gates and returned to the Queen’s bedchamber where I’d found Rían’s heart. Through the hallway filled with unused children’s toys to the secret door. I didn’t know if it was my own heart pounding in my ears or the hearts on the other side of the wall, but the air seemed to hum with life. I found the protruding stone, but when I tried to press it, my hand met resistance.
The Queen had been tricked once. I was a fool for thinking she wouldn’t have taken precautions against the same thing happening a second time.
Still, I hadn’t come this far to fail.
If she’d warded the door, perhaps her blood would unlock this one as well. Couldn’t hurt to try.
I swiped my thumb over the damp blade and then painted the stones. This time, when I pressed the lever, the wall shifted aside.
Hearts locked in cages stretched as far as the eye could see. The dagger’s cold hilt bit into my palm as I tightened my grip. I didn’t want to kill these people, I wanted to save them. That had been our plan. Kill the Queen and save the humans.
Except this would turn the tide in a war we never wanted.
They’re already gone.
You’re not killing them. You’re setting them free.
There was no time to hesitate. It may already be too late.
I adjusted my grip on the hilt and plunged the blade between the cage’s bars and into the closest heart.Blood sprayed across my hands and arms. The organ gave one final thump before falling still.
Each heart that ceased to beat stole a piece of my soul.For my sister. A sob escaped. For Keelynn, I would kill them all. To give the man she loved and the man I loved a chance.
To save them, I would destroy myself.
I stabbed and stabbed until so much blood painted my hands that the dagger slipped from my fingers. The emerald winked out, tumbling into darkness until it came to rest next to two empty cages at the very rear.
One that used to hold Rían’s heart, and the other, marked with the same date, that must have belonged to Leesha.
Only one heart remained.
When I picked up the dagger, the emerald ignited, glowing brighter than ever before. In the blinding green light, I could find no date adorning the simple black cage. I slipped the dagger through the bars. Blackness stained the thick arteries and veins surrounding the organ.
Bloody hell…
I knew why we hadn’t been able to kill the Phantom Queen.
55
RÍAN
Tadhg and I fought back-to-back,throwing power toward the guards. They kept swarming like ants, overwhelming in a black flood. There was no escaping this hilltop. The Danú and humans who had fought with us had either fallen or fled. And I couldn’t even blame them. They’d known as well as I that this was a fight we couldn’t win.
The Queen watched from a distant hill, an iridescent ward shimmering around her.
She wouldn’t make the same mistake again by letting us get too close.
The moment we died, the Queen would take our hearts.
She would win.