Her gaze flicked to his and she let him see the wrath burning deep inside them. “I am a free woman, and you, Josiah Smith, you have breathed your last.”
If she hadn’t been in such shock, if she hadn’t seen Luminesa trussed out like a lamb to the slaughter, if she’d only taken a moment to think about what her actions would mean, Nixie might not have done it.
But she didn’t think.
With a snap of her fingers, she obliviated him into nothingness. There was no gore, no blood, no broken bones, or shrill screams; she’d simply made him cease to be.
Rushing to Luminesa’s side, she untied the girl, who immediately threw herself into Nixie’s arms, gasping and choking on her blood and screams.
Shaking from the adrenaline of what she’d seen, of what this poor girl had gone through, Nixie shook her head.
“I’ll make this right, Luminesa, I’m sorry, my God, I’ll make this right.” Then, closing her eyes, she kissed the girl’s forehead. The magic inside her welled up hot, and rushed to her lips. Nixie shoved it all into her, urging the wounds to heal, urging the tongue to knit itself back together again.
Luminesa glowed from the heat of so much power and magic. “I hate him.” She sobbed. “I hate him so much.” Her fingers curled into Nixie’s shoulder blades, digging in so hard she’d be bruised later. “Is he gone?”
Nodding, Nix kissed her brow one final time and sat back, gently disentangling the girl from around her. “Yes. He is.”
It was only the moment she said it that Nixie realized the magnitude of what she’d done. A chill wind lashed through the entirety of the tent and her skin crawled with goosebumps as the icy blast of powerful magic embraced them.
Startled, Nixie twisted in her seat, only to come face to face with Rivet’s unforgiving glare. His beautiful yet stony visage was cold and foreboding.
He wore a robe of black silk that covered him from his neck to his feet, keeping the contours of his body hidden, making Nixie wonder if Rivet were nothing more than encased shadow.
His tawny eyes raked Luminesa first before settling back on Nixie’s face. “What have you done?”
“He…he was not my master,” she stuttered, knowing exactly to what the high council member referred. She notched her chin up, fighting to keep herself from hyperventilating at the sight of the fury burning in his eyes. “He…he raped her. He cut out her—”
“Do you think,” his words thundered, shaking the very foundation of grass and earth beneath their feet, causing both girls to jump and clutch at each other, “that we didn’t know that? Did you honestly believe,” Rivet snarled, “that we couldn’t have made it right?”
Nixie frowned and moved in front of Luminesa just a little so that Rivet’s fury wouldn’t be directed at her. It wasn’t that Nix regretted what she’d done to Josiah; the man was a worm who deserved to die. Her regret was that she’d broken the cardinal rule of genie.
Never kill.
Never. No matter what. Even a day of freedom didn’t give her the right to do it, and yet she’d been so angry, so furious at what he’d done that she’d not thought. She’d had the power to make it right and she had. Her father had tried to so hard to impress that truth upon her, reminding her always, to never go down the path he’d followed.
Standing, she held her arms by her sides, showing through posture that she wasn’t afraid of Rivet, nor would she back down. “He was a foul, lecherous man, and he deserved his death. My only regret is that I have shamed my family name.”
Rivet’s eyes widened, as if shocked that she’d dare to stand so bold before him, even in the face of his wrath. The air around them quickened, and then Cyrus joined them.
If it’d been Babak she could have held firm to her pride, but seeing the kindly face of the aged genie made her have a sudden flash of her father as he must have once been when he’d dared to allow love to dictate his heart.
She was ruined. There would be no golem to protect her. Her parents would—
Cyrus sighed heavily, gazing around quietly at the bloody scene before him. He didn’t look nearly as aloof as Rivet had. His robe of starlight swished around his short frame as he moved silently through the tent.
“Rivet, you may leave us,” Cyrus said a moment later, turning a gimlet eye on the proud genie.
“But Sagr, the girl must—”
Nixie wrapped her arms around her middle, truly afraid for the first time. Why was Cyrus sending Rivet away? What would they do now? Not only to Nix herself—she held out very little hope for anything other than a slow death as her father had once been dealt—but what did they plan for Luminesa? Would they bring Josiah back? Was that even possible?