“There, now.” The Vicomte glared at me, as if daring me to say no again. “We got a little bit more.” He leaned in and scanned the watch face. “We’re so close now.”
I couldn’t take this much longer. “Put me on the machine. You don’t need to torture her.”
“You’re right. I’ll give Veronique here a breather. You can see her die later.” He nodded toward Ada. “And we’ll bring the child in for a turn.”
“Ada?” My voice came out a hoarse whisper. No, he couldn’t do that. Watching Veronique get tortured to death was one thing. But not Ada. Not a child. He wouldn’t.
My heart sank. He would.
All of a sudden, a column of blue smoke appeared by the doorway. When the haze lifted, another Fantome stood in the room. Fresh totem rings gleamed on his fingers. He must have just used one to transport here. “Your Eminence.”
The Vicomte gripped the bars of the crank so tightly the wood creaked under his grasp. “How dare you bother me?”
“It’s Genesis Rex. He’s moving forward with his announcement. Says he doesn’t wish to prolong the ceremony.”
Excitement fluttered inside my rib cage. They hadn’t announced the engagement at the ball yet. Genesis Rex was here with his guards. Rowan would be with him as well. The thought helped to center me. I pictured the firm lines of Rowan’s face. He always said I was a far stronger mage than I knew. I couldn’t be sure if that was true. However, I did know one thing for certain.
I wasn’t the kind of girl who gave up.
“What an arrogant bastard,” said the Vicomte. “Hannah. Jonas. You stay here. The rest of you I want in the ballroom, now. Find some way to stall Rex, but don’t upset the guests or the party. I won’t have this treaty ruined with your simpleminded attempts at diplomacy.”
“Yes, Your Eminence.” More totem rings flashed on the hands of the Fantomes. Fresh columns of blue smoke appeared and vanished.
I was left alone with two Fantomes, the Vicomte, and my plan.
Things were looking better by the second.
The Vicomte sighed. “It appears we’ve run out of time thanks to that ingrate Genesis Rex.” He patted Veronique’s matted hair. “You’re too weak to be really useful, as usual.”
“No. Kill me.” Veronique’s face was the definition of despair.
“You don’t get to decide such things.” The Vicomte snapped his fingers. “Hannah. Jonas. Keep the bitch still. I’ll clear the table. I’d like to charge up my totem ring before Genesis Rex causes me a diplomatic headache.”
Veronique whimpered in pain. The Vicomte stalked up to her head, grabbed the watch face, and tore it from her neck. He set the device into his left pocket.
Without thinking, I took a half step toward the Vicomte. Hannah and Jonas yanked me back.
With practiced movements, the Vicomte undid the ties that bound Veronique to the table and pushed her onto the floor. She landed on the stone with a low moan. My heart ached to comfort her.
The Vicomte rounded on me. “Your turn.”
Jonas held me tightly in place while Hannah unlocked the manacle on my left hand. My casting hand. They really had no idea how powerful I was, did they?
Time for them to find out.
Acting quickly, I released some of the magick I’d stored up. A wall of blue energy hurtled behind me. Hannah and Jonas went flying backward. I leapt forward and tackled the Vicomte. His head hit the stone floor with a thwack.
Gods-damn. That felt good.
Using my manacled hand, I punched the Vicomte smack in the temple. He yelped and it was a beautiful sound. The Vicomte clawed and shoved at me while I fumbled between the vortex and witness watches. For a scrawny old man, there was a lot of fight in him.
One of the watches tumbled away and flew across the floor. But was it the vortex watch or the witness watch?
Hannah and Jonas grabbed me from behind, pulling me off the Vicomte. I didn’t use up all my magick on them, so it came as no surprise that they’d recovered quickly. Hannah snapped another set of enchanted manacles on my left hand. Now, I had a pair of irons dangling from each wrist. Still, I could only think about the watch in my pocket. In all the fighting, I’d lost track of things.
I still had a watch in my possession. But which one was it?
Hannah and Jonas shoved me onto the table and strapped me down roughly. My red dress flowed over the sides of the tabletop, like blood from a sacrificial altar.
The Vicomte brushed off his yellow longcoat, his eyes bright with rage. “I’ve had enough of all these tricks.” He jammed the watch face onto my throat. The prongs dug into my skin and pain exploded along my neck. A trickle of red oozed down my chest. The Vicomte stalked over to the crank and gave it two full revolutions. My arms and legs felt ripped from their sockets. I screamed in pain.
But no power left my soul.
I exhaled. The Vicomte had the witness watch after all.
“What a damned waste of time!” The Vicomte glared at Hannah and Jonas. “You said she had power.”
“You saw it,” said Hannah.
“She cast a spell that threw us backward,” added Jonas.