“As you like.” Her tone goes back to cool and detached, but her eyes say otherwise.
I grip the pearls, dying to know what’s so special about them. But getting Griffin to running water so I can heal him is more important.
I look at Mother. Can we end this here? Now? No war. No army. No innocent deaths to regret. She must have used a lot of magical energy on steering the crows, the Harpy metamorphosis, and tossing everything around. And she just wasted more power on a failed attempt at compulsion. She might not have another truly dangerous trick up that black sleeve of hers—at least not until she can rest. That kind of magic doesn’t just take power; it takes a deep well of it, and hers might be mostly dried up.
And yet she’s standing here, unarmed. Is she really that confident? Or is she bluffing? Is this another one of her mind games, and just by asking myself all these damn questions, I’m already losing?
Her eyes dart to the circlet in my hand, and then it hits me. She doesn’t want to leave without it.
“This amplifies magic, doesn’t it?” I clutch the pearls harder in my fist. “It’s spelled to channel more power. That’s why you want it.”
Her lip curls. “Don’t be stupid. My power is already huge.”
I spread my hands a little, waving the trinket she wants. “Then why are you still here?”
“To watch your Hoi Polloi husband bleed to death.” She smiles. “The longer I keep you busy, the weaker he gets.”
My stomach drops hard. I can help Griffin, even with my limited healing skills, but I need to get him to the stream and act soon.
I fold back my wings and reach out for my sword. We’re out of time, and I won’t ask Griffin to kill for me, even though I know he would. He gives me Thanatos without a word, his expression strained. The hilt is warm from his hand and seems to hum against my palm with a song to sing me, or a ballad to tell. I wish I knew how the story ended, but only silence travels up my arm.
Compulsion scrapes through my mind again. Pressure, pain, and then a deep-seated desire to turn the sword on myself.
I push back hard, jarring a flinch out of Mother. There’s no sound between us, only the common thought of her trying to break me like she did once before, that dark moment when I lost all sense of myself. Eleni did, too, but she paid the heavier price.
Mother bores deeper, and I grind my teeth with effort. It turns out she wasn’t bluffing. She has plenty of power left.
Gasping, I raise my hand to my searing head, still clutching Ianthe’s pearls. The pressure and pain disappear instantly. I drop my hand, confused, and they come roaring back.
The pearls! They don’t amplify magic; they block it!
I crown myself with Ianthe’s perfect gift, and Mother’s lips pull back in a snarl.
“I get it now. And this time around, I can break you.” I cock my head to the side, looking her up and down. “Maybe I should.”
Thanks to Ianthe, I’m protected now from mental attacks, and for the first time ever, I see uncertainty flicker in Mother’s eyes. It doesn’t bring me nearly the satisfaction I thought it would.
“Do it then,” she taunts, even stepping closer in challenge.
My whole body locks up tight. Gods, I’m tempted. But in the end, I say, “I’m not a monster like you are. I won’t take away anyone’s free will.”
Her bright-green eyes seem to shutter. “Take first, or everything will be taken from you.”
I shake my head at her. What kind of warped philosophy is that? It’s like her “Love nothing, and no one can hurt you.” It’s a total perversion of natural sentiment. How did she get this way? Why didn’t she try to change?
“Don’t waste your time trying to impart your twisted wisdom.” I raise my sword and get ready to exercise free will. “Any last words?” I ask her.
The look she levels at me is scathing. “You’re the embodiment of my every mistake.”
Well then. I guess I shouldn’t have asked.
I lift my chin. “It’s a shame you never tried to see how a real family acts. You might have liked it.”
Maybe I just imagine the small flinch from Mother. Either way, it makes me hesitate as I step forward with Thanatos in my hand, and Mother starts to laugh. The sound makes my belly churn like it did when I was a child.
“I knew it,” she says. “I didn’t even bother to run.”
Holding out his hand, Griffin grinds out, “Give me the sword, Cat.”
I shake my head and then force my shoulders back and down. They keep curling up around my ears.
I can do this. I should have done it already. Minutes ago. Years before.
Steeling myself, I leap forward and swing in a hard arc.
CHAPTER 14
Mother’s eyes widen. She didn’t think I’d do it. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I would.
She jerks back enough to get thoroughly out of my reach, and I scowl. I must not have tried very hard.
“Cat…” Griffin growls. “It’s now or never.”
“I can do it!”
“You don’t have to!” he says. “I’m here. I’m here for you.”
And while I stand there, refusing to give up my sword but indecisive and stupidly torn, no matter what I just said, Mother runs away. She heads up the hill toward the burning house, getting a dozen paces from me before I even move.
Finally, I stalk after her, Thanatos a far too heavy weight in my hand for such a small sword.
She stops and turns, a splash of darkness against the bright-orange blaze. “You never could stand the heat.” Using her telekinetic magic, she picks up a flaming plank and then hurls it at me.
I duck, cursing. How could I have done this? Failed again?
Mother rains down wreckage on us from above. A smoldering board hits me in the shoulder, and I stagger, the bone jarred straight into numbness. Another one sails over my head, and I turn. Griffin dodges it, grimacing and holding his stomach. My heart lurches, and I reach for him, but something crashes down between us, showering us with sparks.
Before she can launch more fiery debris down the hill, Griffin rips the knife from his abdomen and then throws it at Mother. It lands in her shoulder instead of her heart, knocked off course by the telekinetic magic whirling all around her.
Her mouth drops open in shock. So does mine. Her magic crashes to the ground, the green cyclone disappearing and leaving everything abruptly quiet. The wound isn’t fatal, but it did stop her. For now.
And now there’s only Thanatos—and I have the sword.
Griffin beckons to me. “Give me the sword.”
I shake my head, tightening my grip on the hilt.
His eyes flick over the blade. “She’s not your responsibility alone. Her death won’t haunt my conscience.”
Like it’ll haunt mine?
I don’t move, and Griffin takes the weapon from my hand. Even injured, he’s much stronger than I am, and Thanatos slips from my grasp.