Warrior Witch (The Malediction Trilogy #3)(49)

She wanted to use my magic to destroy my kind once and for all.

My guts twisted as I pictured how she would do it, helping me kill my father, my brother, Angoulême, and everyone else with the power to stand in my way. Then she’d use my debt to force me to slaughter every other troll alive.

“I understand, my lady,” Joss whispered, pulling me from my thoughts. “What do you want me to do?”

“We must lure him out,” Winter said. “And there is only one way to do that. He must believe your sister’s life is in danger.”

“I don’t want Cécile hurt.” There was an edge to Joss’s voice.

“Of course you don’t,” Winter replied, her voice soothing. “She needn’t be in true jeopardy – it’s her fear that will lure him out. Her life will be in no danger from me.”

“But will he care?”

“If we time it correctly. You must watch him, look for signs the magic is fading. Then I will move.”

I listened to their plan until one of the guards heard voices and called down, sending Joss scampering back through her hole and into the castle.

Tucking my shivering dog inside my coat, I watched her go, breathing in the cool night air as I thought. Knowing what she intended, there were ways to protect myself. Ways to prevent her from using me to slaughter my people. But that would mean my debt remained, and I was tired of it hanging over my head. I wanted it called due, but on my terms.

I turned in the direction of Trollus, letting the game expand in my mind. I’d set aside the problem of my father in the belief I could do nothing about him until I’d dealt with Winter, but I might have been wrong about that. She was trying to use me, but if I played this right, I might be able to turn the tables. Controlling my magic was Winter’s goal.

And maybe it was time to give her what she wanted.





Chapter Twenty-Eight





Cécile





Turning the lantern down so that barely a flicker of flame remained, I set it in a rocky alcove to wait for my return; then, clinging to what handholds I could find, I crept lower. With every move, bits of rock and debris broke free to pour out the tunnel, but at least the sound covered up my labored breathing and the racket of my heart.

“Almost there, almost there,” I whispered, then I heard voices.

“Curses! There’s another one!”

I froze. Several trolls were approaching the tunnel opening.

“Go report that there’s another sluag in the city,” one of them said, and boots thudded rapidly against the ground as another went to do his bidding.

“Blasted creatures. Never known them to be so aggressive about trying to get in.”

A ball of light floated past me, and I swallowed a gasp of panic. Shifting my position, I wedged into a bend and held my breath. Seconds later, a head and shoulders appeared beneath me as one of the trolls climbed into the tunnel. My arms and legs trembled from the effort of holding myself up, and I was certain he’d hear my heart hammering, turn his head, and see me. But he swiftly retreated.

“Came through recently,” he said to his companion. “Reeks.”

“Close it up – last thing we need is to make it easier for them to get their next meal.”

My heart leapt out of my chest, and I desperately tried to inch my way back up the tunnel before one of them brought it down on my head. Then bells began to ring.

“The miners will deal with it later. Go, go!” Boots pounded away, and not a second too soon. The narrow ledge I was balanced on collapsed beneath me, and I skidded down the rest of the tunnel and tumbled out into Trollus.

My trousers were torn and my knees bleeding, but I didn’t pause to examine my injuries. I ran. The sluag’s tunnel had let me out in the Elysium quarter, not far from where Tristan had set me down when I’d come in through the moon hole. Bearings in check, I sprinted through the streets, not worrying about anyone recognizing me in the chaos.

“Sluag, sluag!” Trolls were running in every direction, some carrying heavy spears, while others seemed more interested in taking cover. Troll-lights flickered, then went out, and screams filled the air.

I skidded down one flight of stairs and then the next, less concerned about taking the most direct route to the library than I was of staying ahead of the darkness biting at my heels.

And the sluag in Elysium wasn’t alone. Across the river, there were three more pools of blackness moving through the streets. How many sluag were in Trollus, and why had they all of a sudden become so aggressive?

“Move!”

I stumbled sideways, nearly falling into a fountain as four guards stormed up the steps, spears in hand. Seconds later, the screams of a sluag filled the air. So close. Too close. I couldn’t help but wonder if the creatures knew I was here. Whether they were hunting me in particular.

The great columns of the library reared up ahead, troll-light burning comfortingly in the crystal sconces to either side of the entrance. But I couldn’t go in that way. The librarians were not typically confrontational, but neither did they allow just anyone to wander their stacks. Instead, I crept around to a small entrance at the rear that I’d used in the past.

It was locked.

Swearing a streak that would’ve made Tristan proud, I reached up to retrieve a hairpin, realizing only as my fingers brushed my newly shortened curls that there were none to be had. I touched the dagger at my belt, debating whether I could use it to break the lock. Bells were still echoing through the cavern, which in combination with the waterfall, would surely drown out the noise.