Nocturna (A Forgery of Magic #1)(114)

He shot Paloma a tight grin. “Since when have I ever done as you asked?”





36


The Dragon


Finn had expected complete bedlam, but the ballroom was beyond that.

Guests were searching for escape only to be savagely tackled by the black-eyed monsters who crashed in through the ballroom’s floor-to-ceiling windows. The guards still stood on the far side of the ballroom in a circle of brawn around the king and queen.

Together they’d left the king and queen behind and dashed into the fray, barreling through screaming nobles. As they ran, Alfie’s eyes darted over her shoulder, a look of panic on his face. He gripped her close, pulled water from the air, and froze it in a globe of ice around his fist. Then he punched the black-eyed man running toward them in the face, sending him stumbling backward.

An infected woman was rushing at the prince from behind. With a quick movement, Finn made the woman’s feet sink into the stone ballroom floor. She fell onto all fours, silently trying to crawl forward. Her eyes were glued to their shadows. Behind Alfie, another woman was running toward them. Alfie turned around and threw out his hand.

“Parar!” he said. For a moment the woman’s body froze against the ground, halted by his magic. But Finn could see her slowly breaking free. Was there anything this black magic couldn’t resist?

A thought struck her and her heart froze in her chest. “Where’s Xiomara?” she hissed at Alfie. Was the prisoner even still alive? Had she been taken down by Ignacio’s monsters?

Alfie’s eyes narrowed in focus, something Finn now recognized as him engaging his propio. “I can see her magic,” he said hurriedly before shouting another spell to force a black-eyed man away from them. “She’s all right, staying close to the walls, out of the way like we discussed.”

“Well, what do we do now? We can’t keep trying to stop them all!” Finn said. “We’ve got to find Ignacio!” Ignacio had stood at the top of the stairs and in the blink of an eye, he’d disappeared, taunting them with his presence only to disappear from sight once more. Bodies littered the floor. Some lay still with death while others convulsed, their skin marred with black veins, their eyes darkening.

“Prince Alfehr!” A guard appeared out of the fray and moved to stand before him, shouting. “Protect the crown prince!”

“No!” Alfie shouted at him while Finn raised a wall of stone from the ballroom floor to block an infected woman’s path to them. She shoved back the wall of stone, sending the monster careening backward with it. “Protect my family, and everyone else who hasn’t been touched yet. Do not kill any of the rest, that’s how it spreads. Subdue them any way you can! But don’t kill them. Do you understand? Go tell the other guards!”

The guard looked perplexed. “But, Prince Alfehr, I have to—”

“I am your future king; what you must do is follow my orders,” Alfie said, and Finn had to sneak a glance at him. The boy sounded like a king. “Protect everyone, my friend, and I will do the rest.”

The guard nodded, still looking confused, before darting back into the fray.

“Do you see him?” Alfie asked Finn, his eyes scanning the cavernous expanse of the ballroom. Ignacio had been at the top of the stairs for a moment, then he was gone.

“No!” she said, annoyed. He always liked to make her wait. For praise, for punishment. It didn’t matter. There was always a wait.

“Stop,” a voice as rich as velvet said, cutting through the chaos like a knife. The infected halted where they stood. The nobles stopped as well. Only Finn and Alfie could move. Finn turned toward the voice, and there he was, lounging on the throne of the king as if he were born to sit in it.

A knot of fury unspooled inside of her, searing hot. This man had cut her parents’ throats and yet he looked at her as if she owed him—an apology, her life, her love, everything she had. She wanted nothing more than to pull that smile off his face and send him straight to his grave. She would do it or die trying.

“What a nice surprise to see you here, Mija. To think I assumed I would have to hunt you down only to find that you’ve delivered yourself to me, like a gift,” he said, his dark eyes alight. “Are you so eager to join your lovely parents where I put them?”

Finn’s breath caught in her chest before rising up her throat in a growl. For a moment she was nothing but fury again, only gnashed teeth and a hunger for vengeance that left her hollow.

Alfie straightened and his eyes flickered between Ignacio and Finn. She could tell from the prince’s look that he knew Ignacio had killed them. The heartbreak in his eyes, heartbreak for her, pulled her out of her fury. The sorrow in his gaze stiffened into resolve. He squared his shoulders beside her and faced Ignacio. “You’re disgusting.”

Ignacio ignored the prince. He stood from the throne and strode to the center of the ballroom. She knew him. He intended to have her walk the rest of the way to him. “Let’s make this between you and me, as it should be. And I let both your amigos go.” Finn looked at him, feigning confusion. Ignacio rolled his eyes. He raised his hand and Finn turned to see Xiomara slam against a wall, the hood of the vanishing cloak flying off on impact.

“You must know by now that this magic is nothing to be trifled with,” Ignacio said, cocking his head at her. “Here, I’ll even be nice. I’ll give you a peace offering.” He snapped his fingers and in a flash of light a body appeared at his feet, tied by the ankles and wrists. Finn gasped. It was Kol.