A Book of Spirits and Thieves (Spirits and Thieves #1)(94)

And with that smile, Farrell knew, without a doubt, that Crystal Hatcher was doomed.





Chapter 26


MADDOX



When Maddox woke, he found himself in Camilla’s garden, looking up at the stone wheel.

Becca knelt at his side. “Close your eyes,” she said the moment he opened them.

He did as she said.

“There are six guards here. They think you’re still unconscious, so I’d suggest looking that way as long as possible. Camilla is inside the cottage, dead.” Her voice broke, but she kept going. “Sienna is loyal to Valoria. That she’d betray her sister like that . . . it makes me sick. The guards have Barnabas restrained. He’s sitting twelve feet to your left. I wish I could tell you I have a brilliant plan, but I don’t. And, for what it’s worth, I tried to possess a guard, but apparently I can’t even do that. I’m completely useless.”

He went to shake his head, to tell her she’s not useless, when a guard noticed his slight movements and wrenched him up to his feet.

“The witch boy’s awake.” He leaned closer to peer at Maddox’s face. “Warning you, boy. You try any magic and we’ll skewer your bearded friend.”

Barnabas sat on the ground, his hands behind his back. His attention was fixed on Sienna, glaring at her as if he could will her dead with his eyes.

“I can kill you all with a single thought,” Maddox said, his voice raspy.

“Go ahead. Give it a try.” The guard waited, then smirked. “Didn’t think so. Behave yourself or I’ll knock out your teeth.”

“Maddox,” Becca began. “The ground . . .”

He looked down to see that frost now crept across the grass, coating the flowers in delicate sheets of ice. But Maddox had known frost to occur only on the highest mountaintops, not here at ground level.

“Water magic,” Barnabas said. “The goddess has arrived, flaunt-ing her power.”

The ground turned completely white, as if Mytica had fallen into a swift winter that had frozen to death all the fresh colors of nature. Valoria approached from this stark backdrop, her dress fully crimson, her ebony hair flowing over her shoulders.

“Your Radiance,” Sienna greeted her. “Welcome.”

Valoria’s cold, unpleasant gaze fell over all of them, one by one, before it finally landed on Sienna.

“Well done,” the goddess said. “You’ve pleased me today. All this has come together so swiftly, thanks to your hard work and loyalty.”

Sienna nodded. “As I told you before, my sister has been conspiring with rebels. It was by chance alone that I discovered that the book of the immortals had fallen into her hands. I sent the message by raven as soon as I discovered it last night. I’m thrilled you were able to get here so quickly.”

“And your sister?”

“I killed her.” Sienna nodded toward the cottage. “She won’t cause you any further problems.”

“Excellent.”

Maddox regarded this pair of beautiful women with hatred. Sienna had murdered the kind and benevolent Camilla, and Valoria had murdered Maddox’s father.

He could barely keep from trembling. He craved vengeance on behalf of a man he’d never known, a man whom this evil creature had stolen from him.

Valoria moved toward Barnabas, looking down her nose at him.

“Greetings,” he said. “We meet again.”

“You killed my cobra.”

“Oh, wait. Was that your cobra?” Barnabas frowned. “I had no idea. Apologies, many sincere apologies.”

She nodded at a guard, who then smashed his fist into Barnabas’s jaw.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t figure out your little disguise? Now that I see your skin encrusted with less grime, and smell that you’ve managed to wash away some of the stink that emanated from you before, the memory returns. It’s been some time, Barnabas.”

“Your memory may have returned, but I’m afraid mine hasn’t. I meet a lot of attractive women in my line of work. Did we have a tryst once? I regret that it wasn’t more memorable for me.”

Another nod. Another punch. Blood now trickled from the corner of his mouth.

“It’s been years,” Valoria continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “You’ve grown older. The beard is new, but the face behind it is the same.” A smile now played on her lips. “I know how much you must loathe me.”

All pretenses of levity gone, Barnabas’s eyes narrowed. “You could never in a million years know the depth of my hatred for you.”

“But you helped to create a legend to last through the centuries, Barnabas—you and my sister. The immortal sorceress who fell in love with a mortal hunter. How did you think it would end for you both? That you’d persuade her to live the life of a mortal in a little cottage where you would raise your unnatural spawn?” She laughed. “A love like yours burned bright like the sun but was always destined to end in darkness. You seemed to be the only one surprised by that.”

“I swear I’ll have my vengeance for what you did to Eva.”

“I was not the one to take her life.”

“You helped.”

“You weren’t there. You could never know the whole truth.”