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“How many queens have you killed now?” Keisha asked.

I allowed my lips to twitch in a not-nice smile. “As many as I’ve needed to protect my family.”

“How many of them were mothers?” Her voice echoed with aching sadness. In the darkness around us, I heard sobbing. The quiet yet heart-wrenching wail of a mother clutching her dead child to her breast. “You took Tanza from me.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered gently. “I couldn’t allow her to harm anyone else, but especially not one of my Blood.”

“No. I mean, she’s not here. Her spirit didn’t cross over to the Mother’s embrace. I’ve looked for her everywhere. My baby girl isn’t here. You must find her, Shara. Find her, and send her to me, so I might hold her once more. Please. She wasn’t always so…” Her voice broke, her words falling off into silence.

“I will find her.”

“Not good enough.” Her eyes flashed like lightning, though her lips softened in the barest hint of a teasing smile as if she replayed our negotiation from before in this very spot. “I want the full oath of the Triskeles queen.”

I bit my lip again to draw my blood. “I, Shara Isador, daughter of Esetta, daughters of the Great One, will find and free Tanza Skye’s spirit.”

“Agreed.” She began to fade like wisps of fog clearing before the dawn. “Thank you, Shara.”

Leonie gave herself a shake, her charms jingling, her eyes returning to focus on me. “If you destroyed her body, where could her spirit be?”

“I don’t know. Yet. But we’re about to find out.”

56

SHARA

Iallowed a single drop of blood to slowly slide down my chin as I approached the spot where Tanza’s blood circle had been. As far as I could tell, this space hadn’t been disrupted for months. No sunlight had entered this huge, cavernous space.

Yet the flowing tendrils of darkness avoided the stained circle.

It should be my circle now. I’d killed its creator, though I hadn’t ingested any of Tanza’s blood. Only her mother’s. But this earth belonged to me. My willing sacrifice had soaked into the hungry ground and welcomed my magic. It lay within my protective circle.

Yet as I looked through my power, the entire circle was a void. I could see it with my eyes, but with my magic, it was completely black. Not a thing of my darkness but empty. Devoid of life. Devoid of energy. A blank nothingness that insisted I should look away.

So of course I needed to get closer.

I squatted a pace away from the traces on the floor, letting my eyes focus first. I didn’t need light to see in the darkness, but for this, I wanted to be sure. So I called a small ball of fire to hover over the concrete. The blood stain was old and dried. Brown. Not black. Not like I remembered.

Rik stood so close to me he straddled most of my body, bent in half so he could easily grab me if needed. I glanced up at him. :Wasn’t the blood circle black?:

:Absolutely. All of Tanza’s blood was black.:

:This looks like normal, oxidized blood. Not whatever demonic taint she carried.: I allowed a drop of my blood to fall onto the stained circle, and it immediately flared to life. Red glowing magic pulsed in the circle, carrying my power.

Aima power. Not whatever evilness Tanza had carried.

So where did the black part of her blood go?

:Down,: I said at the same time as Rik in the bond. :Brace yourselves. I’m going to tap the remnants and see what happened.:

I closed my eyes and allowed my consciousness to touch the earth. My ears rang with shrill, high, metallic shrieks. Sound as a weapon. Injuring nerves and tissues. Maiming mental capacities, driving her victims mad.

Her screams. Literally drove people mad.

:The Screaming Madness,: I whispered through the pain. :This is what Undina warned me about. It was already here in Tanza all along.:

Even a thin memory of Tanza’s power made my eyes water and ears throb, my eardrums strained to the point of bursting. Icepicks drove through my skull.

Sudden relief made me droop against one of Rik’s legs. My face against his inner thigh. His hands soothing me, though distant. I could feel the pressure of his hands but not his skin. His iron and hot rock scent anchored me back in my body.