Cordray wasn’t sure what he expected Malaura to be like. The last photo he’d seen of her was nearly a decade old. Part of him wondered if she wasn’t half-myth at this point.
Yet there she was, voluptuous with dark red lipstick painting overly thick lips. She looked at him almost maternally, but with a smile that didn’t touch her eyes. She looked to be in her late forties, but Cordray knew she was in her mid-sixties. Yet there were no wrinkles, no frown lines marring her porcelain skin, and her hair was pulled back into a tight bun that was tucked inside a smaller crown. Her angular cheekbones made her cheeks sink in, giving her whole face a narrow aesthetic. King Hubert had been captured in photographs with many a regal and imposing expression, but they all paled in comparison to his older sister’s presence that exuded pure wickedness.
When he was brought in, she stood from what could only be described as a throne in the center of the long room that, even aboveground as they were, still felt cold, much like the concrete room below he’d been locked inside.
“Hello, Cordray. How lovely to finally meet you.” Her voice was low and sultry when she spoke, and despite his fear, an errant thought passed through his mind that she would make a fantastic jazz singer.
Cordray did his best to stand straight as Dustin and Jared released him. He wondered where on earth he was, but didn’t think information like that would be handed over to a flight risk. He didn’t respond to her greeting, but stood tall, a slight sneer on his face.
Malaura waited for him to speak, but when he didn’t, her smile melted. “I’ve heard great things about you. Adam Fontaine called a doctor to get his burn marks looked at after your attack, and I must say, I was impressed when I read the report. Such raw talent. There’s a power and control to your electricity that most study years to achieve, but never do.” She paused, sizing up his sneer with appreciation. “You’re gifted, that’s for certain. What a waste, that you didn’t grow up with anyone to show you who you are.” She shook her head. “What I could’ve done with power like yours. And to think, the Chancellor wants to shut you up and shove your abilities in a closet to rot.”
When Cordray still didn’t respond, Dustin pushed him forward. “The queen’s talking to you.”
Malaura came down from her elevated chair and slowly circled Cordray, as if daring him to flinch from the intense scrutiny. She was tall – taller than him, even, by a handful of inches. She had long, pointy fingernails that were painted to match her cherry lips. “But I would never shut you away, as if your power is something to be ashamed of. If you were mine, I would parade you around for everyone to see.”
Cordray fought the urge to roll his eyes, and tucked his hands behind his back, standing at attention to avoid fidgeting. He wanted to get back to Rory. If she was in her coma, then only he could wake her. He could picture Leah’s pinched expression, and the Chancellor’s tearful eyes as they looked down at their daughter. He could see Benjamin beating himself up, though everyone would swear there was nothing he could’ve done. Cordray even felt a pang of sadness for Prince Henry’s plight, knowing that for all of his jokes, he cared deeply for his few friends.
Perhaps it was because he’d dealt with Remus more often through their time studying, but he saw his tutor’s face clearest of all – his head bent over Rory’s hospital bed, and a vacant expression on his face. He’d sacrificed five years off the tail end of his life to give Rory this chance. There was a commitment there that transcended most familial ties, probably because they worked together, went to family functions together, and studied side-by-side almost every evening.
And of course, Cordray was stuck who knows where, talking about politics he couldn’t have cared less about. The only ability he cared about right then was the one that would enable him to wake Rory.
Malaura moved behind him and brushed her fingers along the small of his back, causing him to stiffen. “Do you know what my Pulse is?”
Cordray said nothing, deriving pleasure from her frustration at not being able to draw him out.
She leaned in over his shoulder from behind, as if revealing a secret, but everyone in the magical world knew her confession. Her lips tickled the shell of his ear, and he tried to suppress a shudder. “I can absorb others’ Pulses and make them my own. It doesn’t last forever, mind you, but it’s enough to make me the key that can unlock many opportunities for the Lethals who have been so carelessly cast aside.” She moved to his left and ran her hand over Cord’s chest, practically purring as she touched him how she pleased without permission or apology. “You’re on the pill, though, so I can’t tap into you yet. Pity.” Then her tone turned sharp in Jared’s direction. “Take him back to the holding room until the pill wears off.”
Cordray began to panic at being locked away, so he opened his mouth. “I don’t belong here. No matter what you want, your politics have nothing to do with me.”
Malaura stiffened and held her hand up in Jared’s direction to stop him. “Nothing to do with you? Don’t you understand what they want to do with all of us? The moment you ask them for the pill, they’ve registered you in their system. They want to strip us of our magic.” Her nostrils flared as her temper climbed.
Instead of biting back or caving, Cordray kept his voice low. “You’ve got to know that attacking the Chancellor’s daughter isn’t the way to convince legislature that we’re okay left unchecked. It’s the stunt you and your people pulled that’ll push everyone closer to the edge.”
“If we don’t fight back, they’ll do as they please. Right now the pill is optional, but it’s a swoop of a pen away from being mandatory if my insufferable brother wills it. Can you imagine? From the time children are old enough to demonstrate magic, they’d have it quickly stripped from them! They won’t be given the chance to prove they can be trusted. The choice will be made for them.” She moved to stand in front of him and motioned to his form. “Imagine if your father hadn’t spun that story about your mommy dying because of faulty wiring in the house.”
Cordray’s spine stiffened, his heart clenching in his chest at the secret that plagued him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her fingernails traced up and down his arm, as if it thrilled her to be near someone so deadly. “Do you think you’re the first child whose parents tried to hush away problems with lies? Had you been found out, it could’ve been jailtime for you for the rest of your days, not to mention a mandatory pill that’s given to every Lethal in lockup. And yet, look at how well you turned out. You found a way to self-regulate with your gloves. You’re why we need to be given the choice.”
“And you’re why we won’t be given one,” Cord argued. “It’s your attacks that set us all back.”
Malaura lowered her chin in a slow seethe. “You’re a Lethal, Cordray. No matter who you’re sleeping with, you’re one of us, not them. The Chancellor isn’t coming for you. In fact, he’ll be glad to be rid of you. Having a Lethal so taken with his daughter?” She let out a slow chortle. “I would send you back just to watch him explain that humiliation to the people. The precious daughter who lived for so long on borrowed time, one touch away from being electrocuted for the remainder of her days.”
“I would never hurt Rory. The Chancellor gave me that pill to help us both.”
Her upper lip curled in distaste. “People say I’m evil because I welcome in the cast-outs, but it’s my brother who’s the tyrant, doling out that pill. He’s forcing scared and confused victims of fate to lessen themselves so the world can feel bigger in his tiny mind.”
Cordray had never met the king, but recognized a decent headline spin when he heard it. “So you poisoned the Chancellor’s daughter, abducted me against my will, but yet you stand here, preaching all about the power of choice?” Cordray couldn’t hold back his eyeroll any longer. “You’re an idiot.”
Fire flared in Malaura’s eyes. She stomped over to Jared and palmed his face with an anger that made Cordray wish he hadn’t opted for the flippant insult. Jared’s arms flailed out, but he didn’t push her away. Instead, he moved with her as she stalked over to Cord, her free hand darting out so she could grab his arm.
Cordray made to shake her loose, but before he could, a current rushed through that stopped him in his tracks. He’d never experienced a heart attack before, but he imagined this might be what it felt like. Pain seized his chest in a way that scared him. He cried out in shock, wondering if this would be how he died. His left arm began to grow heavy as Malaura’s look of determination mutated to a sneer. “Do you think you can speak to me however you wish? Do you understand who I am? I decide who lives and who dies. I don’t wait for the law to be fair. I break what needs to be broken, and I won’t have you insulting me while I fight for all of us!”
When she released him, Cordray fell to his knees, clutching his chest as he willed his heartrate to hold steady. He glanced up at Jared, who remained expressionless at being so thoroughly used.
Malaura reached down and cupped Cordray’s chin. “Do you have anything to say to me?”
There were so many things Cordray wanted to say, but he knew none of them would be all that helpful. “You’ll be Queen of the Dead if you solve your problems like that.” Then he gathered enough gumption and spat in her face, making it clear that no matter what she wanted, he wouldn’t comply.