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The door creaked as it opened, and two leading guards stepped inside. The rattle of chains darkened my already morbid disposition.
They yanked on a lead as they crossed into the room with the rest of their squad. The guard handed the queen the rope, and then they all stepped aside.
Henry stood in the center of the clan of guards in shackles. His hands were chained behind his back. His chest was bare and clear of bruises. The only bruise he had encompassed his right eye and crept over his temple into his dark hairline.
I could not draw a breath. Every moment we’d spent together flashed before my eyes. Hope fled as fast as the strength in my legs. I dropped to the ground.
My movement drew his attention, and the hardness in his features softened. His soulful eyes captured me, tearing every last piece of my heart to bits.
The queen sauntered over to him and ran her fingers down his chest. “Such a sexy thing. It’s such a shame.” She grabbed the front of his britches and squeezed.
His green eyes narrowed at the queen.
She released him and circled around him, running her hand up his chest and pulling his head back only to lick the side of his throat.
“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll let you live for another day if you promise me a night I will never forget,” she purred.
He cringed and shuffled a step away from her. “No.” His voice was as steady as a rock, and his gaze locked with mine.
Anger sparked in his eyes, and I couldn’t tell if it was the queen’s request or if he was finally coming to terms with the fact that I’d left him after he gave me the exact thing the queen was bargaining for.
She wrapped her arm around him again and rubbed the front of his pants. “Oh, come now. You didn’t have a problem with it when you thought I was her.” She smiled at me. “He was a wonderful stallion to ride.”
His jaw clenched, and his cheeks filled with a red hue.
My stomach roiled at the thought.
She took a handful of his hair and dragged him to the spot where she had killed Domino. She kicked his knee, and he dropped in front of me.
I love you, he mouthed.
Her blade pressed against his throat. “Your magic or his life.”
Every last piece of my resolve crumbled. Beyond her, the full moon crested above the windowsill.
Tears blurred my vision as a sob escaped my chest. The blade pressed harder into his skin, and a bead of blood slowly rolled down his throat.
“Fine,” I screamed. “You can have my magic, but only if you let him live.”
“No, Maggie!” he yelled.
“Yes. I cannot do this. I cannot watch you die, too. She can have it all as long as you live.”
The guards dragged him away and clasped the chain to the wall.
He didn’t know my magic was already tainted with death. I had run out of time. This was my only hope. Perhaps the poison running through my veins that was once pure magic might just be my saving grace.
If I died, she would be able to control my magic through my reanimated form. Either way, she was going to get the magic. This way, I might still have a chance to strike her down.
She crossed and put her hand on my head, closing her eyes. Her nails dug into my scalp, and she hissed and stepped back. The glare she delivered sent a shiver down my spine. She fisted her hand.
Henry screamed.
“Stop!” I cried.
She squeezed tighter, and Henry dropped to his knees.
“The iron.” I raised my hands. “I will give you my magic, but I can’t with the iron shackles!” Panic made my voice shrill and shaky, but my words seemed to penetrate the queen’s anger.
Her hand opened, and Henry dropped to the ground, gasping for breath.
Hot tears poured down my face. “Please don’t hurt him anymore,” I said. “You can have it all. Please.” I hung my head. Sobs ripped from my chest as the last piece of my sanity broke.
She had been right. Physical torture would have never broken me. But Henry had been her ace in the hole. The rest of the dwarves were just a sick primer. Something to feed her greed of stealing life. I was sure of this as she stood back with a smug smile.
Guards unclasped the iron from my wrists and ankles. The remains of my mother grabbed my right arm, and one of the other undead grabbed my left arm. They brought me to where the deepest rivets ran to the pool and forced me to my knees.
I harnessed my magic as best I could and bowed my head, glancing sideways at the sword in my mother’s other hand.
My thoughts ceased the moment the queen’s hand landed on my head. Burning pain gripped every cell, and instead of trying to hold on to this festering poison, I catapulted it out of me and into Queen Odette.
A wave of dizziness overcame me as the queen stripped every ounce of magic. She took a shaky step back, and I glanced up, smiling at her as my fingers blackened with death.
She pulled the knife out of her sheath with fingers of the same color. The black death my magic had claimed inside me had been passed on to her as well.
I lunged for my mother’s sword, my sudden movement shocking enough for neither guard to recover before I gripped the handle, ripping it from my mother’s dead hand. I ducked and rolled as the queen’s knife sailed where my head had been seconds ago.
I screamed a guttural roar, and with the last ounce of my strength, I thrust the sword up while the queen was still off-balance from her attempt to finish me off.
The blade pierced through the queen’s chest, slicing her evil heart in two. Her piercing scream echoed, and her knife clattered to the ground. She reached for the blade protruding from her chest and stared at her blackened hand. She raised her gaze to mine, and stumbled back, tripping on the stairs to her bloody pool. She fell backwards.
I dropped to the floor.
“Gravis ad vos,” I whispered.
I tasted dust just before the world faded out.