Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #2) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,59

the power, though, just some. Another witch appeared from a portal and healed her. A call went out far and wide to heal the woman who had taken the lightning from King Oleander. I believe she is one of the Hecate bloodline witches who entered the Nine Realms.”

“Where did she go?” Ilsa demanded, her rotting lips pulling back tautly over her decaying teeth.

I schooled my features as her lip tore at the corner, and black sludge-like blood dripped from her mouth. Bile fought for purchase in my throat, and my stomach flipped as a shiver raced up my spine. The scent of rotting organs and chamber pots slammed into me all at once, as Ilsa forgot to cover her smell amid her anger.

“Nowhere,” I admitted. “The witch didn’t get up. The King of Norvalla was with her, and I believe he sought to destroy her,” I announced, barely keeping the tears from falling as her scent burned my eyes, causing them to water.

I didn’t look away from Ilsa. I wouldn’t ever give this monster my back, not without wanting her dagger sunk into it. Her head canted to the side and then turned toward the dark corner of the room.

Ilsa’s body turned weirdly, slowly moving toward the wide-opened window before she rested her hands against the windowsill.

Wailing started outside, indicating they had added more witches to the grid. I silently prayed that they’d find a painless death before placed among the others. Every time I returned, I prayed my sister Julia wasn’t the newest addition to the grid that pulsed with unimaginable power.

“If the King of Norvalla is after this witch, then her days are numbered. Is she the same one who set siege to the keeps?” Ilsa asked, and I exhaled.

“Indeed, it is she. She taunts the King of Norvalla and plays with him. She is powerful, and yet young and naïve in so many ways. I believe that he will capture her, and either keep her on a leash or end her existence. Either way, you will be unaffected by his choice. She won’t be your problem should he catch and null her powers,” I explained, watching Ilsa’s eyes sliding to the room’s dark shadows.

A shiver rushed down my spine as I peered into the shadows, sensing nothing there. Ilsa nodded, forcing my stomach to churn with unease. Her skin was taut over bones, and yet in places, it had lost all elasticity and hung loosely. She slithered over toward me, staring into my eyes before lifting her hand, and I stifled the urge to recoil from her touch.

“You will go infiltrate the King of Norvalla’s ranks,” she stated, and I dropped my composure.

“That is suicide. He knows when a witch holds darkness,” I exclaimed.

“And yet you have not allowed it in, which I have ignored. You can infiltrate his camp and get close to this witch, or you can accept the darkness, Soraya. Choose,” Ilsa sneered, her eyes filling with color that looked glossy and lifeless.

“I will learn what I can for you, My Queen.”

“Excellent. I know he won’t allow you to leave once you’re established as one of his many whores, or camp followers. There are other means of communication that we will use. If you get caught, you die. There will be no one who comes to save you. You’re not worth wasting my resources.”

I swallowed, nodding slowly before I calmed the emotion her words sent churning through me. I wasn’t stupid enough to assume she’d even care if I died. To her, we were nothing more than tools in her armory that forged her true weapons.

“Go! You’ll need time to figure out how to let them capture you and become a whore to one of his men. I suggest you lose the air of superiority you hold in my presence. The King of Norvalla would crush and enjoy the sound of your supple skin, tearing as he ripped you apart.” She smiled, dragging her blackened fingertips against my lips. “Such pretty skin, wasted on you and your kind. It will land you in some worthless male’s bed, on your backs where bitches like you belong. Do not fail me, or Julia will end up in the grid, left alive to be a slave to me forever, Soraya.” My eyes widened, and she smiled coldly, her glassy, dull eyes lighting with mirth. “Of course, I knew which line you both belonged. I am the fucking High Queen of the Witches, after all.”

“I will not fail