going to let you three waltz into an Abdicated party looking like yourselves, did you? Mind control or not, that just won’t do. You’ll need anonymity if you’re going to kill the Seven Sins.”
Without warning, Shateel’s hands come up to my face, and she grips me, her fingernails digging into my cheeks and jaw. A sly smile spreads across her lips. “You should worry. This will hurt.”
Oh. Well. That’s comforting.
With a flash of green, power pours from her hands and then dives into my skin, and I suck in a shocked breath as pain infiltrates my every pore. Spots dance in my vision as my blackness tries to take over and shut the pain out, but I can’t let that happen. I have to stay alert.
I shove back the protective efforts of my power as a shrill scream leaves my mouth, Shateel’s magic beating into me, bubbling my skin, cracking my bones, pulling at my hair, and piercing my eyes.
Even the wings at my back get assaulted, and though it’s quick and her hands drop away from my face after a few seconds, it feels like forever. I drop to my knees as soon as she lets go, panting in pain.
My mind is unable to keep up with all the aching points on my body, and all I can do is breathe in and out as the agony slowly fades away. It feels like I just got changed into a werewolf under a full moon.
I hear Medley scream and then Delta, as both of them fall down right beside me. When the pain fades and I have enough wherewithal to look over at the two of them, my eyes widen at what I see.
Gone are my sisters and the familiar gray eyes and the features we share. Delta now looks like a plain, freckled maid with a braid of dishwater-brown hair and no wings. Medley has dark skin and a pair of short horns on her head, her eyes now a bright orange to match her wings.
My eyes move to the mirror beside us, and I suck in a breath. The person staring back at me is a stranger. White wings speckled with black spots adorn my back, and I have blonde hair that’s so platinum, it’s nearly as blinding as a blanket of snow in the sun. It’s a shocking contrast to my black dress, and I quickly look away, too weirded out to see that I’m wearing a face that isn’t my own.
Shateel looks down at her work with an arrogant nod before turning to Vudu. “My work here is done. Tell our Liege that the power should hold long enough for them to execute his plans. The three little Annuli triplets are ready to go kill some Sins,” she says with a throaty laugh that gives me the creeps as she looks at us with triumph.
Vudu nods and walks out, sending me one last look and a nod, communicating silently and passing me some much needed confidence.
Shateel pats Delta on the head like a dog. “After tonight, you three will be hunted. Hated by demons and angels alike. Either that…or the Ophidian will kill you.” She tosses us a wink. “Have fun.”
I watch her walk out, all confidence and pomp, and oddly enough, I find myself wishing our fate were that black and white. But no. If we fail, the Ophidian has far worse plans in mind for us. He’ll eventually kill us alright, but it won’t be until after he’s tortured us and we’ve given him the Annuli children he declared he wanted.
It’s then that I decide, no matter what, I can’t allow that to happen. If it looks like somehow my sisters and I can’t win against Morax, I’ll kill us myself to keep that kind of fate from happening. I won’t let us fall into the wrong hands again, even if it means we cease to exist.
22
Things start happening very quickly.
That runaway train we’re all on is coasting down the tracks, gaining speed, and all I can do is hold on tight.
With our disguises in place, the smarmy red-skinned guards escort us out of the antechamber. Vudu isn’t with us, but I don’t get time to worry about that or wonder where he went, because Morax once again slams us with more detailed orders.
He goes over everything implicitly again, like how we are to call our scythes only in the presence of the Seven Sins and only with the intent to destroy them. How