me, I guess. “You know you can’t. She’s not one of your lost souls; therefore, you can’t keep her.”
“I can keep her if she offers herself to me. And you know the souls that offer themselves to me are the best kind.” She slams her fists against the armrests, throwing a tantrum, but I can feel her weakening around me as she struggles to keep me trapped inside her body. “She can offer herself up! She can offer herself up! And then I can keep her forever and ever and ever!”
“Helena,” Alana says, sounding exhausted but patient. “You can’t keep her, and you know it, so let her go and hear what she has to say about the bargain.”
She rumbles, and the walls vibrate around us. Then liquid swells inside her lungs as she unhinges her jaw and, with a yack, spits me out onto the floor.
I slide out and roll over onto my back, wiping away her silvery spit and God knows what else that now coats my skin.
“Well, that was lovely,” I say, pushing myself to my feet.
“You’re lucky I let you go,” she snaps, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. “Now tell me more of this bargain before I lose my temper again. You want me to free souls in exchange for my own ring back? Because I’d really like to know how you ended up with the ring to begin with.”
I touch the ring, remembering when my father gave it to me. There’s no way I’ll ever out him, however he ended up with the ring.
“You know as well as I do that those souls are supposed to be free.” I square my shoulders. “You were never supposed to have them, and I think you know that.”
She leans forward on her thrown. “How dare you talk to me like that? This is the Afterlife—my Afterlife—and I’ll rule it however I want.”
“Not even for this?” I raise my hand, giving her a glimpse of the ring again.
She licks her lips, eyeballing the ring. “Give me my ring back.”
I shake my head, tucking my arm behind my back. “Not until you free the souls.”
“I could just take it from you,” she warns in a low tone.
“I really don’t think that’s true.” I struggle to stay composed. “Otherwise, you would’ve already.”
She curls her fingers around the armrests. “Maybe I will, then.”
I shrug, even though anxiety and worry bounce around inside me like an out-of-control bouncy ball.
She fixes her attention on me and I stand firm, refusing to cave or show weakness. When she finally reclines back on her throne, hope sparks inside me that maybe this will work.
“If I free these souls, then you’ll give me the ring back?” she asks. “Without any stipulations?”
I nod. “All I’m asking is for you to free the souls that were taken during the apocalypse . . . And to give the life back to a half-faerie named Nicholas.”
“Give back a life.” She erupts with laughter. “I have no control over such things.”
“Yes, you do.” Alana dares to step up onto the podium. “Through your sister, Annabella.”
“I don’t have any connection with Annabella or her decisions,” the queen snaps. “And how dare you suggest otherwise!”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you do, even if you won’t admit it,” Alana says confidently. “I know you want your soul back. You’ve been stuck in that hideous body ever since you lost your own, melting away into a pathetic excuse for a queen. And you can’t take that ring from Gemma’s hand. Whoever holds that ring owns your soul and can only choose to give it back to you. That’s how the curse works.”
Helena snarls, her growl ripping through the air. But when neither of us budge, she settles down.
“If I was to speak with Annabella and free this faerie’s essence, I’d want to talk to Gemma alone before giving her the lost souls she requests and then letting her back into the mortal world.”
“I . . .” I glance at Alana in a panic. The idea of being alone with the queen is horrifying.
“That’s my final offer,” Helena says, relaxing back on her throne and crossing her legs.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” I say in a shockingly confident voice.
Alana bows her head and curtsies to the queen. “I’ll go, then.”
“Don’t go too far. You owe me your debt by collecting my souls for me, just like all humans who make the choice to cross over into the Banshee world. Immortality doesn’t come without a price,