to hold on to her soul. Her heart.
The wind kicked up, howling, swirling around the three people in the inner ward of the castle. Cold dripped from the stone walls surrounding them like the spread of frost.
Shea’s fingers tightened around the black silver and the element took a stronger grip on her as well. It whispered through her mind of glories to come. Of battles to be won. Of victory and more power than any witch had ever before claimed.
She heard it all and fought anew to retain knowledge of who and what she was.
“Think about it Shea,” Kellyn said, her voice as musical and compelling as a chant. “Think of how the world has changed in eight hundred years. Think how much more we could have now. Think of the dynasty we could build. Together. The black silver craves us as we need it. We are blood-bonded, the coven and the Artifact. Each of the other, we are pieces in a puzzle, incomplete unless joined.”
“She’s lying to you, Shea.”
Shea heard Torin, but her soul listened to Kellyn.
“We can be gods, Shea,” the witch said, moving closer still until they were only an arm’s reach apart. “Danu created the witches. Belen created the Eternals. We can be bigger than either of them. Mortals don’t understand real power. But they will. Don’t you see? We can harvest the darkness for ourselves. We can be what we always were meant to be . . .”
Shea swayed and locked her knees to keep from toppling beneath the onslaught of images racing through her mind. Dark, terrible, glorious images of witches running the world. Leaders of nations. No longer hunted, but the hunters. No longer held beneath the thumb of humans who couldn’t possibly understand what the witches really were.
“And our souls?” Shea finally managed to ask, fixing her gaze on the witch in front of her.
Kellyn’s eyes glittered with victory, excitement. She felt Shea weakening and was rejoicing in it. “With enough power, we can enchant a spell of immortality and live forever. Who cares about a soul? I’m offering you everything. All you have to do is reach out and take it.”
Shea shifted a look at Torin and read his expression. His complete trust in her. How, she wondered. How did he trust her when she couldn’t trust herself? Couldn’t he hear the irresistible lure of Kellyn’s words? Couldn’t he feel the pull of the dark power? He’d held the Artifact. Didn’t he realize what that black silver was doing to her, even now?
But his pale gray eyes remained steady on her, filled with his unshakeable belief in her.
“Stop thinking about him!” Kellyn shouted, as she clapped her hands together and a man-size cage with white gold bars appeared on the bullet-shredded lawn. The cage bars glinted in the early-morning sunlight.
“What’re you doing?” Shea looked from Kellyn to Torin and back again.
“I’m taking care of your problem as I took care of my own,” Kellyn told her. “The power’s in you, Shea. Force your Eternal into the cage.”
Torin tensed as if ready to flash out. But Shea knew he wouldn’t do it, not without her. And she wasn’t within reach. He wouldn’t leave her, no matter the cost. She glanced at him, but kept her hand tight around the black silver still pumping dark energy into her body. The sweet rush of temptation pooled within her and she took short, shallow breaths, relishing all of the dark sensations.
“Do it, Shea,” Kellyn demanded. “Then we’ll finish our talk.”
Chapter 50
Fingers and thumb caressing the smooth, glassy surface of the black silver, Shea whipped her head around, lifted her free hand and aimed her power at Torin.
“Close your mind to her, Shea,” he shouted even as he was swept into the cage. Instantly, the white gold barred door slammed shut on him. His eyes flared with fury, but the anger was directed at Kellyn, not Shea. His hands fisted around the white gold briefly, but he let go a moment later, no doubt feeling the drain of his powers. “Damn it, Shea, let me out before it’s too late!”
His voice sounded far away, muffled, and Shea knew it was because she was losing herself in the dark magics. She felt as if she were trapped in a slow spiral, traveling ever downward, becoming a part of the darkness itself. And a part of her loved it. Craved it.
Her gaze locked with her Eternal, though, and she somehow managed to gain a tenuous grip on her