drastically cooling the earth to rebuild all the melted glaciers and arctic ice, yes?”
“Not immediately,” Morana replied, a touch of frustration entering her tone. “My powers have not yet fully returned. It could take me the better part of a year to accomplish this.”
I couldn’t hold back my horror any longer. “Such cataclysmic climate change would kill millions!”
Morana looked bored. “Mortals’ lives are so short that ending them a few decades early hardly matters. Most vampires would survive. So would most flesh eaters. In fact, flesh eaters would flourish, since large parts of the world would be, what is the expression? Ah, yes. Freezers full of meat.”
“How dare you?” My voice shook. “Yes, mortals only live for a scant collection of decades. That’s why it’s abhorrent to cut even one of their years short. Only monsters take all from those who have little. Vampires and flesh eaters might be creatures from their mythology, but we are not monsters.”
The temperature abruptly dropped until ice crystals formed in the air around us.
“How interesting that you mention monsters.”
Morana’s voice was almost lilting, but the new iciness in the room told a different story about her mood.
“At first, I was dazzled by the advances mortals had made. From flying machines to transplanting body parts to landing on new planets . . . I thought such wonders meant that mortals had truly changed.” Her voice darkened. “Then, I realized only their achievements had advanced. Mortals themselves are the same. The strong still oppress the weak, and those with too much amass even more while taking no pity on those struggling to survive. You speak of monsters?” Now her tone was scathing. “That is more monstrous than the culling I will do in order to finally set things right again.”
I gripped the cuffs beneath my sleeve and tried to hold back the river of darkness that almost burst out of me.
“I won’t let you. The moment you leave this city, Morana, the ‘safe passage’ requirement that protects you now will be fulfilled, and I will hunt you down and stop you.”
She only smiled, and turned to Marie. “You’re already queen of the flesh eaters. Not nearly enough, in my opinion, for a person of your caliber. How would you like to be queen of everyone residing in North and South America, too?”
Ice rippled up my spine, and not from the new, frigid temperatures. From how Marie tilted her head with interest.
“Go on,” Marie said.
Chapter 36
Morana clapped with delight. Meanwhile, I had to fight against the bile rising in my throat.
“I told you, I don’t want to rule those continents,” Morana said, as if she were being very magnanimous. “I do, however, want someone I can trust to rule them. You would be that ruler, Marie. Think about it.”
Ice suddenly formed into a globe that floated between Marie and Morana. More ice formed into familiar-shaped continents and islands, with frost serving as oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers. The globe spun until North and South America faced Marie, with the words “All Yours” forming across it.
“Think about it,” Morana repeated in a seductive whisper. “You wouldn’t only be queen of the flesh eaters. You would be queen of the entire western hemisphere. Mortals, flesh eaters, vampires . . . all would bow down to you. Enact any laws you desire. Mete out whatever punishment you deem fitting. All will be yours . . . if you and your people refrain from joining in her foolish, doomed rebellion against me.”
“Marie,” I began.
Her hand sliced the air. Remnants followed, surrounding me until I could hardly see through their endless loops around me.
Oh, shit. That looked like a “yes.”
I started yanking power from the water that thankfully was all around New Orleans. I’d use every ability necessary to stop this, barring only one.
“You would give me this?” I heard Marie ask.
“Gladly,” Morana crooned in response.
“But it isn’t yours to give.”
The Remnants snapped back from me to swirl around Morana, their mouths open in silent, ravenous hunger.
“What?” Morana asked, sounding wary now.
“I said, you can’t give me what you don’t own,” Marie replied in a flinty tone. “Those lands were already stolen once, at irreparable damage to the people they belonged to. I’ll have no part in such evil again, nor will I partner with anyone who would. Leave now, Morana. Our meeting is concluded, and your invitation to my city is hereby revoked.”
Morana’s voice hardened. “If that is your answer, allow me to leave you with a parting gift.”
Instantly, I was