Page 157 of Treasured

Queen Marguerite raised the dagger above her head. From here, I could see the entire dreadful scene. The queen. Luna. My wife’s blood. All of it.

A mad cackle filled the air.

“Don’t do this!” Luna cried out. The words were a knife to my soul.

No matter how much I struggled against the bindings, I couldn’t get them loose. This couldn’t be happening.

“No!” I yelled around the gag.

Queen Marguerite glanced over her shoulder, a dark smile twisting her lips as she met my eyes. “I hope this hurts you as much as it does her.”

Then she plunged the dagger into Luna’s chest until only the hilt remained.

My wife screamed. The sound was unlike anything I’d ever heard. It was like Luna was being flayed apart from the inside out. It was heartbreaking, horrifying, and devastating all at once.

Pain shot through me as though I were the one who had just taken a dagger to the heart. The Binding Mark was a blazing inferno, searing my very soul.

“Luna!” I roared, struggling against the shadows binding me.

A mad laugh escaped the queen. She tipped back her head and ripped off her necklace. Blood poured out of Luna’s wound. Too fast. She was bleeding out, just like Athena had. Twice, I had failed the ones who loved me.

Queen Marguerite raised the ruby to the sky. She chanted in a language I did not speak. It didn’t matter. I didn’t need to know the words to understand what was happening.

Lowering the ruby, the queen dipped it in Luna’s blood. The jewel shone brighter.

Again, I called my wife’s name.

There was no response.

The pain grew worse, and the bond between us weakened. It frayed, bits and pieces of the Tether crumbling. Grief was an anguish-filled storm swirling within me.

The numbness was on the edge of my consciousness, beckoning me, but I ignored it. I had to be stronger than this. Stronger than death. I could not fail Luna. Not now.

Tearing my eyes away from the heart-wrenching scene in front of me, I turned my attention inward and focused on the Tether. That magical rope was still there, but its light was so faint I could barely see it.

I refused to give up. Not while there was still a chance.

Gathering all my strength, my shadows, and my dark magic, I focused on the one thing that mattered to me: Luna. Centering myself on the connection binding us together, I focused on the light that was intrinsically hers, on the beauty of her inner being, and the cord tying us together.

Slowly, so gods-damned slowly it hurt, the Tether brightened.

Please let this be enough.

Sending the prayer to whatever gods might be listening, I shoved everything I had at the Tether. I forced the connection to open despite the queen’s horrible magic. I pushed and shoved and prodded until, finally, it seemed to work. It was barely more than a sliver of our usual power, but it would have to be enough.

The queen’s chanting swelled. Shadows swirled around her like a cloak of darkness. Luna did not move at all. I had to act now. This was our one chance at survival.

Gathering all the power I could find—mine, Luna’s, it didn’t matter anymore—I drained us both dry. I took all the magic, molding it until it was a writhing mass of shadows crackling with crimson lighting.

Then I pulled back my arm. The shadows binding me constricted, but I twisted and turned until that gods-damned ruby was in sight.

Queen Marguerite didn’t notice me. She was too caught up in her enchantment. I took a deep breath and threw the magic at the jewel.

Time crawled as the shadows sailed through the air.

My lungs ceased breathing. My fingernails cut half-moons into my palms. My heart did not beat at all. The sphere got closer and closer.

Several things happened all at once.