Page 60 of Kill the Queens

"I expected more grandeur when the Fae finally came for me," Farah sighed. "I didn't even have to ask the rest of my guards to rush in. I heard it was justtwoof you." She hadn't looked up yet, her gaze resting on her drink as a whirlpool formed in the glass.

The white walls were adorned with sparkling sconces. A long, well-made table ran the length of the room, burning candles atop golden holders in its center. The vaulted ceiling was accented with chandeliers that had to have cost more than the town Ace grew up in. Though the castle was gorgeous, Queen Farah was the diamond in the room. She’d always been pretty but her fortune had only increased that tenfold.

Rehan walked in slowly behind Ace. He traced the back of a chair before he came to a stop at the end of the table, opposite the queen, and leaned onto it with his elbows. "Ace, please say whatever it is you'd like. I would love to get this over with so we can move on."

"Move on to the next queen?" Farah slammed her glass onto the table, wine sloshing over the rim. "This ends with me." The queen was feral, hissing like a wild animal, baring her teeth, and curling her long nails into her palms.

Those familiar, beautiful green eyes, finally landed onAce. Farah's eyes widened as she pulled back, smacking her head on the back of the chair.

Farah let out a small gasp as she stood, as she inched closer to Ace and stretched out her hand as if to touch her face. The queen's whisper carried across the room. It echoed pain and confusion between them. "Aylee?"

Ace flinched at the mention of her old name.

NINTEEN

Ace

"Do not call me that!" Ace’s shout echoed through the room.

Now it was Farah's turn to jump. Her hand dropped back to her side, her lips still parted and frozen in a perfect 'O' as she stared at her in shock.

"That's not my name anymore." Ace lifted the sword and Farah's gaze followed it as if she'd just noticed the weapon. Images were flashing behind her eyelids with every blink. She could feel the rain on her skin, the wind that had blown her hair, and that terror of the unknown that she'd felt the day she died. Ace could remember Farah's face and the way she'd frowned at Idalia and hugged Ambrose close when they reached the valley.

"This isn't real," Farah said slowly. "You're not real."

"You wish I wasn't real," Ace snarled, stepping closer to her sister. "So I couldn't come back to haunt you. So that you wouldn't have to own the fact that you were such a horrid sister. Who sacrifices their own family?"

"Sister?" Rehan repeated and was promptly ignored.

"Someone who wants revenge. Someone who wants power that could save an entirecountryfrom those terrible creatures that killed our parents." Farah reached her hand back up and laid it on Ace's cheek. Her thumb stroked across her cheekbone, then down the side of her throat, those long skinny fingers teasing at the scar on her neck.

Ace's entire body sparked, the holy fire no longer hard to hold onto but pushing against her skin, begging to be released toits fullest potential.

The queen's hand wrapped around Ace's throat. "We killed you once. I'll be happy to do it again." She squeezed.

Rehan didn't move as Ace struggled to take her next breath. He arched a single brow. "Would you like to do the honors or shall I?"

"You're. A. Fool." Ace managed to gasp out. She threw her weight into the swing of her arm as she swung the sword.

Farah's other hand curled around her wrist, stopping it from meeting her flesh. The queen wasn't even sweating as she held Ace, the sparks of the sword only inches away from her face. She smiled at Ace. "You're the fool. I've sacrificed more than you to make myself more. To make myself strong."

Light was pouring out from the weapon between them; its glow cast itself across their features. Farah snarled, sending Ace wheeling backward as she shoved her away and reached for the staffs.

The stumble turned into something more the moment Farah picked up those staffs. Wind lifted Ace's hair from her shoulders, tugged at her clothes, picked her up off the ground. Her sword dissolved into nothing as she threw her hands out trying to find anything to take hold of. Her fingers slipped through air.The bittersweet scent of magic stinging her nostrils.

Stone groaned as she slammed into a wall. The pressure in her head doubled, nearly tripled, and those damn little white dots popped up in her vision.

I'm going to die. I'm going to die.Ace's thoughts screamed again and again.

Rehan was running, blades full blaze in his hands. Farah turned her attention on him as Ace slid down the wall. Then Rehan’s swords were gone. His hands tearing at his throat, at invisible hands that pulled the air from his lungs.

Ace's heart pounded in her ears.Thud-unk.She stretchedfor the holy fire she'd been given, her lips curled.Thud-unk.

Farah was walking toward Rehan. "I don't even know who the fuck you are. Interesting that you and her both look like you should've stayed dead though."

Thud-unk.

Ace got her feet under her. She focused her strength into each step as she dragged herself across the room. Her sisters had turned into monsters. Farah was the monster, not Ace, and not Rehan.Every inch of Ace's skin burned. She took ahold of her sword gifted to her by the gods and shouted. "It isn't his job to kill you. It's mine."