It would have been a long fall to the bottom otherwise.
“Joke all you want.” Her blade shook with her anger. “Ambition is how I survive.”
“Why now?” I got under her guard, almost thwacking her wrist. “What changed?”
“You.” Delma smiled. “That’s what changed.”
Aedan told me he was twenty-five. That math didn’t hold for him being Calixta’s grandson. And if he was too young, then their younger siblings weren’t related to Calixta. A lightbulb flashed over my head.
“I’m the only one left.” I laughed at her rage. “The only other person alive with Calixta’s blood in me.”
“Father was a cousin of hers,” Delma spat. “His offspring should have sufficed.”
The skeletons at the base of the cell took on horrid new dimension. Those were relatives of hers. Ours?
How long had she been doing this? Tithing to the forgotten queen? Hoping if she killed enough, sacrificed enough, she would be enough?
The idea was too enormous to fit in my head without leaking out of my ears.
The fight was draining me, physically and emotionally, but Delma wasn’t slowing down now that she had me pegged. We were at an impasse. Her dagger was only so long, and I wouldn’t risk my wand in a direct strike. I had come to rely on Clay and Asa to run interference for me, but I was on my own in a challenge.
“You’re not the heir she wants.” I pricked her pride. “Why else pit us against each other?” I grinned for a beat. “She used you, Delma. She wants me, and she used you to get me here. She doesn’t care if you live or die. She never did.” I hit her with my black witch best, cruel and cold and heartless. “You’re. Not. Worthy.”
A furious roar fueled with the fear and fury I was right blasted me as Delma flung her knife.
It would have punched into my throat if I had moved a hair slower. As it was, I couldn’t hear her heart over a thundering in my ears. The blade struck the rail I had been standing next to only seconds ago, and she wasted no time lunging to retrieve her weapon.
Delma was fast.
Mad Delma was a blur.
Fangs bared, she dove for the railing, for the hilt of the dagger. “I will—”
“—never finish that sentence.”
I stepped in her path, gouged her side with my wand, and thrust power into her until she rivaled twinkle lights on a Christmas tree. The magic burned her, ate through her glamour, and revealed the deadly blue-skinned daemon at her core. And then she was gone, nothing but ash and bitterness.
Or maybe I was the bitter one, to have discovered I had family other than the director, only to learn they had been picked off by Delma, who was nuttier than the fruitcake curing on my counter back home.
“I have my successor,” Calixta announced from seemingly nowhere and everywhere. “I am pleased.”
The column of water had collapsed when Delma died, meaning Calixta didn’t have enough juice alone to maintain the illusion. That was good. Not great, but good. Her hands were tied, magically speaking. What we had to guard against was her cleverness, her silver tongue coaxing others to lend her their strength.
And there was no putting this cat back in the bag, not with Delma involving Black Hat in her scheme.
Clay caught my eye then jerked his chin toward the creepy jailer clutching Colby in its spindly arms.
With a subtle nod, I distracted Calixta while he and the daemon plotted to free the struggling bundle.
“You have found nothing.” I dropped Delma’s blade with a splash. “I want nothing to do with you.”
“Accept my offer, and you will be a match for Astaroth. His father can’t contest your mating then.”
“Choice mine.” The daemon informed her, fist striking his chest. “Rue mine.”
Given his impulsive nature, I wasn’t sure if this was a part of their plan, or if he couldn’t help himself.
“Not that we’re rushing into a mating,” I pointed out for everyone’s benefit. “But still. Good to know.”