The Elf Witch |Book 1|

Chapter 49

How long had Meira been pretending? When did she change?

It didn't matter—she had changed, and it broke Imani's already horribly ruined heart to see the bare truth now.

"Why did you do this?" Imani rasped as stray tears fell down her cheeks and over her lips.

Meira's big blue eyes filled with tears, too, but her lip snarled in frustration when she spoke. "You betrayed me first, and once I learned the truth, I decided I was sick of living that life with your selfishness and lies. Because instead of keeping your head down for us and focusing on getting home, you've been searching for that wand and acting recklessly in pursuit of a myth." She paused. "But you go after what you want—and so do I," Meira said, her voice dropping low.

Meira had never looked or spoken this way, but despite the strange coldness in Meira's demeanor, Imani understood perfectly. She knew her sister, and Meira wanted only a simple life with her own family. She had always been trying to get them to be together as a family.

Besides, there was truth in those words. Imani had lied to her sister about the murder and many other things. She had made choices that took her away from her siblings and closer to the wand. Those lies and her entire existence threatened Meira's dream—as did Ara's execution.

But Imani had made mistakes before, and they always forgave each other.

Not this time, it seemed.

Once Meira learned what Imani had done, she'd probably sought to sever herself from those black spots, making it clear what side she was on—her own. She'd have to stay here and take the Ascension Assessments, but afterward, if she survived, she'd be untethered from Imani and Ara and able to return to the Draswood with Dak. She'd be able to find a mate.

"You will regret this someday," Imani snarled.

"Will I? How does it feel to know you're truly alone now?" Tears now fell freely down Meira's cheeks as if the insults hurt her more than Imani.

She was the hero and the victim—and how well her sweet sister played her role.

The words gutted Imani, and she stepped back a few paces, carefully keeping her glare locked onto her sister. "I love you more than anyone. But you would have sent me to my execution with no mercy. So, while I might be truly alone, I'm going to console myself by burying you alive and dancing on your grave," she stated, her voice and fists firm.

Meira flinched, a flicker of fear passing in her eyes—and it soothed Imani's pain just a little.

Turning on her heel, Imani returned to the prince's side and lifted her chin to meet his gaze. Kiran stared back with a look of evil triumph shining in his eyes.

Crazed, self-deprecating laughter burned in her throat, but it faded as her mind traveled even further back—realizing just how far this deception went. Kiran knew Ara. He knew Malis. He'd known of her before even coming here. She wondered just how long this plan of his had been in motion.

And it hit her. She brought her hand to her mouth to keep from screaming.

The Serpent Prince planned this weeks ago.

He'd been suspicious about her identity from the second he laid eyes on her, and that's why Kiran kept staring at her that first day. When he named her the older Aowyn sister, he'd already started plotting to create a situation where she'd have no choice but to go to him and bargain for her life.

He needed a High-Norn elf for something, and he found one. He wasn't the one who brought her lies to light, but he knew Malis and the truth about his death—then he dangled it in front of Meira, setting the wheels in motion for her to do it. He probably even found a way for Aidan to break the only rule in the Assessment.