Shards: Book One of the Anderian Series

Chapter 40: Glamour

"You." I recoiled. She smiled sadly and reached for me. No surprise registered in her expression when I shoved the offending limb away and stepped back, sending a stone clattering over the edge of the platform.

"Me."

"Cian trusted you."

I trusted you; I wanted to add. We'd sat in her home and confided in her. She told me what I was.

Basilus slammed his hand on the arm of his throne, the sharp slap echoing in the chamber. "My mother is quite gifted at deception."

"M-mother? You're Cian's grandmother, then?" Maybe I should have pried into that story. "Did you know then? What we were to each other?"

Amaya's stained fangs were visible in her grimace. "Yes. But if you recall, I didn't want to be involved in hiding you then, and I said he would have to kill you. I never hid what I was or what I was capable of, despite what my son is suggesting."

"You also said Andariens weren't without feeling."

She shrugged. "About their offspring."

"You know what this will do to him. Especially after Bellamy. You may not be putting a knife to his throat," I hissed, flinging my hand toward the cage and wincing when it pulled at the wound in my shoulder. The pain had slowly been increasing, but I'd been so caught up in the unfolding events, I hadn't noticed until now. "But if you help them, you might as well have slit his throat."

"Enough. Your human is showing." Amaya looked up at Shreyna, who was draped over her throne, amusement sparkling in her gaunt face. "Clearly, human genetics overwhelms Andarien."

My mother picked at her fingernails and clicked her tongue against her teeth. "It's a good thing we won't have to worry about it soon. I don't plan on bearing another half-breed before we leave. Though I will say the breeding was fun. Humans are surprisingly durable in the bedroom, and her father was eager to please me."

Gross. If I wasn't about to die, I would mark that down as things to discuss with my therapist later.

Juniper hopped down from her seat. "It's been a long time since we've pulled a Shard from its bearer. Let's make sure we're careful this time."

"Why?" Ajax asked. Scowling, he jutted his chin toward Shreyna. "She just said the transference will heal the body."

"Because you idiot," Amaya answered, "The more there is to heal, the longer it takes. So I suggest you wield your power with a little more finesse than usual because I swear to the highest god, if you fuck this up and then bitch about it, you will never see the inside of Andarie again. Not alive."

Ajax shrank away from the Night Goddess, and if I didn't want to poke her eyes out, I might have cheered her. The woman responsible for my birth had so such compunctions. She clapped loudly. Even Basilus looked amused by his mother's outburst.

"Come along," Amaya said, grabbing me by the arm. Her long nails sank into my flesh. "Time to prepare you."

She dragged me to a door opposite the one we entered. I looked over my shoulder, watching Cian as long as I could until she thrust me inside a new room and shut the door. The moment she released me, I pulled my arm back and planted a fist in the middle of her face, relishing in the crunch of bone and spurt of blood.

"Feel better?" She asked, cupping her damaged nosed to stem the crimson flow.

"Yes." Cracking my neck, I crossed my arms. "Now get on with it. If you're going to kill me, at least do it quickly. It's the least you can do."

Amaya pinched her nose and returned it to its rightful position with a sickening pop. Blood stopped pouring. She wiped her hand across the lower half of her face until all that was left was a single dark red smear above her lip.