Velvet Haven

make him bend to my wishes. There is such power in the dark arts.”
    Inwardly, Mairi cried No! , but she pretended to consider what Morgan had said. “I don’t know. I just want to forget this ever happened.”
    “Think of what he’s done to you. What he’s made you feel. You gave him your body, your heart. You love him, don’t you? And he’s made a fool of you.”
    Mairi nodded, placating Morgan. “I would dearly like him to pay,” she growled, pretending to be angry. Out of any of her emotions, it was the anger that got the most response out of Morgan.
    “Yes,” she hissed, her eyes glowing. “Make him pay. Make him suffer as you are now, knowing he has preyed on so many women, knowing you are one of countless women whose face and name he will not recall. Let us work together and make him rue the day he ever set eyes on us.”
    “What do I have to do?”
    Morgan smiled, showing white teeth that appeared sharp and cruel. “Take this.” She thrust a long silver chain attached to black manacles into Mairi’s hands. “The iron will weaken him so that you can bring him here.”
    Mairi lifted her chin. If Morgan thought they were two of a kind, then Mairi needed to be as cunning as she. “And what do I get in return?”
    “Aren’t you the little mercenary?” Morgan murmured. “I’ve underestimated you.”
    “He lied to me. I want payback.”
    “Then we are kindred spirits, you and I. Tell me, Mairi, what is it you would like? But do not ask for Bran’s life to be spared. I won’t grant that.”
    “I don’t give a shit about his life,” she spat, hoping she was convincing in her anger. The length of iron rattled in her hand as she pretended to think. “If I can’t have Bran,” she said thoughtfully, leading Morgan, hopefully, along the right path, “I want someone just as pleasurable. And I want him to be jealous.”
    “The gargoyle,” Morgan said, glee dripping from her voice. “Oh, yes, the raven would loathe that, his brother with you. I accept this bargain.”
    Morgan’s hand reached out and grasped hers. In her hand a dagger appeared, the same one that Mairi had seen in her dream. At last she realized the significance. She was to use it on Bran.
    “You will plunge it between Bran’s shoulders and kill him. Do you understand? Once he is dead I will be able to bring his body back here.”
    “Hold on—you said I would only have to bring him here! I can’t stab someone, even if you are going to . . . to reanimate him.”
    “Think how wonderful it would feel to have him at your mercy. To show him how strong you are. To make him pay for taking your heart and stomping on it.”
    Mairi tried to hide the horror in her voice. “All right. But what about Carden?”
    “You will find Carden, and then you will return here, where I will torment Bran with the two of you.”
    “Fine, I’ll do it. The bastard deserves it.”
    “And, Mairi?” Dread filled her as Morgan’s lips peeled back in a cruel smile. “You will not double- cross me. And to ensure you don’t, I have your friend. Your little ill friend. Her surgery is coming up, isn’t it?”
    Mairi wanted to scream. Rowan was ill, and this bitch was holding her hostage. It took everything she had to maintain her act. “I understand.”
    “I knew you would. Now,” Morgan instructed, “the moment the tip of the blade goes deep enough to pierce the raven’s heart, I will whisper the gargoyle’s location to you. You will free him. Return here and your friend will be waiting for you.”
    Mairi had no choice but to agree with the madwoman. Not only did Bran’s life depend on it, so did Rowan’s. “All right.”
    Morgan smirked. “It has been extremely satisfying to do business with you. Till tomorrow night, then.”
    The clock chimed in the hall, and Mairi came awake with a start. This was the reason Bran was trying to stay away from her, she realized. He must have seen the same visions she had. He truly believed she was going to kill him. Her.
    “Suriel, I need you,” she whispered in the dark.
    He appeared beside her. “Hello, Mairi.”
    She swallowed, slightly unnerved by what she saw gleaming in his eyes.
    “I had a dream.”
    “I know.”
    “So then you know that Morgan wants me to kill Bran so that she can reanimate him.”
    Suriel’s eyes went wide. “It all makes sense now. Morgan is working with the dark mage. Bran will need to know.”
    “I don’t know the identity of the mage; he was hooded. In the