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Mina began pacing around the room. She needed to find a way out of this. She needed to find a way to keep Aria alive and avoid the vampires. She couldn’t just let her people die for her. That wasn’t what princesses were supposed to do. Her mother would never forgive her for it. She’d never forgive herself for it.
By the time her feet turned for their fourth circuit, Maggie came padding into the room. “You bellowed, Your Majesty?”
He glared at her. “Witch, my daughter is refusing to comply with my orders. I require your assistance.”
“What?” Mina jerked to a stop looking at him in horror. “Father please, don’t.”
Maggie walked forward and twisted one of her bracelets around her wrist. “Forgive me, Princess, but your father outranks you.”
Mina looked at her in horror. “Maggie, don’t.”
The witch sighed, and with a flick of her fingers, sparks flew before Mina’s eyes, and her world went black.
When Maggie cast a spell, she cast a spell. Mina had no recollection of how it happened, or what she’d done from one moment to the next, but by the time the spell wore off she was curled up on the floor of her carriage buffeted by enough pillows that she could barely feel the bumps in the road as the horses drew her along.
Maggie sat sprawled across the bench above her, smiling from ear to ear. “Sleep well?”
Mina pushed up on the pillows, and uncurled her legs, groaning at the ache in her muscles. “What did you do? Where are we?”
She arched an eyebrow at her.“We are on the road home. Where else would you be?”
“You spelled me? How dar—” Maggie cut her off with a hand in the air.
“Don’t make me spell you again,” she snapped, pointing a sharp nail at her.
“Maggie,” Mina grunted, shifting up onto the bench across from her. “We have to go back.”
“It’s too late, and we’re chained in,” she said. “And I mean literally.”
Mina groaned and shifted to the door of the carriage. She pushed aside the curtain, and sure enough a large gray chain encircled the cab. She leaned her forehead against the cool glass and sighed. “And Aria is back…standing in my place.”
It wasn’t a question. Maggie didn’t need to answer, but the witch still nodded as Mina sank back against the seat. “I’m sorry, Princess, but this is the cost of being born royal. You are to be protected, and the rest of us are expendable.”
Mina winced, closing her eyes. “Not to me.”
The two of them fell into a deafening silence, and tears clouded her vision. Because of her stupidity, people were going to die. Their blood would be on her—
A loud howl erupted in the distance outside the carriage, and then another and another followed, getting progressively closer.
Her heart leapt into her throat. “Wolves?”
Maggie nodded, working her hands quickly through the air. “And where there are wolves there are—'
Something smacked into the side of the carriage, and they were thrown sideways as it toppled over. Outside the horses cried out in terror, and then fell silent. Mina caught herself against the door as she fell, but Maggie’s head smacked against the gilding on the window, and her body fell limp.
“Damn,” Mina grunted, sliding her feet under her once more. The ground seemed to sway, and then it settled. Outside the carriage, she heard screams and growls. Things were happening, but she was still trapped inside. Stretching to push on the far door, she tried to force it open, but the chain held fast. She couldn’t make it budge.
Mina’s heart raced. What could she do? What could she do? She didn’t have magic. She they’d taken everything but her crescent blades, and they wouldn’t cut through the chain.
Another thud sounded outside the carriage, above her head, and she dropped to the ground, shielding Maggie beneath her.
Claws scraped across the wood, and the box shook around her, struggling to support the weight of whatever creature hovered above.
She heard the squeal of broken metal, and then the door was ripped from its hinges. A familiar gray wolf dipped its head into the door and met her eye.
“Princess, it’s time. Come with me,” it said, its voice issuing from its unmoving jaw. “Come with me and the slaughter will end.”
She hesitated for a second, and then stood up. “End this now, and I’ll come with you.”
