Though we had been ordered to bed early the previous night, I barely slept a wink. I was too anxious to rest and sleep. I still hadn’t heard from Keeran, and so far, it seemed Morda hadn’t found out the heart was missing.

I was able to convince Ebby to help me. I taught her an illusion spell, and while she performed that and distracted the witchguards guarding the tower, I slipped past them and stole the heart. As usual, it beat faster once I touched it, and with its power in my hands, it was even easier to get out of the tower and the mansion undetected.

I took the heart of the coven to the cottage where Drake and I always met, and after storing it inside a velvet sack, I buried it deep in the ground at the roots of a thick tree behind the property.

Here, no one would find it.

Despite everything plaguing my thoughts, I felt confident as I went down to the main hall. I was expecting to find Morda going crazy, screaming about the heart and that the attack would be postponed until we found it.

I crossed the open doors and stopped in my tracks.

Witches walked around in gowns, and witchguards wore their battle leather uniform. Standing by her tall chair, Morda wore a leather gown like that.

What?

“Thea,” Morda said, grinning at me. “There you are.”

The hundreds of witches in the main hall glanced at me, but didn’t stop buckling potions and weapons to the straps in their clothes.

By all that was sacred …

Swallowing my surprise, I rushed to Morda’s side. “Morning, my Princess.” I curtsied in a haste. She couldn’t know I had expected the battle to be canceled by now. “Sorry for having slept in.”

She waved me off. “We have a little time before we go. You should get ready, though.”

“Yes, my Princess.” My mind reeling, I turned to leave.

“Thea, wait,” Morda called. I froze. Slowly, I glanced over my shoulder. Morda gestured for me to come closer. My heart pumped against my ribs as I went to her. “Something happened last night,” she whispered.

I could feel the blood draining from my face. “W-what is it?”

“The coven’s heart was stolen again,” she said, still whispering. I gasped, pretending surprise. “I have a group of witches out looking for it.”

So she already knew about it. “But … what about the battle? Can we attack if we don’t have the power of the heart with us?”

Morda opened her arms wide. “Can’t you feel it?”

I frowned. “What?”

“Our power. The heart’s power. Even with the heart gone, our power is still in full flux.”

How was that possible? Unless … unless Drake was right, and I was the witch queen. The coven would be able to channel the heart’s power through me.

I inhaled deeply. “I-I don’t understand.”

She grabbed my wrist and her eyes sparkled. “It must be because one of us has finally conceived a child. The witch queen. Shame we don’t have time to perform pregnancy checks right now. I would love to know who’s carrying such a child. Anyway, the child must be channeling the power of the heart back to the rest of the coven, even if the heart isn’t here.”

If only Morda knew that it wasn’t a baby, but me.

“That’s fantastic,” I said, forcing a smile.

“I think so, too.”

I lowered my head. “If you let me, my Princess, I’ll go get ready now.” What I really needed was to go back to my bedroom and think. There was too much going on—and not in the right direction.

“Wait,” Morda said. I frowned at her. “I have a surprise for you.”

What now?

Morda snapped her fingers. From the side door, two witchguards dragged a badly wounded and beaten man.

My heart stopped. “Keeran …”

“Your servant was found trying to escape the estate, despite the bond I cast over you two,” she said, her tone chilling.

I stared at her. She thought I wasn’t involved in this? “W-what?”

Soraya appeared from behind me, and showed me her predatory smile. “He was found in the woods outside the estate. Apparently, he was attacked by wolves prior to being found.”

No, no, no.

The werewolves had Drake’s note. The werewolves had been expecting me to make contact; maybe they thought this was it. The witches and the werewolves would march into DuMoir Castle with Drake being unprepared for it.

“Bring him forward,” Morda ordered.

The witchguards dragged Keeran to the center of the room. As if it had been rehearsed, the hundreds of witches closed around him in a wide circle, with Morda, Soraya, a handful of witchguards, and Keeran and me in the middle.

My hands shook, my breathing grew erratic. By all that was sacred …

“This will be fun.” Soraya winked at me before getting closer to Keeran.

The witchguards pushed Keeran to his knees. He fell forward, too weak to keep himself up, but the hold of the witches in his arms and shoulders kept him up.

Morda halted in front of him. “Keeran, for your attempt at escape and betrayal, I sentence you to death.”

I swallowed a gasp.

No, no, no.

Morda lifted her hand, palm turned to him, and light shone from her hand. My feet moved without my consent, but before I could do anything, Keeran let out a roar. Magic burst from him like a jet of red flames.

The witchguards holding Keeran fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Too fast, Morda cast a shield around us, but it broke in contact with Keeran’s power.

“He’s a warlock!” Soraya cried in horror.

“Kill him!” Morda screamed.

All the witches raised their hands toward him.

No, this wasn’t supposed to go down like this.

I channeled my power, the heart’s power, and it filled me like an avalanche. Without moving an inch so I wouldn’t get caught, I cast a protective shield around him.

The witches’ magic hit the shield, causing it to tremble, but I could feel it. It wouldn’t break. Not when I had the heart’s power flowing through me.

Holy shit, I was the witch queen.

Keeran rose to his feet, and using his magic, he threw a few black bolts at the witches, forcing them to retreat and open the circle. I kept the shield up around him even when he ran out of the mansion and the witches went after him.

“Let him go!” Morda’s voice echoed off the walls.

The witches stopped. I frowned, but didn’t break the shield around Keeran even after he had crossed the gardens and reached the forest. I would keep it up until I didn’t sense him anymore … and who knew when that would be? With the heart’s power in me, I felt like anything was possible.

But I did sense something: When Keeran’s power manifested, our bond was broken. I couldn’t feel anything tying us to each other now. He was free to flee, and I was free to go to Drake.

Soraya faced Morda. “My Princess, we need to kill him,” she barked. Soraya wasn’t used to losing.

“We don’t have time to chase after a rogue warlock right now,” Morda spat. Her movements were short and hard. She was furious. “Not when we have a castle to attack.”

“We’re still going to DuMoir Castle?” Soraya asked.

“Yes.” Morda rolled her shoulders and raised her chin high. “Get ready, my witches, we march in fifteen minutes.”

Panic building in my chest, I slipped out of the main hall. If anyone stopped me, I would lie that I was going to my bedroom to get ready for battle. Thankfully, the witches were all too busy and no one saw as I ran from the mansion.