The Midnight Queen's POV
I moved to the center of the room where a traditional circle waited, drawn in ash and salt. Five ruby crystals marked the points of a star – each taken from a Ruby Wolf I'd personally killed.
"Begin the incantation," I ordered.
Vail's voice rose in old words while I removed my black silk robe. Beneath it, ruby marks covered my skin – not glowing with life like Sienna's, but scarred and dark, like burnt flesh.
The price of treason. The source of my hate.
I knelt in the circle's middle, taking the chalice. "When my soul transfers, protect my body. If I die there, I die here too."
"Yes, my Queen." Fear tinged Vail's voice.
Good. Fear guaranteed loyalty.
I drank the liquid in three swallows. It burned down my throat like liquid fire, waking the dormant ruby power in my blood. Pain ripped through me as the marks on my skin flared to life for the first time in centuries.
I gasped, nearly buckling. How quickly we forget agony's touch.
