He walked over to Gianna and yanked on the rope. She cried out.
“Leave her alone!” I shouted.
He sneered. “She’ll be back with you in seconds if you do what I say.”
What could I do? I couldn’t leave her like this. “Who are you really? I know you used a fake name and address. What do you want?”
He sneered. “What everyone wants. Power.”
I shook my head. “That’s not true.” I cocked my head. “Why are you killing witches?”
That was a baseless bluff on my part as I had nothing solid to connect him with the murders.
He leaned forward in a mock bow. “There’s nothing greater than taking magic from the source.” He inhaled and tipped his head back. “Delicious.”
“You sick fuck.” I stepped backward. “Did you kill my aunt?”
He scowled. “That damn witch escaped before I could steal all her magic, but it was too late for her. The darkness was already taking hold.” His mouth curled into a victorious leer.
“You bastard.” I stepped forward ready to push him, but he raised a hand and it stopped me from approaching.
It prevented me from moving, period. My muscles froze, the same way it had in my aunt’s bedroom. Darkness seemed to slither around my ankles. My breath came quicker, and my skin prickled with cold goosebumps.
Was that what had happened to my aunt? He’d attacked her with some sort of spell, but she’d managed to get away. Once back in the safety of her house, the dark magic must have finished her.
What might happen to me next. Fear clutched my throat, and I swallowed.
A breaking twig nearby sounded as loud as a boom in the otherwise silent night.
“Who the fuck is there?” Andre gestured with a circular motion. “Illuminate!”
I was able turn over my shoulder. With Andre’s attention diverted, whatever he’d used no longer imprisoned me.
“Diego.” He appeared under a muted glow like a spotlight shone through the trees.. Diego’s eyes were as wide as twin moons in a starless night.
Andre seethed. “You knew the conditions about bringing anyone.” When I turned to him, he had his arm raised as if preparing to throw something at me.
Diego hollered, “No!” and rushed forward, tackling Andre in a movement almost too quick for my eyes.
A blast of electric blue light erupted from Andre’s fingertips, sizzling against a tree. Wood cracked overhead and I jumped to the side before a heavy branch crashed where I’d been standing. I dropped the book and stared at that branch. It could have killed me.
Diego had just saved my life. My breath came quick and hard as I gaped at him, now grappling on the ground with Andre, slipping over each other on the fallen leaves. What the hell could I do? I pulled out the wand and searched my brain for what I’d been practicing in my aunt’s workspace, but my mind turned as blank as an empty journal on January first.
When they broke apart, a malevolent smile spread across Andre’s face. He raised his hand and chanted something that sounded Latin.
Shit. I couldn’t let him hurt Diego.
“Don’t!” Raising the wand, I summoned the elements using a jumble of words from spells I’d practiced earlier.
For several heartbeats, nothing happened. Of course not. I’d just mumbled nonsense. I might as well have sang the wrong lyrics to a rock song—one of Gianna’s specialties.
Andre wasn’t moving. He appeared to be frozen as still as stone.
A swirl of cold wind rushed with an iridescent mist. It surrounded him. Diego stepped back and stood beside me.
Gianna gasped. “What’s happening?”
Fuck if I knew. I rushed over to her and untied her with fumbling fingers.
