A groan comes from Valeska’s direction. I did a number on her, tearing open her abdominal cavity, but she won’t be down for long.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tae struggling to get his feet back under him. He finally succeeds and starts to circle his arms. Fuck. I stab Lang in the gut, wishing I was free of the cuffs and could simply tear his head off. With what little energy I have left, I toss Lang aside and barrel into his brother, disrupting the spell. I might not be strong enough to tear him in two, but I’m strong enough to drink.
My fangs sink in.
My cuffs sputter as Tae’s heartbeat slows. Just as I thought. Kill the Kims and I kill the magic. Almost there.
A curse comes from behind me, and before I can swallow my next gulp, I’m lifted above the vampire queen’s head and thrown. I hit the stone of the far wall. Bones crunch. My teeth clack together. I end up on my side on the ground, gasping for breath through fractured ribs. The fucking cuffs glow brighter. What energy I gained from the blood I guzzled drains away once more.
Valeska appears beside me in a blink, emanating pure rage. “You dare challenge me?” she shrieks down at my broken form. “You impudent shade!”
She kicks me in the side, and I grunt as my ribs crunch. She bares her teeth. Finally the reaction she was after, evidence of my suffering.
“You fucking imbecile,” she hisses, bringing her face close to my ear. Her fingers constrict around my throat. “It’s only a matter of time. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you will tell me her name. And then you will be mine.”
I turn my face away from her, refusing her another moment of my attention. I’m too weak to rise to my feet. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tae helping Lang to stand, their glowing hands touching each other’s wounds. Fuck me. They’re healing each other.
“You should know I’ve put a price on her head,” Valeska says through a wicked grin. “Ten million for anyone who can identify her. I’m willing to bet it won’t be long until a vampire comes forward. Why, I’ve even hung flyers at Bad Witches’ Club. Every supernatural on the Eastern Seaboard is searching for the truth.”
A growl tears through my throat, but I’m still too weak to do a thing about it. Valeska rolls me onto my back and rests her boot on my chest. Her dress is torn, but underneath, she’s already healed.
“She’s as good as dead anyway. Mating a human.” She shakes her head. “What does she have? Fifty years? Seventy? What’s the difference if I accelerate the process? You must know that becoming my mate and consort is inevitable. I have chosen you and I will make it happen. All that’s left for you to decide is how much pain you’ll suffer first.”
Now I meet her gaze and let my absolute certainty fill my unblinking stare. “I can think of no greater pain than becoming your consort.”
She seethes, then removes her boot from my chest only to kick me again. More bones crunch. She leaves me writhing. Just as she’s passing through the door to my cell, she orders, “Take the bed.”
No! But a team of guards rush in, and the bed, the mattress, any break from the endless sun, is gone. The Kims raise their hands and sluggishly perform the spell. The cuffs fade. The walls begin to glow. I cry out when pain consumes me as if she’s set me on fire. I crawl to the center of the silo, the pain in my back and ribs ratcheting up with my movement. I roll into a ball, covering myself with my wings.
And pray to all the gods in this world and my own for Eloise’s safety.
10
The Haunting of Harcourt
ELOISE
“This is just a really basic exercise to get you in touch with the elements. We all start here when we come into our power.” Maeve removes a silky purple scarf and drapes it across the coffee table, then sets a white candle in front of me, a small white bowl, a white plate, and a white flowerpot full of dirt. “Every spell boils down to elemental roots. Before you can master the spells in the books and journals upstairs, you’ll need to figure out how your personal brand of magic translates into mastery of the elements.”
“Got it.” It’s late, half past eleven, but after I called and dumped on her about my visit from Fuller, she had a long day ahead of her before we could meet for magic lessons. I make a mental note that I need to buy Maeve the biggest bouquet of goth flowers imaginable.
“What’s with all the white?”
She grins. “You can get this set in different colors: pink, blue or white. Black wasn’t an option because of the risk of evil interference, blah, blah, blah. This went with my monochromatic aesthetic.” She laughs. “Besides, it’s the combination of all colors of light. Makes sense that it might help beginners key into their natural vibration. The really important thing is that all the dishes are the same color so that we’re not unconsciously influencing a proclivity toward a specific element.”
“The candle is fire, the flowerpot earth… What’s the plate and the bowl?”
“Oh.” She reaches into her bag for her water bottle and pours an inch into the bowl, then sets a feather on the plate. “There. Water and air. Technically there’s a fifth element we can try—metal—but it’s a difficult magic to work with even for those who come from metal-aligned families. We usually don’t practice it until we’ve mastered the others.”
I scooch to the edge of the green sofa and square my shoulders. This is starting to feel like a test. Tests usually don’t bother me. I was always good at school. But I’ve never felt the pressure I do right now to get it right. Damien’s life could be at stake. “What should I try first?”
“When you broke Damien’s curse, you tossed the candle into the fire. You also saw red and ash when you spoke to your parents and grandma. If your magic comes from dragon’s blood, I have to think fire will be easiest for you.”
I glance at the candle. “So what do I do?”
“Gently ease your intention for the candle to light over the wick.” Gracefully, she sweeps her hand from her heart toward the candle like it’s the easiest, most natural thing to produce flame from thin air.
Narrowing my eyes, I grit my teeth and glare at the wick, repeating burn, burn, burn in my head.
