“Meaning you can take from me, Cora. Just a little to get control of the power emerging at your fingertips. If you don’t, you will be overwhelmed and of no help to your family as they consume you.”
They were nipping at my soul. “Cora,” Harry demanded.
“What’s happening?” Rebecca asked.
“She’s deciding how to get control,” Hudson said. “But if she doesn’t succeed in the next few minutes, I will sort it.”
“You know you can’t scare these things off with growls and a menacing stare, right?” Rebecca checked.
“I need neither,” Hudson answered.
What was his plan?
Donn’s power swept through my veins, a caress of something foreign but mine. It whispered seductive promises of control. Nothing in my life was in my control, and that was why I weakened in the moment and took the gift he offered. The consequences were tomorrow’s problem.
The second I invited him in, I knew I’d fucked up. I might be the daughter of death, but my power was rooted in the elements and angelic light. This was the flip side, a magic so old it made my bones hurt with the undercurrent of gathered knowledge that stitched the universe together. It dripped into my soul,soothed the frayed edges, and pulled taut. I climbed to my feet and opened my eyes.
“Holy fucking shit,” Sebastian murmured, stumbling back.
I grinned, knowing I was channeling a little of Indigo with sharp teeth. “Go back inside the house,” I instructed Harry.
“But—”
“Unless you are ready to join your afterlife, you need to give me space.”
He hesitated for a beat before making a hasty retreat.
I swept my arm through the air and dragged the remnants toward me. They became a thickening whirlwind as I claimed more of them. Sensing I had them all, my head snapped back to the sky, and I pointed. They flowed upward and scattered into the darkness. The wards rose, making Summer Grove House a savior once more.
Hudson held his hands up and edged toward me. “Easy, darling,” he murmured, his voice a rough purr meant to lure.
“Why are you all looking at me like I’m about to murder your puppy? And why are you calling me darling?”
Hudson made a circular motion over his face. “Your eyes are glowing.”
“Define glowing,” I croaked, my throat raw. My head throbbed with a steady pulse.
“Like if a lighthouse and a nuclear reactor had a baby,” Sebastian said.
“Perfect,” I muttered. “Just the look every girl wants—apocalypse chic.” The power thrummed under my skin, heady and dangerous. Donn’s voice was silent now, but the echo of him pulsed like a second heartbeat, closer than before, but still distinct and separate. I could taste iron and something sweeter—temptation.
Hudson reached me, his claws still half-formed. “You with me?”
“Define with.” My wings gave a weak twitch before folding tight against my back. “Because I’m ninety percent sure I just got a gift from a death god that comes with conditions and is unreturnable.”
Rebecca snorted, drawing my attention. Her hair was wild, but her red lipstick was still perfect. “If we’re doing confessions now, I might have accidentally snacked on an elemental who tried to livestream the severing.”
Liz groaned. “You can’t just kill anyone who breaks the rules, Rebecca.”
“I didn’t kill him, just his Wi-Fi and ability to think coherently for a few days. He’ll be right as rain and have no recollection of anything that happened.”
A low yowl cut through the tension. Everyone froze. Bella emerged from the smoking grass, tail flicking, a squirming remnant clenched delicately in her mouth like a prized mouse.
“Oh, for the love of—” I started.
She strutted to the middle of the pentagram, dropped the glowing spectre at my feet, and sat primly, licking her paw. The remnant whimpered, a wisp of terrified smoke. Bella’s free paw smacked down on it, and she blinked at me with an expression that said,I caught him. What are you going to do about it?
Puff, puff, pass.
