Her.
Maris.
“Forever.” I get the word out in a snarl. It hangs between us and Isla jerks back like I slapped her.
“How did you break my hold?”
I don’t answer her. Her magic has taken root again, quickly repairing the way I found my way through. It doesn’t matter. I’ll keep trying.
Her magic can’t hold.
Not forever.
Fifty-Four
MARIS
That fuck ass bitch took my boyfriend. That fucking cunt. Treating me and my family like batteries to keep her charged. I’m in front of Vesper House. That stupid broken and busted window offers me a perfect view of Isla and Julian. She has her hand in his hair. She kisses him and I want to throw up.
“It’s not him,” I whisper to fight the sour feeling in my belly. It doesn’t help. I double over and scream. It feels like everything is gone. Taken away from me because it was never mine. My throat is raw when I stop screaming and turn to run down the sidewalk but I stop when I see Julian’s car.
She killed my mother. Took my father away.
She’s been playing with us like fucking toys.
I stalk over to Julian’s car and open the door. When I sweep my hand under the seat, I feel the keys. She might have killed my mother and taken him but I’m not letting her win.
“I can’t shoot you? Fine. Let’s see how you deal with a fucking car, bitch.” I start the car and start to reverse to launch myself across the yard and right into the house. I’m going to need speed if I’m going to get up from the road to the yard. It’s a good threefeet in height difference. I rev the engine, fully prepared to flip Julian’s car for a shot at taking Isla out but then I stop.
“Once I give him the command, my new pet will do exactly what I tell him to do, and that’s wipe your memory of any of this and command you to live the rest of your miserable short life right here in Vesper House.”
“Fuck,” I whisper. I stare at the bright headlights illuminating the retaining wall and sidewalk. Vesper House looms above me. It looks evil. Like a sleeping giant that’s finally rousing. The place that I always felt the most safe was a trap, a trap Isla will do anything to keep me in until it’s my daughter’s turn to take my place.
“The only thing that matters is that he puts a baby in your belly, Maris and you’re going to give me exactly what I want because that’s who we are. I always win.”
That fucking monstrous bitch is right. She is going to win.
“But not if Julian doesn’t glamour me.” All I have to do is get away from here and hide long enough for her magic to fail. It could be one day, a week, a fucking year, I don’t know but I can do it.
I have to be able to do it. This twisted sick cycle ends with me. I’m not letting another one of us sacrifice our life to keep Isla fed.
I throw the car in reverse and start down the hill as fast as the car will go. The lights of downtown get brighter and come into sight. All I have to do is get out of this town. Isla didn’t let my mother make it past that last curve for a reason. If Isla’s in me then I should have some gut instinct for this, right? A connection like that doesn’t work just one way, it can’t. Right now my gut is telling me her power will start to fail once I pass that stretch of highway and I’m into the forest.
“Get to the forest, just get to-” I stop when I realize the neighborhood around me is changing. The neat and quiet houses are all lit up. There’s people in their lawns, some are drinkingand others are fighting. “Fuck,” I whisper when I see a woman get dragged behind a car with a vampire drinking from her. Julian said the town was turning. I didn’t think it would happen this fast.
I focus on the road and a man steps out in front of me. He’s half a mile away. I honk and flash my lights but he doesn’t move. I can’t see him because he’s wearing a hooded jacket. It hides his face from me even though I’m nearly on top of him.
“Get out of the way,” I scream at him and honk again. Four more hooded figures join him in the middle of the road. I don’t slow down. I slam my foot down on the pedal and urge the car faster. I’m not stopping for some hooded freaks with a death wish.
The man puts a hand out towards the car and the engine cuts. I slam the brakes but nothing happens because I’m not moving anymore. The sudden stop sends me rocketing forward. I smash into the windshield and keep going. Anger and guilt wash over me as I sail through the air. Wind whistles past my ears and I brace for the asphalt.
“I always win.”
At least I proved Isla wrong.
Fifty-Five
MARIS
