They had children. They had grandchildren.
And they were so lost to their own corruption that they didn’t care what their choices meant for them. There was no love to be found in this place, no warmth to be felt.
Only cold, cruel selfishness.
Willow raised a hand, touching a single finger to the front of Itan’s throat. One of the vines followed, wrapping around his neck and squeezing as he glared up at her in brutal defiance. He gasped for breath, struggling against the binds that held him tightly secured.
The vindictiveness in my blood was bad karmic energy, and I knew it, but there was no stopping the glee I felt at watching him struggle to breathe the same way I had.
“Willow!” Iban protested, coming to stand closer to Willow. Lucifer moved into his way a moment after, blocking his path and forcing him to keep his distance as his uncle sputtered for breath under Willow’s control. As the twenty-year-old witch reminded her elders what power could be gleaned from maintaining the balance of our magic, from returning to the way we were always meant to be.
Willow leaned in close enough that her face filled Itan’s vision, making sure it was all he could see. I knew the way his vision narrowed in, the edges of his sight going fuzzy as he fought for breath and oxygen left him. I was all too familiar with that struggle and the way it made a victim focus in on the very last thing they wanted to see.
“Tell your nephew what you did toher,” Willow said with a sneer. She left my name out of it, but I couldn’t help the shocked gasp that flew from my mouth. Even though I’d known it was coming, even though I’d thought I was prepared,nothingcould prepare me for the moment of reckoning that I’d waited years for.
Willow met my stare, and I watched as Iban followed her gaze right to me. The rest of the Coven hadn’t caught on yet, but his mouth dropped open as his brow furrowed, a question in thatstare that made me raise my chin even as my bottom lip quivered with my panting breath.
Willow raised her hand, motioning as the vines wound between Itan’s legs and put pressure on the part of him that he’d used for violence against me. It had been a weapon to be wielded against me.
Now it was his weakness.
“Uncle,” Iban said, but the caution in his voice was heartbreaking. I knew Iban well, had grown up alongside him and knew that the bonds of family were everything to him. He would spend the rest of his days haunted by the reality of what his family member was capable of.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment, releasing that breath and letting go of all my fear. My breath shook as I took the first step, my legs trembling as I made my way through the crowd to put myself in the center circle. I stepped up beside Willow, lacing my fingers through hers and offering her my presence. My grip trembled as she squeezed me back, offering a silent reassurance.
I could practically hear her voice in my head when she turned her stare to mine, that same pride I’d seen on Lucifer’s face when He looked at her now reflected back at me.
“Enough,” I muttered. Willow heeded my request immediately, offering me the power that had been stripped from me for so long without a moment of hesitation. She released the vine from his throat, and I watched him collapse to his chest on the tile. His face smacked against the floor when he couldn’t catch himself, his lip splitting beneath the force.
“Margot, thank you,” he wheezed, the hoarse sound of his voice barely reaching us even though we stood before him.
The last time he was this close to me, he’d violated me. He’d taken so much from me that I would havenevergiven him willingly.
He would never take from me again.
I took a step forward, pressing the toe of my heel to the top of his hand. I ground it down, drawing a scream from his throat as my eyes warmed with the sting of tears that I felt through my glare. “I did not stop her for your sake,” I said, squatting down in front of him carefully. I used all the training I’d been forced to undergo at that moment, keeping my mother and my aunt’s teachings at the forefront of my mind.
Beauty and grace, always. Even in our darkest moments.
I tucked my dress beneath my knees. “I want to hear you say it,” I said.
“Say what?” he sputtered, whimpering when I twisted my foot to cause him more pain.
“Tell them what you did to me,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. I felt the moisture of tears filling my eyes, but I never allowed them to fall. My entire world narrowed down to Itan’s pained face. The only thing penetrating my haze of rage was the presence of a winged archdemon stepping forward.
Lucifer waved him off, but I did not miss the fury written into his face, his body tense and ready for the kill. He froze in place when I ground my foot down harder. I barely managed not to reach out and grasp him by the throat, not to let my power sink into his skin and compel him to give me the confession I wanted.
In the distant haze, I knew his defenders would use that to say I had forced a false confession from him. They’d use my magic against me, blame me for the actions I never deserved.
He groaned as Willow twisted her hand, allowing her vines to wind their way beneath his body and the hem of his shirt, touching the waistband of his pants in a silent threat. It was enough to make him startle, jumping in place as if he could stop it. “I snuck into your room at night,” he said suddenly, but still kept his words purposefully vague.
“And did what?” I asked, standing and taking a step back from him. Willow used her vines to force him up from the floor, putting him back onto his knees.
“Touched you.”
“No,” I spat, leaning into his face. Whatever had existed within me that was quiet and kept to myself was gone for the moment, my actions driven by my rage that it had takenyearsfor this moment to come to pass and he still thought to downplay what he had done to me. “You didn’ttouchme. You raped me. Say the word.”
“You little bitch—”
