Julia jerks back, shielding her eyes from the lights. “What manner of beast…”
“It’s a car!” I cry. “Like—a horseless carriage? Now would you please come back inside and—”
“Just what I need.” She raises both hands, and the sedan screeches to a halt as if hitting an invisible wall, its tires smoking against the asphalt. The engine roars in protest.
“No!” I change course back to her, slipping on the wet grass.
Dammit, why didn’t I tell her the car was a flaming hellhound that would kill us unless we turned around and went back inside?
Julia is panting, her breaths rasping as she forces the car to stay still. She takes labored steps closer, as if using magic is draining the life out of her.
With another sweep of her arm, the driver’s side window explodes in a shower of glass. The man inside cries out in fear.
No, no, no…
Julia reaches through the shattered window and hauls him out with a grunt of effort. His body hits the pavement hard.
Oh God, it’s Nick from three houses down! He looks younger suddenly, just a twentysomething college graduate who welcomed a daughter into the world last year.
A cold sweat breaks out beneath my hoodie. What have I unleashed?
“What the hell—” Nick’s words cut off as Julia’s hand closes around his throat.
“Julia, stop!” I slam into her and seize her cloak, afraid to touch her skin in case the contact unleashes whatever effect she seems to have on me.
She keeps squeezing, and before my eyes, her fingers blacken as if consumed by shadows. Her eyes, too, darken at the edges like bruises.
My throat constricts. I gulp down air, dizzy.
Though I pull hard, trying to pry her away, she doesn’t move. Nick’s eyes bulge and redden, his body convulsing.
Throwing caution aside, I claw at Julia’s arm. “Let him go!”
She shoves me back without looking. I stumble off-balance and fall, hitting the asphalt hard. Pain explodes in my hip, and the ground scrapes my palms.
I prop myself up, wheezing, my palms stinging. I can’t move, terror locking my muscles. What the hell am I supposed to do?
As she murmurs the incantation and her fingers and eyes darken, an energy I don’t understand fills the air. Her hair lifts, and her open cloak billows in the wind. Nick struggles, but she holds him easily by the throat.
A sick fascination freezes me in place. The way she stopped a car, shattered the glass, and pulled a grown man through the window… The sight of her standing before me with power radiating from her whole body… She’s as magnificent as she is terrible. How much power does she really have?
Then Nick makes an awful choking sound, jolting me back to reality. His body is going limp, and his eyes are bulging grotesquely.
I have to stop this.
I scramble back to my feet and throw myself at Julia again, grabbing her arm with both hands. “Feed on me instead!”
Julia releases Nick, who drops to the ground with a sickening thud, gasping and coughing.
She spins to face me, and I barely recognize her behind the feral look in her eyes.
My heart jumps as the offer hangs between us. For a moment, I want to take it back. But no. I meant what I said. I have the power to prevent this woman from killing people, and this is how I wield it.
Her brow furrows. “We established I can’t do that.”
“We established you can’tkillme. But as long as you don’t drain me completely, I can sustain you.”
As the implication registers, a cold sensation crashes through me. This is my worst nightmare. As if being bound to a witch wasn’t dangerous enough, now I’m offering to let her feed on my essence over and over, making myself so vulnerable that she could kill me if she goes too far.
