Dead. Because of Julia. Because I didn’t stop this when I should have.
The truth winds me, and I fall to my knees, gripping the bed for support. IsawCharlotte wasting away. I saw the obsession in her eyes, the way she became thinner and paler and more desperate. I knew what Julia was doing to her, knew the feeding had gone too far.
And I didn’t do enough to stop it.
I told myself it was Charlotte’s choice. That she was willing. That Julia, my coven sister, would end the feedings before this happened.
But she didn’t, and now my sister—my brave, foolish sister—is dead.
Rage rises in me like a red tide, hot and terrible and all-consuming. My hands shake with fury. The air around me crackles with heat as my magic responds to my emotion, wild and uncontrolled.
Julia did this. Julia, who I’ve known for decades, whose hands I’ve held during countless coven circles. Julia, who I trusted to know her limits, to control her hunger.
Julia, who ran like a coward and left Charlotte’s corpse in her bed like discarded refuse.
I stand straight, my vision blurred. This cottage is filled with Julia’s books, her jars and herbs, her clothes folded neatly in a trunk, her dishes on the shelves. Evidence of a life of comfort and power while Charlotte withered away for her pleasure.
My fingers ignite.
The flames are red-gold at first, then white-hot as my rage feeds them. They leap from my hands to the bedsheets, and I watch with savage satisfaction as they catch and spread. Charlotte’s body will burn too, but at least she’ll have a pyre. At least there will be nothing left for Julia to come back to.
“You took everything from her,” I say to the empty room, my voice shaking. “So I’ll take everything from you.”
The fire spreads faster than natural flame could, racing up the walls and across the floor. It devours Julia’s furniture, clothing, and every trace of the life she built. The intense heat drives me back toward the door. Smoke billows thick and black, carrying the smell of burning wood and cloth and fragrant dried herbs.
I step outside and watch it burn. The flames roar up through the thatched roof, sending sparks into the night sky like angry stars. The windows shatter from the heat, glass exploding outward in glittering shards.
I back away. I must disappear before anyone connects me to this.
But first, I press my still-burning hand to my chest, letting the pain sear through me and brand this moment into my memory. “I will make you pay for this, Julia,” I whisper to the roaring flames. “I will not rest until you’ve suffered.”
The fire answers me with a crackling roar, as if sealing my oath.
I will have vengeance for Charlotte, and for every life Julia will ever destroy.
I turn and leave Julia’s cottage—now Charlotte’s funeral pyre—blazing behind me.
The night swallows me whole, but the rage in my heart burns as bright as the flames.
I slam back into my own body with a gasp, stumbling backward. Riley catches me before I fall.
I can still feel Julia’s hunger and taste Charlotte’s essence. I can still feel the agony in my heart from when Rebecca found her corpse.
Worse, Charlotte’s desperation is still there, dark and suffocating. Her hunger for magic, for freedom, for something beyond the cage she grew up in. Her willingness to die rather than go back to being powerless.
“I filled in the gaps with Charlotte’s diary,” Rebecca says, lowering her hands. The glow fades from her palms. “Now you know what Julia is.”
I cover my mouth, fighting nausea.
The way Charlotte begged her for that moment of ecstasy was too familiar. Just like I begged in the forest. Just like I spread my legs and offered her everything, knowing the dangers.
“M-Maybe it was an accident,” I say, my voice shaking.
“Maybe. But Charlotte died believing Julia loved her, and Julia ran. She disappeared for three years after that. Didn’t even stay to close Charlotte’seyes. When she finally returned, she never mentioned Charlotte’s name again. As if it hadn’t happened.”
My chest is tight. “Do you think she ever cared about Charlotte?”
“Does it matter? Whatever she felt, it wasn’t enough to stop her from draining her.”
