The witch’s fingers jerk. My head snaps back. My lips part. Biting into her wrist, Hannah opens her vein. Crimson wells up, dripping onto her pristine white dress.
She shoves her wrist against my mouth. Cold, bitter blood flows over my tongue. Too much. I try to close my throat, but Calista pinches my nose shut.
Held by magic, Fae compulsion, and my own terror, I swallow.
TWENTY-NINE
Gabriel
“We have to go. Right fucking now! She will not survive this!”
Kunchin and Maddox hold me down, but they are no match for my strength. Not when the woman I love is about to lose her soul.
I throw off the angel and yeti, but before I can take to the air, Sinclair punches me in the gut. Retching, I stumble back, pull Lucifer’s axe from my belt, and prepare to fight the first man on earth I thought could be..a friend.
“Put your goddamn wings away, angel,” Sin growls. “That vampire-fae abomination needs heralive.“ He turns to Mist. “How long until Willow is unable to fight the pull of Hannah’s blood?”
Mist shakes her head. “Not a fucking clue.”
“What? Youarea vampire, are you not?” I ask. Unbelievable. I am surrounded by idiots.
“Of course I am.” Fangs bared, she stalks closer to the edge of the cliff. “If Hannah were a normal, run-of-the-mill vampire—and if this were the first time she forced Willow to take her blood, she’d need to wait ten minutes to be absolutely certainWillow was in her thrall. But she’s part Fae. No vampire in history has been able to turn a Fae. I don’t think Hannah was made. She wasborna vampire. We don’t know if that makes her bloodmorepotent or less.“
Far below us, Hannah straightens and swipes her tongue over her wrist. Willow sways, head bowed, but somehow, remains upright.
“That’s not our only problem.” Killian turns away from the cliff. Rage pours off him in purple, green, and blue sparks. “If the witch is blood bound, she’ll do anything to protect her mistress. She won’t have a choice.“
“So? You are the greatest warlock of all time. At least if the name you programmed into my phone is to be believed,” Sinclair says.
“Ishouldbe.” Killian tugs at his hair. “But no witch alive should be able to exert that level of control over another with only her fingers. She is hundreds of years old. And I would wager she’s drawing on the vampire’s power. If she turns her magic on you—on any of you—fighting her will be impossible.”
With every minute that passes, I feel Willow slipping away. Once Hannah released her from the void, her pain and fear washed over me. But now…
“She cannot fight much longer.” I sink to my knees, the agony of her loss cracking my heart into pieces. “We have gone over this plan a hundred times. I can get the vampires past the wards. Sinclair and Maddox too if need be. But if we wait, I will have no choice but to go alone.“
Sin pulls his phone from his pocket and checks the screen. “Zoe and Grayson are in position. I do not like our odds, but…I suppose we have faced worse. Are you certain you do not want to call for Azrael?”
“He holds life and death in his hands. That is too great a power to risk. If I fall, he has vowed to see my soul—and Willow’s—to the afterlife. I will not ask him for more.”
Willow
A frigid peace settles over me. The world takes on a gentle glow. There’s no pain. No fear. I could stay in this place forever, I think.
Hannah crouches in front of me. “Willow? Are you ready to begin?”
Begin? Oh, right. I’m supposed to help her. Magic sings in my blood, begging to be set free. I can hear it. Taste it. Almost touch it.
Don’t listen to her!
What? No. I have to listen. Iwantto listen. I belong to Hannah now. She’ll take care of me. She promised.
“Answer me, Willow. Are you ready to wield the Blade?” Hannah’s cool fingers skim over my throat. A subtle vibration hums through the chain.
“Yes. I’m ready.”
A shadow moves behind her. My whisper. Why is she here? I don’t need her anymore. I have Hannah. I have the Blade.
But not Gabriel.
