If I knew where that voice was coming from, I’d kick its ass.
“I don’t! Not anymore!”
My whisper gets right in my face, but Hannah cackles. The chain brands my skin. A swirling vortex of pain and nothingness reaches for me, so close I can almost touch it.
A silent scream bursts from my whisper’s lips. Her body writhes in pain, limbs flailing, and she starts to fade away.
“No! Stop! You’re killing her!” I try to release the Blade, but my fingers aren’t mine to control.
One step.
Two.
My arm swings over my head. The void tugs at my soul, threatening to rip it from my body the moment I send Kàra’s power into Hannah.
“Willow!” Gabriel’s shout shakes the entire building. Chunks of stone sheer off the walls, each one larger than the last.
How? He…died. I saw him—felt him—die.
But he sits up, his shirt soaked with his blood, and a look of murderous rage in his molten amber eyes.
Hannah throws Kàra with all of her strength. The vampire screams. Her body slams into Maddox in mid-air, and the two of them go down together.
My angel roars as he staggers to his feet. His wings unfurl, perfect and strong and the most brilliant white, and his entire body glows with power.
He’s so beautiful. Alive. Confident. And mine.
“This isn’t possible.” Hannah beats her own wings, rising into the air. Gabriel matches her position. Power crackles between them, sparking like lightning.
My whisper screams again, only this time, I canhearit.
Hannah and Gabriel grapple. My angel lands a punch to the woman’s stomach. But she darts around him and tries to sink her teeth into his neck.
She’s distracted. This is my chance to end it all.
I spin the Blade and drive it toward my heart. A hair’s breadth from my chest, it stops.Istop. Hannah’s voice booms in my head.
“Your life belongs to me, Whisper Keeper. Only I can take it.”
“No!” I try again and again, but an invisible barrier stops me—impact singing up my arms—every time.
I can barely see through my tears. Hannah and Gabriel are still battling, disappearing and reappearing in mid-air. Hannahhas all his power and more, but I can feel my angel’s love strengthening him.
“We made the wrong choice.”
“Use it.”
“Use her!”
The voices from the void roar in my ears.
Use…her? I meet my whisper’s gaze.She’sthe one who’s been usingme.She’s in so much pain, but she still staggers to her feet.
Hannah knocks Gabriel halfway across the building then turns her gaze on me. “Your whisper really does look just like you. And how sweet that she wants to protect you. Use the Blade, Willow. Take her power. Now.”
I lift the Blade over my head. My whisper pleads with me, the fear in her eyes shooting straight to my soul.
“Do it, Willow. Or Calista will shatter your ribs one by one,” Hannah says sweetly. Gabriel roars as he dives for her. He catches her around the waist and spins her away.
