I don’t know why, but this place scares the living fuck out of me!
Aaron and his men force me through the door, dragging me down the hallway to the left. The glowing torches throw frightening shadows against the walls, as if they reflect people struggling in horrible pain. I tell myself I’m hallucinating from the concussion and keep my eyes on the floor.
When we reach the council chamber, all six of them are waiting, lined up on either side. Aaron drags me right to the end of the table, and all of them regard me with icy calm.
“Here she is,” Aaron declares. “Here’s the witch!”
“As promised,” Darla says. “You told us it was urgent, Aaron Hunter, and we thank you for bringing this threat to our attention.”
I can tell from Darla’s barely concealed glee that she is thoroughly enjoying what’s happening.
“We tracked her,” Aaron says. “Because we feared for the alpha. We believe bringing a human here wasn’t right, and it would weaken us, and none of us would back down until we had the evidence we needed to evict her. When we came upon them in the woods, we tried to parley, but Alpha Rhys went straight to defense.”
I want to speak, but a massive knot of fear is moving from my stomach to my throat.
Where is Cassie? Is she all right? What happens to her if I’m sentenced to death?
“We attempted to talk with him, but unfortunately, he was angry, and it wasn’t possible to talk sense into him.”
My swimming thoughts move to Rhys and the brutal fight. It occurs to me that he didn’t shift during it, and maybe he isn’t able to.
Are his healing powers working? I just left him in the damn woods! I don’t even know if he’s okay!
A new kind of fear slowly fills me, overtaking the worry for myself.
The two people I love most in the world could be in danger. I don’t care what happens to me, so long as they’re okay.
Above all, the one image I can’t get out of my mind is the betrayal and hurt on Rhys’s face when he realized I lied to him.
“Then, the witch came out,” Aaron’s voice cuts through the fog of thoughts, painfully bringing me back to reality. “We thought she was only human, but she attacked us with supernatural powers. These wounds on us were made by her as she called on the dark arts to murder us when all we wanted was a peaceful talk.”
“That’s not true!” I cry, almost sobbing. “They jumped Rhys, and I thought they were going to kill him. They definitely wanted to kill me. Rhys tried to talk, but they just attacked. I had no choice but to—”
I cut off suddenly, and Aaron looks at me, smirking.
“To do what?” he asks.
I look down at the floor, my head falling against my chest. “To use my powers,” I whisper.
“See, she admits it!” Aaron yells. “She just confessed.”
“Sadie,” someone says, their voice full of compassion. I look up to see Neville looking at me. “Is this true?”
I nod, imploring him. “Yes, it’s true, but I only wanted to protect Rhys. They attacked him—”
“We would never attack an alpha,” Aaron says, shaking his head. “You’re a liar. You lied to us from the start. You’ve always been a witch, and you pretended to be human to infiltrate us and take us apart from within.”
“No,” I mutter, shaking my head. “No.”
“You’re the cause of the sickness,” he hisses. “You are killing us.”
My heart falls, and I can’t think of a single thing to say. I read in the history books that witches were often stoned to death, and I have a sudden, very vivid image of my future,standing outside in the stone courtyard while the others hurl stones at me.
So long as Cassie is safe. That’s all that matters. What will they do to her?
“Wait.”
The voice echoes through the room, a command that cannot be disobeyed. All of us look towards the door in shock to see Rhys walking towards us.
