Watching Anisha hardened our resolve to escape because we knew what would happen to our minds and bodies if we didn’t.
After the night Harvey escaped, things only got worse. The prisoners were no longer treated as living beings, but as playthings for the coven.
What happened to Anisha and the others was something I wanted to take to my grave. Harvey already has enough guilt about his escape. I didn’t want to add to it.
But with this thing standing before us, the secret is out.
Anisha suddenly drops to her knees, screaming my name with such raw agony that the sting in my throat becomes unbearable.
This isn’t her. I don’t know what Visha did, but this is not Anisha.
She sags forward, palms slapping the ground, breath ragged… and then I see it. My blood turns to ice when I see the skin on her chest stretch forward like something inside her is trying to claw its way out.
What have you done, Visha?
Her neck snaps sideways like she’s seeing things we can’t. She sniffs wildly, tracking something before straightening abruptly like an invisible string yanks her up.
Her dead eyes blink fast, then lock onto me… and soften. Tears slip down her slashed cheek as she pleads. “Nevaeh? E-everything hurts. Please… help me.”
Harvey jerks against my grip, but I don’t let him go. My heart is breaking just like this, but no matter how convincing she is, that’s not Anisha.
I was there when Visha tore her apart limb by limb.
Her sobs become harder to ignore, and my grip on Harvey turns bruising. He’s breaking in front of me, desperate to help someone he once knew, someone who understood and shared his pain, but I can’t let him through.
Harvey whips toward me, the anger in his eyes taking me by surprise. “She’s in pain, Nevaeh. Why won’t you help her?”
“Help me, Harvey!” Anisha screams over him.
I grab his shoulders and force him to look at me. “That’s not Anisha! She’s dead, Harvey. I saw her die. This is just another one of Visha’s mind games.”
If Visha thinks she can manipulate me with the dead pieces of my past, she’s sorely mistaken. I won’t fall for her trap.
When Anisha realizes Harvey won’t be coming to save her after all, the softness in her eyes hardens into something sinister. Her body jerks and snaps like every bone in her body is breaking, her wails dissolving into deranged cackles.
I don’t even have time to brace before she charges at me with a speed that someone as battered as her shouldn’t possess. The dome slams her back with brutal force, and for a second, I think it might keep her down long enough for us to run, but Anisha pulls herself up straightaway.
Her shoulder juts at an odd angle, her forehead caved on one side like it’s hollow. I have to look away when she slams her head into the barrier again with a loud cry.
Hazel shifts left, trying to cause a distraction so we can find a way out, but in an instant, a replica of Anisha is in front of her, clawing at the barrier. When Hazel stumbles back, the replica fades away.
Anisha’s body starts vibrating dangerously, her limbs twitching in a way I know all too well, and it finally dawns on me why she wants her trapped here.
Visha has overloaded her with more dark magic than any vessel is capable of holding. Anisha’s body is already broken, not even remotely strong enough to contain that kind of power.She’s about to explode.
“Angel, drop the barrier. Let me out.”
“Not happening,” he snaps, without hesitation.
“No, you don’t get it.” I grip his chin and turn his face toward Anisha. “Angel, look at her closely. There’s enough dark magic in her to reduce everything to ashes formiles.” He averts his eyes, not wanting to see the bigger picture if it means letting me step out of his protective bubble. “Angel, think about the Griari empire. If I don’t stop her from blowing up, this willannihilatethem.”
“Wait, are you telling me Visha is trying to rewrite fate byerasingtheir existence?” Hazel takes a step back, appalled by the idea. “Anxo, we can’t be a part of that.”
But my mate doesn’t budge, not that I expected him to. His family is the only thing that comes before his duty, no matter the cost.
I step in front of him, forcing him to meet my eyes. “The Fates will punish us for not stopping it. They’ll erase yours and Harvey’s markings. Uncle Elijah will be forced to strip us of our Divine for disrespecting Fates. We’ll lose everything, Angel.” The tick in his jaw says he knows I’m right.
We might be symbols of doom, but we’ll face dire consequences for going against what the Sisters of Fate have already written. I won’t let Visha manipulate us into doing her bidding.
