Sylvia jumped back instantly, putting a few inches of space between her and Nina, but it was too late—Vikrant and the man who trailed behind him had clearly caught her moment of vulnerability. The man was Vikrant’s carbon copy, give or take thirty years—his father, she assumed. Both men fixed her with a familiar sneer. The same sneer Sylvia’s parents had given her when she dared to interrupt their TV show to ask for something so wild as being fed, the same way everyone at school had looked at her when she came in with hand-me-down clothes or matted hair.
She hated them. Hated the disgust in their eyes.
She’d just have to wipe that look right off their faces.
She didn’t know how, but she had a power they feared. And, she was fairly certain, envied. She had abilities they couldn’t even dream of having, with none of their limitations. And she had nothing to lose.
“So,” she said. “How do I get into this joint?”
Present Day
Sylvia opened her eyes, snapping back to her apartment.
She wasn’t that girl anymore, in so many ways. She had settled—not only her magic, but her life. She had roots now. A home she had poured her heart into perfecting. A coven she had poured her energy into building. People she had poured her soul into helping.
She had the life she’d always wanted. She’d fought her way up a ladder that people kept trying to throw her off of, and she’d made it to the top. She’d proven herself smart, capable, and strong over and over and over again. People relied on her. People respected her.
She was terrified of losing all that hard work, of plummeting back into the ditch she’d dragged herself out of all those years ago. She was terrified of losing her coven, of never again getting to stand up on the stage before them and see their faces staring up at her, telling her she was worthy. And she was terrified of losing Katherine, of never getting to hear her laugh and know that she was the one who made it possible for Katherine to smile again.
If people found out she’d played any part in Lily’s death, her past, present, and future were gone.
Her power started to burn again, the tornado of emotions swirling into a ball of sparks in front of her. She tried to yank at it, but it pulled out of her grasp, slamming into her chest. She coughed as the breath was knocked out of her, bending over as her body was racked with pain.
Finally, she found the air to let out a low groan. She opened her eyes to see the mess she’d made of her living room—carefully placed knickknacks blown off shelves, her rug burned, her coffee table pulverized to ash.
She needed to get this power under control. Quickly.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Katherine was coming up blank.
Hollywood and Highland was now a tangle of police tape and blockades, but Katherine hadn’t even needed magic to get inside. She’d just had to join the gaggle of tourists who had managed to create their own liminal space, slipping through cracks and crevices until they were in the center of the action. The place had been sanitized from the night before, the bodies removed, but the stench of blood still lingered in the air. She wondered if the tourists could smell it over the pounds of perfume and cologne clinging to them. Wondered if they could hear the echo of screams over the clicks of their cameras.
It was all too familiar. All too close to the aftermath of her own snap. She’d rewatched the news coverage in a moment of weakness years earlier and had become so depressed she couldn’t get out of bed for a week. Fiona and Sylvia had needed to come to her apartment and force her to eat.
This shouldn’t have to happen. Not to her, not to Lily, not to anyone. The rage of it spewed up, and Katherine gripped her hand tight on the railing of the second-floor overlook, her knuckles going white.
This was useless. If there was any evidence of Sylvia or Lily being here, it was long gone. Katherine had been searching for loose ends for an hour and had found nothing, the place combed clean by the cops who were around every corner. Katherine’s heart skipped several beats every time she saw one, the baseball cap that covered the top half of herface not providing anywhere near enough of a disguise to satiate her anxiety.
Katherine stormed over to the staircase, ripping the door open and rubbing her fingers against her temples as she started her descent. Lack of sleep, too much magic use, and the general emotional devastation of the last twelve hours had given her a massive headache, and at this point, the only valuable thing she could do for Aestas was go home and get some rest before she garroted a tourist.
Thankfully, there were noI LOVE LAT-shirt-clad idiots in the stairwell—they were all waiting hours for the one working elevator rather than taking two minutes to find the steps—so Katherine made it to the bottom unmolested. She reached for the door and opened it, letting out a sigh of relief—
That was cut off when she looked up.
Silas Khatri was on the other side of the door, wearing yet another perfectly fitted suit and yet another knowing smile. He leaned against the frame casually, his eyes locking on hers as his eyebrows knitted together. He ran a hand through his thick hair, disheveling it even further in that way that looked unstyled while actually requiring a pound of gel.
Except she’d bet his did just lie like that.
“Hello, Katherine.”
“Silas.” Katherine didn’t smile back, and that made him grin wider, his dimples begging her to respond in kind. She resisted as he entered the stairwell, letting the door click shut behind him. The landing, which had seemed to be a perfectly fine size before, now felt minuscule. Katherine could feel the warmth radiating off Silas’ large body. Could count the flecks of copper in his eyes. Could see him backing up as he clocked her obvious discomfort, giving her as much room as possible in the tight space.
She wished he’d stay consistent in his assholery. It would make her life easier.
His smile turned into a smirk as he slipped his hands into his pockets. “I was beginning to wonder if this had nothing to do with magic after all, but then lo and behold, I see you here.”
Silas’ tone was even, with no hint of a threat behind it, but there wasno other way to read that statement. If he thought Aestas had anything to do with what happened here, they’d be screwed. She needed to get him off this road, and fast.
