She dipped her head. “Just so. They become one in every way.”
“But—but—” My head spun. “But you said they could draw upon the power of witches that were already dead, as long as they were related by blood. How does it work if they’re already dead?”
“If they are already dead, fate will correct this unbalance by draining your life each time you use their power, until you’ve finally joined them in the afterlife.”
My jaw dropped. “Were these Avos witches nuts? Either one of the sisters trips down the stairs one day and they all drop dead? Or they use great-great-granny’s power until it kills one of them... and they still all die!”
She held me with a steady gaze. “Death is a natural part of life, human. It would’ve come for all the members of the coven either way, but at least if they were all bound by blood magic... they’d die after a life wielding limitless power.”
I fell quiet. Despite myself, I could see what she was saying. Would you rather die rich or in poverty? Would you rather die alone or surrounded by family and friends? Would you rather die after a lifetime filled with achievements? Or be cut down before ever having truly lived at all? Either way, you would still die, but there was no point pretending that some lives weren’t better lived than others, and there were plenty of people that would happily trade a long lifespan for the power to make deadly supernatural creatures run scared.
“Sabrina... was it the Avos coven that banished all the supernatural creatures to hell and closed the gates?”
“That is what the vampires say, human, yes.”
“But what’s the point?” I cried, brows crumpling. “The demons who kidnapped Dora were the first to die, and there’s no way that’s a coincidence. Whoever is behind taking Dora must be behind these murders, but why use the mark of a coven that was an enemy over three hundred years ago? Why kill those vampires specifically? Did they know something? Were they involved?
“And if they are trying to frame me? Why aren’t they doing it?” I burst out. “Why aren’t they leaving evidence that points to me at the scene? Why aren’t they making sure I don’t have an alibi at the times of the murders?” A thought seized me, bolting me upright. “Sabrina, what if this isn’t about me at all! What if this is all—the murders, the victims, the Avos coven—is about Dora? What if that’s why they took her in the first place?”
She hung off my neck, twisting her body around to look me in the face. “I don’t deny that their motives could be many, but it is difficult to believe you have no purpose in these events. After all, they did not start until after you arrived.”
“That’s true,” I muttered, tapping my knuckle against my lips. “That’s very true. So... does this mean... they need us both? That’s why they haven’t touched me even though they know I’m here. That’s why they—”
The events of the last few days tumbled through my head. The eyes that have always been on me. The whispers that have always been following. The hands that keep reaching out to me, offering help in a world that knew nothing of kindness, generosity, or cooperation.
“That’s why they’ve been here the whole time,” I rasped. “Right by my side. Watching my every move.”
AN HOUR LATER, A FRAZZLED, nervous mess stumbled into my next class,Haven’t Fucking Decided Yet.A name that was soapt at the moment, because my jumbled brain hadn’t decided a single thing either.
I thought I was being so clever and tough, tricking Lucifer himself into helping me bust into hell, but what if that’s what Dora’s kidnapper wanted all along?
If it was,another voice whispered in my mind,then it would explain a lot. Professor Radu said that with the gates closed, demons could only return to the mortal world while under a mortal’s control. That can only mean that it was a MORTAL who summoned the demons that took Dora. And why couldn’t that mortal be—
“A witch.”
Bang!
The door slammed the opposite wall, letting in a fresh tide of students. It jolted me into picking up my feet and finding a seat.
The lecture hall was much the same as all the others, laid out like an auditorium. I claimed a seat near the front and took out my notebook and pencils—just in case.
The last couple classes had consisted of the entire class goofing off, messing on their phones, and picking fights while Professor Somnus lay flat out across the desk, snoring loudly and clutching a near-empty bottle of booze.
Sighing, I shook my head at the drunken lout once again passed out on his desk. The worst part was that Professor Somnus seemed to be a red panda demon. So as much as he annoyed me for wasting my time, I couldn’t help but look at his little button nose and red-and-white furry sleeping face and think... he was kind of adorable.
But I’m not spending another hour and a half watching him sleep today.
I just couldn’t. Things were getting weirder and weirder by the day, and I was still no closer to finding Dora. Sabrina heard a lot of angry, vengeful talk about the psycho murderer who mostlikely had my sister in their clutches, but she didn’t see or hear anything about Dora herself.
She said she tried to do a search of the vampire wing, but every single door except the exit and the murder room were closed to her, and every single eye followed her through the hall.
There was just no such thing as spying on creatures who had ten times better night vision than they did day.
“Which leaves me with very little options,” I muttered, jiggling my legs under the table.
Things were getting too dangerous. Ten people had already been murdered. I was ninety-nine percent sure I was playing right into the hands of the killer-kidnapper. I still didn’t have a clue where Dora was, or why she was taken. And friends and foes were all starting to blur together, making me more paranoid by the minute.
I can’t go on like this. I need more information. I need to talk to the people who know the truth, not the lies and propaganda. I need—
