“No,” she says. Her voice is barely more than a trembling breath. “You’re…You should be…You were…”
“Dead?” I offer.
Keeping myself between the women and the door, I push forward until they’re both standing in their cramped, hideous living room. From the corner of the room, a pair of guppies stare at me with blank black eyes.
“Unfortunately, little witch, I am more difficult to kill than that.”
“Grace, what is he talking about?” Tessa demands. For the first time, she looks away from me and the owner lying prone behind me, to stare at Grace. “He’s lying, right?”
“Call 911,” is Grace’s only response. She’s trembling, near vibrating, but her blue eyes remain locked on mine. “He’sdangerous, Tessa.”
“Rich words from a murderer,” I say. Before Tessa can move, I wrap a hand around her throat, keeping her in place. I’m squeezing hard enough that her breath catches.
“It was self-defense,” Grace stutters. Her lip wobbles,and the tears start falling. She looks from me to her friend, to the unconscious man behind me. “Just let Tessa go. She has nothing to do with this. Neither does he.”
I tsk at her, squeezing Tessa’s throat again. Her hands clasp over my wrist, nails digging hard enough to draw blood.
“You don’t even know who this man is,” I say. “He could very well deserve it.”
“Not if you’re involved,” Grace says. “Just…Please, Sebastian. Don’t hurt them to punish me.”
“Ahh, so you agree you deserve to be punished?” I ask.
I tug Tessa into me, flattening her back to my chest. She’s fallen perfectly still, except for her pulse jumping against my palm.
“I’m sorry,” Grace says. She’s talking to Tessa, not me, tears dripping to her chin. “I didn’t—it was self-defense. And I didn’t know…I couldn’t…I panicked, Tessa. I don’t even know what happened?—”
“Sure you do,” I say, cutting her off. “You used your nasty little witch magic on me, tried to split me right in half. Then you waltzed home, acted like everything was fine, and pretended it never happened. Isn’t that right?”
Grace doesn’t respond. She won’t even look at me, and it sends a stab of irritation through my gut. Even now, with her life at stake, with her friend in peril, she’s not cowering like she should. I’m not sure she’s listening to a single word I say, so I’m startled when her hard blue eyes flick to mine.
“Let my friend go, right now, or I’ll finish what I started,” she snaps. The first time I saw her eyes, I thought they made her look delicate. Like a flower, like an innocent. Now, they’re the startling blue at the base of a flame, beautiful but dangerous.
“You so much as lift a finger, and I’ll snap her neck,” Isay. My voice flows easy, like unraveled velvet. Despite the tears on Tessa’s face and the terrified fury of Grace’s expression, I feel calmer than I have in days.Thisis where I thrive, where my mind operates best. “I’ll snap her neck, rip your landlord to shreds, and drag you to the Echo with those pesky hands tied behind your back.”
Tessa lets out a quiet sob. Her body shudders against mine, and once the trembling starts, it radiates through her every breath. She’s sobbing within seconds, and the unbreakable bad-ass persona she’s created shatters in my hands.
Fucking humans. They’re all the same once threatened. They cower and crumble and fall to pieces at the first sign of a threat.
“You know my father,” Grace says.
“I did.”
“Is he dead?”
“Yes.”
Grace doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t look to Tessa for help. She doesn’t even glance at the unconscious man in her kitchen. She only glares at me, hands tightened into fists.
“What are you going to do to me?” she asks. “If I go with you, what’s going to happen?”
Notif, butwhen, I want to correct. I don’t let myself speak that out loud. Grace is coming with me, tonight, but it will undoubtedly be easier if she comes willingly.
“As I said, I need your help.” I step closer, dragging Tessa with me, until I’m close enough to Grace, I could grab her. “You won’t be harmed. And once you’re done, you’ll be set free.”
“If only you were fae,” she whispers. “I might believe you.”
She throws both hands toward me, palms out, fingersbent. I clench, tightening my hand over Tessa’s throat. There’s a heavy beat, a pause, where none of us breathe.
