Octavia starts to walk back towards me slowly.
I clench the necklace tightly in my hand, my blood still dripping. I clench my teeth as I hold Carter’s lifeless body to mine, and I don’t dare look away from Octavia.
“You thought you could fool me?!” She spits her words at me.
Adonis and Dax appear behind Octavia. She doesn’t even turn around. She snaps her fingers, and the two of them fall to their knees, holding their heads in agony.
Killian charges Octavia. Before he can touch her, she lifts him off the ground. His body thrashes in the air as he tries to remove the invisible force that holds his throat.
“STOP!” I scream. She is killing them.
She squeezes his neck so hard that it cracks and moves at an unnatural angle.
Killian now hangs limp.
“KILLIAN! KILLIAN!” I scream. Anger boils within me. I feel a strange feeling start to drain from my body. A warmth that always surrounds my heart starts to fizzle.
It’s my bond to Killian.
“KILLIAN!” I scream one more time, but he doesn’t move.
Octavia throws her head back, laughing. “SO dramatic. I love it!”
Adonis tries to get to me but can’t enter the circle. “Dani!” He screams, tears streaming down his face.
Octavia drops Killian with a loud thud. He lays there unmoving.
“NO!” Dax screams as he runs to Killian. He hovers over his unmoving body and tries to heal him, but Octavia binds Dax’s feet and hands with black inky vines covered in thorns.
“You’ll fucking pay for that!” Adonis threatens.
I can feel my bond with Killian weaken as he lays there lifeless.
“Killian! Killian, get up!” I cry out.
I can’t lose Killian too. I will die if he dies.
“YOU!” Octavia exclaims, her voice sharp and commanding as she points her slender finger at Adonis.
From the depths of her dark aura, malevolent black thorn vines surge forth, writhing and twisting like serpents. They slither around Adonis’ body with chilling precision, their wicked barbs biting into his skin as they collide tightly, binding him in a vice-like grip—the vines, beaming with an eerie sheen, pulse with Octavia's dark magic.
Carter died protecting me. He sacrificed his own life, so I wouldn’t have to sacrifice mine… A life for a life.
When you are most vulnerable…Suzanna’s voice resonates in my mind.
The words hit me like a ton of bricks.
Carter is dead. Killian is dead, or at least about to be. My mates are dying.
I am more vulnerable than I’ve ever been.
I begin the spell again, this time infusing each word with more profound emotion, letting it resonate in the very core of my being. Clutching the delicate necklace and Carter’s lifeless body, I close my eyes. I tilt my head upwards towards the vast expanse of the sky, allowing the world around me to fade away. I immerse myself fully in the rhythm of the chant as it weaves through the air like a fragile melody.
Demons weep and hearts entwined,
Release the love that witch confined,
From this gem, let love flee,
