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It was like she had never been trapped at all, watching as chaos unfolded in the near-darkness.
My heart seemed to stop altogether, and I had no idea what to do next. She escaped and couldn’t be pinned down again, and my fellow sisters were too distracted by the attacking shadows to begin the exorcism.
I watched the shifters move in, remembering themselves after enough witches screamed in terror and pain.
The shadows were everywhere, darting back and forth and looking for anyone to take their wrath out on.
To my left, Finn hoisted a shadow into the air, muscles tense from the exertion, and he threw it into another that was after a witch. They collided and continued to roll until they broke down into nothing but black vapor.
They were strong and intimidating, but they were still only shadows under Keres’ control.
Many of the witches huddled together as they tried to keep away from the beasts, who snapped and growled at them like they were nothing but defenseless rabbits trapped in a den.
Grabbing one of the candles that went out, I stepped in front of them and waved the flame, sparking it with a blast of my power.
The shadow recoiled from the light, tearing away before it ran into another, and they dissipated.
Sucking in reassuring breaths, I stood in front of my coven sisters and did my best to keep them safe.
But there were so many wolves, and many of the shifters were preoccupied. The mess of bodies and shadows was hard enough to keep track of, but trying to find Keres was nearly impossible in the panic.
She could teleport, snapping back and forth as she needed.
Even if she was freed, I needed to find her and stop her antics once and for all.
But I didn’t know how.
My heart raced at the chaos of being in the dark when it came to her weaknesses. Aside from ancient scripture and chanting, she didn’t have any in my mind.
As far as I could tell, she was a force to be reckoned with, and I was in way over my head.
The witches behind me were too afraid and startled by the shadows to do as I did, and only one woman holding a candle wasn’t enough to protect them all. From the opposite side, they crept closer, eyes narrowed and pinned on them.
Watching as one of the wolves moved to my left, my attention was pulled away long enough not to notice the subtle gust of wind on my other side.
The candle was snuffed out as Keres stood before me, grey skin appearing even darker at nightfall. Those soulless pits she had for eyes burned into me, and that devious smirk was long gone.
The demon was angry, and she wanted vengeance.
“While I will credit you for trying, your attempt at trapping me was useless,” she hissed, bringing a frigid sensation through my body just from gazing at me. “Death is inevitable, and I don’t mind accelerating the process.”
Frozen in my place, my eyes widened once her hands went around my throat as she dug her bony fingers into my windpipe. I tried to kick and move away from her, but she was like a wall of unwavering, brutal strength.
Keres’ black eyes flared with hatred, and her hair moved around her like it had a mind of its own. “You truly thought you could beat me? That you could stop my plans and put an end to me? ME?!”
As she screamed at me with that booming, shrill voice, my airflow was so severely restricted that my eyes began to blur. I sputtered and struggled, but it was no use.
“I can’t kill you directly, witch. But I can hold you long enough for one of those beasts to tear you apart!”
Her voice reverberated against the walls of my mind as I felt the grip I had on my consciousness begin to slip.
Faintly, I heard a low growl from behind me, and I knew one of the shadow wolves was there. Ready and stalking, it would waste no time tearing me apart.
I could only hope I was unconscious before that happened.
My limbs began to tingle, and it felt like my head was about to explode.
At that moment, I thought about Rowan and hoped he was all right. I couldn’t see him, not while the air was being choked out of me.
