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Thick roots slithered along the floor, aiming for my feet. I hopped away as I slashed and chopped, hoping to stop them by cutting them down. Vines stretched toward me from potted plants, and my hops became a dance as I twirled back toward Octavia.
I needed to cut the head off this snake.
Tears streamed down Kit’s face as a steady stream of stones battered Thane. “I’m sorry. I can’t stop her.”
Gritting his teeth, Thane deflected each rock with his blade or arm. Suddenly, the shiny black scales protecting his body retracted into his skin, rendering him vulnerable to attack—physical and magical.
Somehow sensing the vulnerability, thorny branches lashed out. They encircled his ankles, winding their way up his legs and body and digging into his skin. He slashed down with his scythe, separating vines from their roots.
The plants squealed in agony, their inhumane screams sending chills down my back. But they kept growing, wrapping themselves around his arms and throat before he could sever their hold. Blood dripped down the rope-like vines as their thorns dug deeper into his skin.
Thane struggled against the tight hold, grimacing as the spellbound plants raised him into the air.
As I chopped up another root and closed within knife-striking distance, Octavia let out a dark chuckle. “Checkmate. Surrender, or watch him die.”
Unlike my worst nightmare, this was real life. This was actually happening in front of me.
Except this witch still didn’t know who she was dealing with.
I spread my wings farther, the hungry flames licking the nearest vines and roots until they squealed and recoiled. “Dazhbog, the god of the sun and creator of my kind, entrusted me with a sacred duty. Consider this a warning that messing with me will have divine consequences for you.”
She lifted her chin and smirked. “Your gods have no power in this realm.”
“That’s not entirely true.” I never would have survived this long if they didn’t have power here. I smiled in a way that made people nervous—Octavia included. “Are you working with Colin Ó Broin? Is that what this is about?”
“That pathetic fae necromancer?” she sneered. “I couldn’t care less about what he’s planning. Like the rest of you, he’s a fool.”
Bummer. I had hoped we could ruin some grand part of his plan by taking her down.
“Fool or not, if you kill my flame’s chosen mate, I will raze this greenhouse to the ground,” I said plainly, “with all of us inside.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Doing so would kill the woman you claim is your best friend.”
Behind Octavia, I gazed at Kit, and my smile faltered. “To stop you? Yes, I would.”
With tears streaming down her cheeks, my best friend closed her eyes and nodded, a sad smile on her lips.
Octavia chuckled, and malice glinted in her eyes. “I highly doubt that.”
The vines squeezed tighter around Thane, the thorns digging deeper into his skin. He groaned in pain. “Do it, Veronica.”
Like I would actually kill him or Kit. He should know me better by now. Tony wasn’t the only one who had more than one trick up his sleeve, and she’d called my bluff.
Time to bring out the big guns.
I took a deep breath and called forth my ancestral magic, that extra fire burning deep within me. The voices of my mother and grandmothers, going back generations, swirled around me. Their flames united with mine as their souls rose from a deep slumber, ready to strike our enemy down.
When I was about to burst from the amount of energy coursing through my veins and limbs, I opened my mouth and released the falcon screech, pouring everything I had into it. Visible sound waves pulsed outward from my body and drove through anything standing in their path.
Tables overturned, pots shattered and flew in all directions. The glass panes of the greenhouse exploded outward, raining glass over the surrounding yard.
Octavia stood her ground, forming a wind shield around herself. But the plants clutching Thane lost their hold as the force of my screech ripped them away from their pots. He dropped to the ground, collapsing in a heap.
As my screech’s last pulse faded, Lena and Ivan leaped through the windows’ broken glass and moved in front of Thane and me, ready to defend us against the witches’ magic. A fire wall erupted around Ivan and Thane, and he knelt to check on my mate.
Thane’s chest rose and fell, but I couldn’t tell how deep his wounds were.
Another wall of fire soared in front of Lena and me as ice spears pierced the flames and melted.
