Powerful witches are hard to contain, and covens containthe power of more than one witch. I always knew strong covens posed a greater problem for the warlocks, but I never realized just how dangerous we were. None of us did. The other witches don’t know that they could easily overthrow the warlocks if they banded together, and the color drains from my face as the sudden deaths and unexplained disappearances begin to make sense.
“You’ve been…” I swallow and Kade’s lips quirk. “Gods, you’re despicable. How many Kade?” I step closer and he dares to step away from me. “How many have you killed, Kade?”
His head tilts and a weariness taints the darkness in his eyes. “Do you really want to know, Zara?” He tips his head further to the side. “Do you want me to count those among your coven in my tally?”
My chest tightens, and the fire burning through me steals the air from my lungs. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. All I see is my coven. The faces of Aleris, Ysolde, and the others flash in my mind, each memory a knife twisting deeper. I stagger back, my hands trembling at my sides.
“You’re a monster.”
Kade doesn’t flinch.
His expression doesn’t shift—not to deny, not to defend. Instead, he watches me, unmoved, as if bracing for the blow I might strike. The weight of everything between us feels heavier than any answer he could give, and the anger inside me builds like a gale.
“Do you want to know, Zara?” he asks softly, tilting his head as if studying me. “Because once you do, you can’t go back.”
I still and nod. “How much of my coven’s blood is on your hands?”
“Enough to keep my world safe.”
His confession drops between us like a stone into still water, rippling outward and filling the silence. I choke on the fury rising in my throat, but he turns away before I can respond, his voice cold and detached as he sighs.
“Hate me all you want, but don’t pretend we’re different,” he adds, softer this time, almost a whisper. “You’d have killed every warlock you could if you’d been given half a chance. You’re more terrifying than any witch I’ve ever met because you’re stronger than the rest of them. But strength comes with a cost, and sooner or later, you’ll pay it. Just like I have.”
The silence that follows is deafening, and for the first time, I can’t find the words to fight back. The quiet isn’t an empty void but a suffocating, oppressive force, pressing down on me with the weight of all the truths Kade has left unspoken. I can’t find a response because there isn’t one, not when he’s right, and especially not when the implications of his truth echo between us and are impossible to ignore.
