Page 134 of The Immortal’s Mark

My heart leaps into my throat, and frustration chokes me.

With my powers bound, I’d be useless in a fight. I need to hide, but there’s nowhere to go.

The door slides open again. I whirl around and gasp. “Henry?”

The warlock steps out, disheveled, breathless, and with wild eyes.

“Darcie! Thank the Creator,” he pants and rushes towards me. “Come on. We have to get you somewhere safe.”

“Why?” I step toward him. “What’s happening?”

“Darcie! NO!” Gregory’s scream roots me in place.

My head whips up to the third floor, and I gasp as he throws himself from the window.

“Gregory!”

Henry lunges forward and grabs my arm. “Gotcha.”

A familiar sensation creeps up my skin. Cold. Wrong.

The world beneath my feet shudders, and the patio disintegrates.

Too late, I realize I should have pulled away.

Henry is pulling me into a rip.

Air swirls around me. The trees blur into streaks of green. Darkness starts to swallow everything whole.

And just before the black curtain crashes down, my mother screams my name.

Then—

Nothing.

32

DARCIE

My face slams into a hard surface. Pain blooms across my cheekbone and nose. I hiss and blink through the sting as I shove myself upright.

I’m on a floor. Where did Henry take me?

Henry!

I whip around to find the warlock, immediately regretting the move when my head throbs.

I wince, but then my eyes widen.

Henry is pinned to the ground. Gregory straddles him, hunched low, his hand clenched around Henry’s throat. The vampire’s eyes are feral, and his lips pull back in a snarl.

“What are you doing?” I scramble to my feet and rush over, the world still tilting from hitting the floor. “Stop!”

Gregoy doesn’t listen. If anything, his grip tightens.

Henry’s eyes bulge.

“Gregory! You’re going to kill him.”