Page 101 of Quintus

Gabriella swiveled her head, catching sight of the priestess. Dressed in black leather, she deliberately and slowly stalked toward her. Focus, Gabby, she told herself. Her fingers probed left then to the right, deep into the cracks in the earth. A scream tore from her lungs as a cockroach scampered up her arm and into her hair. She furiously shook her head, until the insect flew onto the ground. She loathed insects but couldn’t stop searching until she found the potion.

“I always told your mother you’d be a disgrace to the coven. What kind of a witch is afraid of a little bug? You’re pathetic.” Lilitu stopped within ten feet of Gabriella, her eyes red with fury. She held up her palms, a cruel smirk crossing her face. “I want the bone. Maybe you need an incentive.”

Gabriella shifted to her far right, tears welling in her eyes as her fingertips slid over the glass. As she gripped it and withdrew her hand from the fissure, hundreds of cockroaches swarmed over her arm. Determined, she jerked her hand away, holding tight to the vial. The insects scampered out of the ground, covering her body. Gabriella struggled to stand but stumbled.

Lilitu laughed uncontrollably then without warning ceased, pausing as she honed in on Gabriella. “I want the bone. I know it’s here. I feel it.”

“It’s here all right,” she confirmed, itching to kill the bitch.

“No one’s going to stop me, not with the demon magick I have. You’re all so pathetically weak. You’re going to die tonight, so you make the decision. Give it to me now, and die swiftly. Or I’ll pry it from your dead hands. And then I kill the vampire and the wolf. What’s it going to be? Pick your poison, girl.”

“I’m going to pick my poison, drink it and then use it to destroy you.” Gabriella kicked off the roaches, and glared at the priestess. She lifted the vial and tossed the cork onto the ground. The putrid scent of the hellfire wafted into the air and she coughed back the vomit that rose in her throat. As she brought the rim to her lip, she caught sight of Quintus flashing next to a tomb nearly twenty feet away. The Alpha rolled onto the gravel, sick from materializing.

“Gabby, wait!” Quintus yelled.

“I love you,” she whispered, her eyes locked on his. She didn’t give him a chance to stop her as she tilted back the vial and opened her throat. Like acid, the caustic poison burned her mouth but she didn’t stop until the tube had been emptied. She tossed it aside as the last drop hit her tongue.

Gabriella lost control, her body possessed with the spirit of the first witch. Demonic fae energy twisted the spirit through her body. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. Radiant light speared from every pore of her body.

“Potions won’t hurt me…” Concern flashed across Lilitu’s face at the realization that the first bone was no longer present. She wore a shocked expression on her face. “What did you do?”

Gabriella seized, her body flattened against a mausoleum. Quintus flashed to her side, but as he went to touch her, he was blown back several steps. Hunter ran to him, restraining Quintus by his arm.

“Give her a minute,” Hunter told him.

“What! Did! You! Do?” Lilitu screamed.

“I don’t give a fuck. I’m getting her out of here,” Quintus insisted, ignoring the Alpha.

“You’re not going anywhere,” an eerie familiar voice echoed, stopping him cold.

Quintus whipped his head around and caught a glimpse of Mao gliding toward him. Her skin had begun to disintegrate. The stench of rotting flesh hung heavy in the air, flies buzzing around her torso.

“Quintus, darling. You cannot escape me.”

“What the actual fuck is that?” Hunter coughed and looked to Quintus. “Sorry bro, but that bitch is next. I know you loved Mao, but that isn’t her. That…I don’t know what that is but it’s going back to Hell.”

“You stay with Gabriella, I’ll go after Lilitu,” Quintus told him.

“No, I’ll go,” Hunter yelled to him. “Gabby needs you.”

“You’re not strong enough. There’s no way in hell you’re going to beat demon magick.”

Through a hazy tunnel, Gabriella watched them argue. Her mind spun with random words, but she couldn’t understand what they were saying. Helpless to stop him, Gabriella watched as Hunter tore off his shirt and began to shift. His mighty gray wolf growled and leapt onto Mao. Paralyzed, Gabriella surrendered to the tremendous power of the first witch and focused on Lilitu.

“I don’t know what you did, you little bitch, but I’m going to kill you,” Lilitu screamed.

As the high priestess ran toward Gabriella, Quintus rushed to block her. He seized her by the shoulders and sank his fangs into her neck, tearing at her flesh. Lilitu conjured the athame that had nearly killed Hunter and stabbed it into his side. Quintus fell backwards onto the ground, the knife firmly rooted in his flank. He spat her demonic blood out, careful not to swallow it.

At the sight of her mate, Gabriella released a guttural howl that shook the ground. Light emanated from her eyes, the spirit of the first witch streaming through her body. Although conscious of Quintus, her attention focused on Lilitu, who began chanting a spell, her hands upward to the sky.

Hunter rolled on the ground, screeching as Mao sunk her rotted teeth into the wolf, ripping his fur from his body. Blood sprayed into the night, splattering onto a tomb.

“Help the Alpha,” Gabriella told Quintus as light streamed from her eyes. “Lilitu is mine.”

With the Alpha compromised, Quintus nodded, and ran to Hunter’s aid. The Alpha snarled, snapping his teeth into her arm. Thrashing his head, he tore at her decaying flesh until her wrist partially detached. The severed hand dangled by its ligaments, dripping green-tinged pus and blood onto the gravel. A fetid stench infiltrated the air.

“Get the fuck off of him.” Quintus wrapped his hand around Mao’s neck. He slid his fingers into her mouth, cringing as her forked tongue lapped over his palm. He grunted, prying open her jaw.