Page 4 of Bloodween

The kind that made me think too much about what I still had to do.

My phone’s clock read 12:24 a.m.

Eleven hours and five minutes left to perform the ritual and I was out here playing switcheroo instead.

One more bestie adventure for the road, I guess.

See, I am a good friend.

Clearly not a GREAT friend since Renna never told me her secret. Granted I never told her I was a witch either. But still.

Before I put my phone away, it vibrated again.

Renna

Make that 15 mins. Don’t fight me .

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to respond as I pushed my phone into the zippered pocket of the costume.

Of course she didn’t adhere to the thirty minutes.

I started back towards the front of the house when I heard a rustle. I ignored it, thinking it was only the wind. But then another—closer.

My fingers twitched, ready to cast if I needed to.

The crunch of a leaf snapped behind me, and before I could turn⁠—

—a hand clamped around my neck.

“I see you want to play.” The voice was muffled in my ear. I went to pull away but something pressed against the nose of the mask. A sickly-sweet smell flooded my senses.

What. The. Fuck?

The world tilted sideways. My knees buckled. I opened my mouth to yell but nothing came out. I tried to activate a protection spell, but my body failed me.

The last thing I heard was, “Now you’re all mine.”

* Fictional Bellaverse City

the unmasking

"EVERYONE HAS SECRETS."

My body jolted awake with a cough, something invading my nose and making me damn near choke to death because I couldn’t breathe. I jerked back on instinct, only to realize two things at once—my wrists were tied, and there was a blindfold over my eyes.

What the hell? Did somebody kidnap me?

I froze, heartbeat punching in my ears. Not because I was scared, but because time wasn’t on my damn side and whoever thought it was a good idea to take me tonight of all nights must not value their own life.

And they weren’t good at their job. My wrists weren’t even tied that tight. I could easily break free.

My brain felt foggy, like I hadn’t slept enough, yet too long at the same time.

A sound cut through my running thoughts. Low. Male. Close. “Easy,” he said, calm but sharp enough to roll through me. “Didn’t mean to overdo it.” I stilled again. That voice. I knew that voice. Dorian.

The confusion hit first, then irritation.

Did he snatch me up because he realized what Renna and I was doing? See, this is why we shouldn’t have done it. And now I was gonna have to⁠—