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I am thinking of our mate, my wolf says. What are we without her?
I don’t have an answer for that.
Chapter 22
Astra
Idon’t know how long I’m locked in the room before the door creaks open. At least an hour, maybe more. I reached again and again for my magic, only to find the task hopeless. It’s only slightly better than the pain when I tried upstairs.
After that, I tried to get the attention of the other witches.
No one responded.
Maybe it’s warded or soundproofed or both.
Gage fills the doorway with one of his wolves behind him, the huge guy’s hands balled into fists like I’m going to try and take on two shifters. My gaze goes from the larger one to Gage. He’s dressed in a dark-green button-down shirt and black slacks, and his blond hair is combed and tied at the nape of his neck. He’s dressed to go out for dinner, not visit me in this cell.
I loathe it. The gel slicking his hair, his smug expression.
“I want you to meet someone,” Gage says, stepping aside.
A woman appears from behind him, slipping into the small room with me. Her dark hair is bound in a braid, and her dark eyes find mine immediately. Unlike the other women in the cells, her features seem healthier. Not bright, but just on the cusp of it. Her skin is pale, and while she’s about my height, she’s half my size. Slender, verging on too thin.
She looks familiar, but I can’t place it.
The way she moves has me on edge. She inches around me, but I try to keep both her and Gage in my line of sight.
“This is Sonia,” he says idly. “Sonia, say hello.”
The girl darts forward and grabs my arm with both hands.
She doesn’t speak—instead, she pushes her magic into me. It’s the first magic I’ve felt since they put me down here, but it doesn’t join or awaken mine. If anything, it repels it.
It’s ice speeding through my blood, freezing me from the inside out. The attack of it is violating, seeping into my bones until I can’t think straight. All I can focus on is the cold and her hard gaze on my face.
“I think she gets it,” Gage says.
The magic withdraws.
I shudder and fall away from the girl. The wall keeps me upright, barely, and I wrap my arms around my stomach. I wait for the thawing to begin, for my magic to start working again, but I stay cold.
Damn it.
“Sonia has been with me since she was a young girl.” The wolf shifter eyes her. “She’s powerful. And hungry.”
I don’t want to ask him. I don’t want to fucking engage with him, to encourage this. I’ll be as uncooperative as I possibly can be, until the very last second. Because that’s what this asshole deserves.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to care. He continues, “My father liked to experiment. It’s something his brother partook in, too. That’s Kian’s father, so we’re clear.”
He smiles brilliantly, but my stomach just twists.
“Imagine the power of a witch… convoluted by the monstrosities of a vampire.” His eyes light up. “Not only a witch, but one who deals in blood magic.”
I shake my head and immediately break my vow of silence. “That’s impossible.”
He motions for Sonia. Faster than a wolf shifter can move, she comes at me. I barely have time to raise my hands before her body collides with mine. She’s slender but strong, and we hit the wall. The impact rattles my bones, but it’s nothing compared to the sensation of her teeth sinking into my throat.
I flail, trying to get her off me.
