Page 60

‘Right,’ I say, peeling myself off the mattress. I drag on a shirt, still unsure where these fresh clothes have come from. ‘What’s going on?’

‘I made a call.’

Kian and his mysterious connections.

‘You made a call?’ I repeat, pushing my hair back from my face.

‘I’ve brought someone here. A witch.’

I freeze. His cheek twitches in amusement. ‘One I’ve known for a long time. She isn’t part of the coven that took you.’

‘And you trust her?’

He tilts his head. ‘I don’t trust anyone, but I know how she works. She owes me, and she doesn’t lie. Not like others have in the past. I won’t make that mistake again.’

I glance at Tara, who is still sleeping, then back to him. ‘You think she can help?’

He gestures at the door impatiently. ‘You need your memories back. We can’t fight what’s coming if you don’t remember anything that has led up to this.’

Nodding, I walk toward him and slip through the door, hoping that Tara can get a bit more rest. She looks like she needs it. I focus on the steady beat of her heart as we move further away from the room.

The witch is waiting for me downstairs. She’s not what I expected. Younger than I would have thought. She doesn’t rise when we enter. A shiver creeps down my spine as we make eye contact. Her eyes are an eerie, washed-out blue, making me feel as though she isn’t looking at me, but instead, through me.

‘I’ve been told your mind is a mess,’ she says, her tone so flat and even, it almost doesn’t sound human.

‘Fragmented, I guess.’

‘Fragmented is fine.’ She gestures to the chair across from her. ‘Sit down.’

She looks calm as she crosses her left leg over her right, her palms resting on her thighs.

‘I won’t force anything,’ she says. She offers me a thin smile. Her eyes have a bite to them that makes me feel like she’s about to attack me mentally, and I have no strength to prevent her from doing so. I roll my shoulders and attempt to relax, trying to allow her access into my mind. I remind myself that she is here to help. ‘But I’ll open the doors. Whether or not you walk through them is up to you.’

Kian watches from the doorway, arms crossed, eyes unreadable. The witch’s hands hover near my temples, but she doesn’t make contact with me.

‘Close your eyes,’ she murmurs, her voice deep, with a hypnotic sound to it. ‘And let me in.’

Everything goes still. It doesn’t feel like dreaming. It feels like falling into a house where every door has been locked shut and I don’t have a key to unlock any of them. A masked face appears above me and I flinch at the closeness, but I can’t move away. Their eyes are hidden behind the mask. There’s pressure on my arm and I try to run, but something holds me down as a needle is injected into my vein. There’s that awful combination again of liquid fire and cold-as-ice venom interlacing through my bloodstream.

‘Keep going, Theo,’ a voice murmurs, and I can feel myself resisting, trying to back-pedal out of this.

Another flash.

I’m laughing. There’s no cold, no cell, no hostility, just a haze of neon light and loud music. A bar? My arms are around someone I don’t know. Two strangers, maybe three, dancing and laughing, moving to the music. Two women, their pulses buzzing underneath their skin, begging for me to sink my teeth in.

Cora moves in front of me, spinning and throwing her head back. I grin at her, enjoying seeing her let loose.

The humans around us are soaked in sweat, their heartbeats hammering in our ears. Cora’s hair is unbound, her teeth are sharp when she smiles, her fangs on full display despite us being in a crowded public place. She pulls me onto the bar, and I don’t care who’s watching because we are the most dangerous things in this place and no one can touch us.

The room shifts.

I hear a voice, unlike any one I know, but part of me knows I’ve heard it before.

‘He’s not compliant. Up the dosage.’

A face. I’ve seen this face before.

A witch. I’d never seen her before being taken, but I remember her now.