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Julian’s fangs elongated as he leaned over me. I couldn’t form a plea, not that it would work. I’d been wrong. I’d thought I was stronger. But I’d always doubted at some level, worried that it wouldn’t be enough.

Julian bit through my skin, his hands holding my arms. But no sense of euphoria gripped me. All I felt was pain in every fiber of my being. I think I managed to scream somehow but it was impossible to say.

As fast as it started, Julian was thrown from my body. Daphne had Silas in a chokehold as Hazel sent blue electricity at him. A giant silver wolf went flying past me with a growl as Julian rose from the side and stalked toward him.

Daphne was thrown through the air with a flick of Silas’s finger and landed hard against the door as he circled Hazel. Then he lunged at super speed. She sent a zap of lightning into the machine I was hooked to, shutting down the power and pain as Silas took her to the ground.

“No!” I fought against the straps until sense overtook me, and I used my telekinesis to unbuckle each one.

Hazel’s legs jerked beneath him as Silas bit into her neck. I threw my hands out, sending him off her and across the room. His impact knocked over the horrible transfusion machine he had waiting for me. I stared at my hands for a moment. Had the jolt of electricity somehow finally undone his glamour? Or was it the fact that Hazel’s life was more important? I wanted to believe the latter.

I knelt to check on Hazel while Lydia woke and crawled toward Sam and Julian’s fight, head still at an angle like something from a horror film. Hazel still had a strong heartbeat, and I let out a breath of relief. Silas had meant to feed from her as a form of torture as opposed to ripping out her throat.

Anger swelled inside of me, like an ocean wave building far from shore. Asking why or how was irrelevant now that I knew I could. As I felt around for the sticky glamour I’d had so much trouble dissolving, I found not a single trace. It was all but obliterated.

I stood, the chaos surrounding me seeming to slow and quiet as I focused on where Silas had righted himself and tugged his shirt neatly back into place.

“It will be a pleasure to let you watch everyone you love die before turning you into my blood slave,” he hissed, eyes now scarlet orbs leaking blood from the corners. Dark veins pulsed all over his face and neck, and his fangs elongated until they were the length and thickness of raptor claws.

“Careful, your true nature is showing,” I said, the swell still building inside of me unlike anything I’d ever felt. The sheer power of it both frightened and delighted me.

I glanced to the side to be sure no one was in the way. Hazel was still on the ground, Dad and Tabitha stayed unmoving like animatrons waiting to be turned on. Julian was busy with Lydia who’d jumped on his back and Sam, who snapped at his legs.

“It’s between us now,” I said, meeting Silas’s steps toward me, ready in case of a sudden burst of speed. Something told me his lust for pain would force him to approach slowly. He savored the hunt as he said.

“Then I’ll turn you myself. I’ll simply drain you to near death, hook you up and then finish it. Maybe I’ll play with you for a while, while your father fixes the transfusion chamber you broke. Perhaps I can encourage Julian to join in the fun.”

“I’m afraid you won’t be torturing anyone else. Ever again,” I said, an arm’s length away from the closest being to the devil I’d ever met.

He laughed, blood trailing in rivulets from his eyes. “And what do you suppose you can do to stop me, Mon Cher?”

I cocked my head, the storm ready to burst from me. Luckily, I had a target.

I squeezed my hands in the air like I was wringing a lemon. Silas lifted from the ground, struggling against an invisible force of nature. He threw his hand out, and I slid back a few feet into a shelf, but I kept squeezing.

“You will do as I say.” My voice boomed across the room as Silas stopped struggling. “You will no longer feed on psychics. You will confess your crimes and insist on punishment.”

I dropped my hands to my sides, and he fell to his knees, eyes bulging but starting to clear. I squatted beside him. “You will no longer control Julian. Call him off. Now.”

“Julian—you—may—stop,” Silas croaked on all fours.

A crash sounded from behind, but I didn’t look. I wasn’t done.

“You deserve death, Silas. But I will not stoop to your level.”

“I will.” Julian was at my side.

I stood to face him. “Julian—”

He lifted a hand to the wound on my throat that he’d created, still bleeding. The adrenaline had masked the pain until that moment as we both stared at his fingers glistening with my blood.

“Your power is incredible,” Silas gasped. “I must have it. You belong to me.”

He launched himself toward me at super speed, but Julian caught him by the neck.

“You are a child compared to me,” Silas hissed.

“You will not harm Julian,” I told the vampire who went limp in Julian’s hand. Then I set a hand on Julian’s arm, about to plead with him not to do it. But a slew of visions came so fast and hard that I froze.