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“Are you forgetting the witch mated to the shifter?” Odette questions.
“Elijah and Rainey are both hunters.”
“Elijah Hawthorne is a bloodsucker who managed to survive a supernatural blood cure because he had the blood of an Astor in his system. All of you are blood-bound in some way, Bronywyn, tied together in a form that is dangerous for our kind.” She glances behind us. “Kill them.”
“Odette?” I ask sweetly, my words laced with venom.
“What is it this time?”
“Remember my promise?” I look up at her now, letting the magic pulsate around me. I raise both hands, noting violet sparks illuminating against my fingertips. “I’m going to make good on it now.” I throw out both palms, and the vampires on either side of us slam backward and into the wall. Bones crunch with the weight of the blow, and panicked cries erupt from the councilmembers scrambling to their feet.
As they do, they aim their magic toward us, but I throw up a hand, creating a shield before tossing Tarnley the granite and my pellet.
“You’re a badass, you know that?” he asks as he begins cutting out his own silver.
Odette raises a second hand, and her power hits me, sliding me backward a few feet as I struggle to maintain the shield. With my body exhausted and in pain, I’m more limited than I care to admit. My adrenaline is thankfully helping, but it’s not giving me nearly what I need to kill all these assholes.
Tarnley blurs out of sight then reappears on top of the council stand. He buries his fangs into the nearest witch, ripping the bitch’s throat out and spitting it to the ground. He then grabs the next and snaps his neck before being hit with a power blast that sends him careening off the platform.
Odette scurries away, flanked by two witches, then disappears from my sight. I drop the barrier and rush forward, stopping only when magic singes the ground at my feet.
I whirl. “Chasin.”
He stands a few yards away from me, sadistic smile on his face, magic snapping around him like live electricity. “Bronywyn. Were you really going to leave without a goodbye? That’s a little heartless, even for you, don’t you think?”
“I’m not going anywhere now. I’ve been wanting to kill you since you let your brother die,” I growl.
He doesn’t betray a single emotion as he begins circling me. The world fades away, leaving just the two of us while Tarnley fends off the hunters attempting to keep us from leaving. They stand no chance against him, just as this fucker in front of me will not be walking out of here.
“Shall we dance?” Chasin asks, moments before he sends an orb of power at me. I throw up a hand, blocking it, and counter with one of my own. Then, I lunge forward, moving as fast as I can, given the current state of my aching and bruised body.
Unfortunately, it’s not fast enough. He clips me with a power blast, and I choke down a scream to keep from distracting Tarnley. Pushing through it, I throw up a shield and hit him with orb after orb. One by one, they hit his block and sizzle before falling to the ground in sparks of purple light.
Someone grunts, and he turns to the side. I use the distraction to close the distance. He turns back to me just in time to catch my palm to his nose. I shove it up, and he stumbles back as blood spurts from his nostrils.
“You bitch!” he roars and sends me flying backward. I slam into the ground, skidding across the crushed granite and into the body of a hunter Tarnley’s made quick work of. Glancing around, I catch him a few yards away, kicking the shit out of a wolf shifter.
The glint of a blade catches my eye, so I grab it and push back up as Chasin rushes toward me. I raise the blade and spin to the side just in time to avoid another blow. Blood streaks down his face, making him look like an animal rather than the charming warlock I once knew.
Eyes wild, he lets his anger guide him, giving me the upper hand.
I hold my ground, keeping the blade behind my back, as he closes in on me. Magic sparks at his fingertips as he sends it into me. My body burns beneath the force of it, and I scream as I bring the blade forward, and he crashes into me.
Eyes weak, body spent, I lie beneath his weight, trying to shove him off and having absolutely zero luck.
Warmth soaks the front of my shirt, thankfully not my own, though there’s not a single part of my body that doesn’t hurt right now. I struggle to breathe, my lungs burning. I buck again, but Chasin doesn’t even budge.
“Bronywyn!” Tarnley yells. He falls to his knees at my side and shoves the body from me. In a blur of movement, he bites down on his own wrist and presses it to my lips. Copper fills my mouth, but I force it down despite the churning in my belly.
After a few heartbeats, he pulls back and lifts me to my feet. I stare down at Chasin’s dead body and feel no joy. No victory in the moment.
Just guilt that it was me who brought him here in the first place, and bone-deep relief that he’s no longer fucking breathing.
“We need to get the hell out of here.” Tarnley grabs me and blurs toward the door. But the second he reaches it, the damn thing opens, and four hunters rush inside.
“You’re not going anywhere, bloodsucker,” a man with a handlebar mustache growls.
“You got that backward, friend.”
