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“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
He started to rise from the bed, and Myra shoved him back down. “Sit, boy. You’re still healing!”
“I’m fine,” he hissed, rising again. “I need to talk to my wife.”
I panicked. I couldn’t let him come near me. It wasn’t safe. I’d tried to kill him. I had the knife. How had I gotten the knife? I tugged on my shirt and darted towards the door, sidestepping Tate as he came into the room. I heard Jackson shout my name, but I couldn’t stop. I had to get away. Something was wrong, very wrong. If I stayed, there was no telling what I might do.
Rushing down the stairs, I sprinted for the front door. My bare feet smacked against the wooden stairs, and I raced past the cars in the driveway. Running felt right. A strange terrified energy swirled in my chest. I wanted it out, but if I stopped running, they’d find me. They’d get too close.
There were wolves in the woods, I knew that, but I ran for the trees anyway. I needed cover, and if Jackson came running after me, the scent of his pack would mask my trail. The twigs and brush cut into my heels. I tumbled over roots, and my legs gave out far too soon. I was too weak.
“Dammit,” I howled, smacking the ground.
My hand hit a branch and it sliced through my palm. Blood welled, and an idea crested over the chaos inside my mind. The cuff could suppress regular magic, but blood magic was powered by the magic in my blood. Dormant or otherwise.
Clasping my hands together, I took a deep breath and whispered.“Educ me in domum suam.”Carry me home.
A sharp pain ripped through my arm, but the blood shot from between my fingers and wrapped around me in sheets of crimson magic. It pulled tight around my shoulders and in a flash, the world dropped out from under me. My knees slammed into cold hardwood, and I found myself sprawled on the floor just inside the front door of my house.
I made a beeline for the annex. If anything could tell me what the hell was happening inside my head it’d be one of Viktor’s enchanted objects. There had to be something that could help. Something that could fix me.
The door opened wide enough for me to squeeze through and I practically flew down the stairs. The overhead lights clicked on, and I faced the wall of objects. Viktor kept everything. His collection was hoarder-level crazy.
“There’s gotta be something,” I muttered, sorting through the first shelf. There were books enchanted to ensnare the readers. Bells to incapacitate or wake a victim. Neither of which would help me. The next was full of jewelry: cursed rings, blessed earrings, necklaces that doubled as spell-focus components.
Nothing. Shelf after shelf there was nothing. No order. Nothing to dispel my head. Nothing to help me.
“Dammit!” I slammed my hand against one of the shelves. “You couldn’t help me, just this once!”
My voice echoed off the walls and then faded. Viktor had beaten me into a half-decent witch, but when push came to shove, dead or alive, I was on my own. One problem
; I couldn’t trust my own mind anymore. I’d need outside help. Only one person came to mind. Matteo.
I retraced my steps through the collection and picked up the teleportation stone. With the cuff on, I couldn’t feel the magic react to my touch, but the smoke trapped inside still swirled. To make it work though, I’d need magic.
Grabbing the cuff with my free hand, I pulled. It moved half an inch and got stuck on the bone of my thumb. I frowned and pulled again. It scraped a bright red mark along my wrist.
“What the—” I pulled harder and the metal bit into my skin hard enough to draw blood. I hissed. The floor tilted under my feet, and I staggered into one of the columns supporting the second floor. My stomach turned and I dry heaved, nearly vomiting on the floor.
The cuff didn’t want to come off. Red light glowed along the edges of the runes. I whimpered and hit my head against the post. “Dammit, Viktor. What've you done to me? What is this thing?”
Blood trickled down my fingers, and I flinched. Getting to Matteo was gonna take another blood spell. I’d used so many in the last few weeks. I knew at some point it would bite me in the ass.
Pressing the thumb of my opposite hand into the wound on my wrist, I let the blood well a little further and inhaled a sharp breath, tightening my fingers around the teleportation stone. Red light flickered around my knuckles.“Aperta Porta.”
Blood lashed out towards the floor and whipped around me like an upside-down tornado. I closed my eyes, picturing Matteo’s shop. The draw of the spell pulled at my insides. The ground dropped out from beneath my feet again and I found myself standing in the tunnel outside Matteo’s shop. My ears throbbed, my knees shook, and my shirt was soaked in sweat.
The door to the shop opened and Matteo’s head poked out. “Rebekah? What are you…are you okay?”
“I need your help,” I said, my voice barely audible over the sound of my heart thundering in my ears.
“Of course, come in,” he said.
I took a step forward and clutched my stomach. Matteo’s arm circled my back as he ushered me through the door. He pointed me to one of his low cushions, and I curled into a ball, cradling my wrist.
“What the hell is going on?” He pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. “You’re burning up, and you’re bleeding.”
“This cuff. I can’t get it off. It’s…it’s messing with my head. I tried to kill him. I tried to kill Jackson.” I shook my head, desperate to erase the nightmare from my mind. I could still feel the cold of the blade between my fingers. His fear was burned into my retina.
