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But there was something else here that made my nostrils flare.
Death.
It fell from the sky like a prayer. Death had a particular taste and aroma that I’d long ago grown acquainted with.
Part of my magical changes allowed me to sense the separation of the spirit from the body. Most creatures had a spirit. Part of my attraction to Hendrik was the fact that I couldn’t taste death on him. He wasn’t alive; he wasn’t dead. He justwas.
Here, though, he seemed different to me. More like a shadow than the Dark Mage I’d used as a crutch.
I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to think about it. So it wasn’t hard to leave his shadow behind while I pursued the one thing I’d craved my entire existence.
Vengeance.
Before I’d been hired by Fortune Academy, I’d worked for the witches who’d raised me. Their magic made me. Their magic controlled me, and when they disappeared one day, it made me feel empty and lost without them.
So I did what I did best.
I hunted.
First it was the monsters that Fortune Academy sent me after.
Then it was my enemies.
After that… I couldn’t remember.
Something was missing in my memories, but I’d figure that out later.
Right now, my full attention was on the moving shadows just out of reach.
Crouching, I took my time analyzing them.
There was no denying that the witches who had created me were here. Their particular brand of magic hummed in the air and sent my insides on fire.
I’d almost forgotten that innate pain that came from being around them. It was how they controlled me and how they continued to build me into their weapon.
Pain served many purposes to the supernatural community. Suffering produced energies that could be manipulated. The witches often bragged to me how my anger only made them more powerful.
Anger was a type of suffering, too, and I’d seen firsthand how Cole had used that against me.
Although, I couldn’t remember what I had been so angry about.
My finger slipped over the hilt of my blade and I allowed my old scars to relive those distant memories of pain.
A claw against my forearm.
A wolf’s bite on my leg.
A blade across my throat…
That one stung the most, but I wasn’t sure why. Not many would be strong or fast enough to cut my throat. It should have been a memorable experience, but my body could only pull up the quick slice of sharp pain that ran over my skin and through deeper muscle tissue, cutting off a scream.
An orange glow radiated out from my position as my dagger hummed to life with the magic that was far too easy to access here. The atmosphere was different and magic moved across it like water.
Focusing on the task at hand, I moved forward, this time silent as my magic quieted my footsteps and smoothed the stems at my feet.
Although the ground was softer, the stems not as crunchy.
Risking a glance down, I noted that tiny dark petals rimmed the edges of the stems.
