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His eyes glistened with challenge. “Go ahead. I’ll persuade him otherwise.”
“You think he’ll listen to you?”
He scoffed. “I have more of a chance than you right now.”
I couldn’t help it. I threw the dagger at his hand. A part of me wanted it to miss, but another darker part of me wanted it to land.
He swept it out of the air with startling speed, then swirled the handle around in his hand, whistling out a breath. “Who knew you had it in you?”
Reasonability washed through me. What the fuck was I doing? “I wanted to miss.”
“I don’t believe that’s true.”
I chewed the inside of my lip. “No really. I didn’t want to spend the afternoon cleaning up blood.”
He laughed, an actual joyous laugh. “You do pass the time, doll.”
“Don’t call me doll!” I exclaimed, and a revelation popped into my head. “Besides, all of this might be for nothing. They might just stop the test.”
He tilted his head. “Why would they do that?”
I smiled. Maddox must not have told him everything after all. “They’re bringing the goddess Freya here to help find the murderer. Something to do with using old magic to break old magic. The coven is going to be too busy, and the elders will have a field day with an actual goddess visiting.”
His expression darkened. His pained stare latched onto me as his fingers curled around the blade of the dagger, which cut into his skin.
I watched, eyes bulging. “It’s not that big of a deal if they postpone the test.” I couldn’t look away from the bloody dagger in his grip. “Viktor!”
He shook his head, uncurling his fingers. “I need to go.”
It was as if he were looking through me. Eyes unfocused, he stepped around me.
Chapter Thirteen
Itook a walk around the grounds, then sat down with my paints and painted the sunset in blotches of orange, reds, and pinks, trying to distract myself from yesterday. Viktor hadn’t been around since our session, which was insane seeing as we were locked away from the rest of the world, trapped in the mansion on grounds.
It’s not like I was trying to find him though. The psychopath underneath had shown itself when he grabbed that dagger as if it hadn’t even hurt him. The thought sent a shudder through my body. I sat on a rock, sighing as I looked out at the rustling underbrush between the trees at the bottom of the garden.
I sent another ignored magic quill to Naomi, then sat back and opened a book, letting the words pull me away.
A siren sounded. The shrieking sound faltered my brain. For a moment, I forgot all my training. When that siren was alerted, it meant danger, but it had never been set off before, so I had forgotten about the magical warning alarm. The bubble of magic that had been surrounding the mansion lowered. The shimmering, almost-see-through magic dissolved, unveiling a clearer, unprotected world beyond the mansion.
Someone or something had disabled it.
My brain caught up with my body and I stood, knocking the painting onto the grass, then took off toward the mansion. Maddox was there. Where was my dagger? My pistol? Think. In the atrium or the armory? Or did I take it to my room? It was times like this when I hated myself for being an unorganized mess.
I reached the back door, frantically whipping my head left to right in the kitchen, looking for anything out of the ordinary. The same cluttered shelves and sink filled with plates and cups awaited me. The alarm shrieked in my ears, defending me as I rushed into the living room.
Come on, Maddox. Where are you?
Atrium. The image snapped into my mind. My pistol was in there. I’d left it on the shelf after weapons training.
I took off, knocking over a plant as I raced around a corner. Sweat beaded on my forehead. My breaths quickened as I reached the heavy door to the atrium and threw it open.
I spotted my pistol on the second shelf. “There you are!”
I ran at it, when someone grabbed me from behind. A scream climbed up my throat, but a hand closed over my lips before it could alert anyone. Kicking my legs, I tried to look up.
Viktor’s whisper danced into my ear. “Don’t scream. Be very quiet, understand?” Viktor slowly removed his hand from my mouth, then closed the atrium door.
