AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He was in some kind of workshop, and he was fixated on his work as he mixed some kind of potion. Doubtless, he intended to use it on Amelia; a smug smile was fixed across his lips.
I would enjoy making that smug expression turn to terror.
When he finally noticed me, his eyes widened. Before he had a chance to react, I leapt forward and grabbed him by his throat.
He struggled to free himself, his eyes desperate. He tried to reach for his magic, but all of his magic was borrowed, and right now, all he could do was try to breathe.
"You're going nowhere," I growled, tightening my grip and baring my teeth in warning. "Unless you want me to end you right here."
Holmes's face paled as if all the power had been sucked out of him right then and there.
"You hurt her," I said, my fingers squeezing against my will but I couldn’t stop them. My voice had come out a growl, and I didn't sound quite human anymore.
With great effort, I pulled back the desire to pop his head off his neck like I was squeezing a bottle. Instead, I pulled the bottle of enchantment from inside my jacket with my free hand and held it up to his face. When I popped the lid, a whiff of the purple smoke curled out of the bottle. He exhaled, his nostrils flaring, trying not to breathe it in; I tightened my grip, and he let out a desperate gasp. The purple smoke disappeared into his nose. Seconds later, his head fell to one side, his mouth slack.
It was the same base recipe as the one Amelia’s sister had received, though this was sharper, quicker acting.
I smiled into his face, still gripping him by the throat and holding him off the ground. He couldn't act, but I knew he could feel and see everything.
"You are going to suffer as my friends feed on you," I told him. “Anyone who hurts her will suffer.”
And so would anyone who got in my way.
She was mine.
CHAPTER19
Amelia
"Are you sure you're alright?"Shaw demanded again as we ran for the car. "Liam can drive and I can look at it--"
"You drive," I interrupted. I couldn’t deal with Liam’s careful driving at the moment. Not when the urgency pressing in on me felt worse than the stabbing pain in my side. "Let's get there before Holmes does."
We drove back across town to the witch's shop. I'd been worried her shop would be closed after all, but the lights were on inside. I tried the door and when it was locked, I knocked. I couldn't help feeling nervous, and I kept looking over my shoulder for Holmes’ next attack. My side burned with every movement, the kind of sharp pain that made me hiss. I couldn’t help feeling as if I might be tearing the wound open wider with every movement.
"Oh dear," she said when she swung the door open. "It looks like you got hurt."
"It looks like you knew we would," Shaw retorted.
The three of us entered, and Shaw tossed the knife wrapped in his jacket onto the table. She pounced on it and thrust it into a case.
Slamming the lid shut, she told us, "I'll have to fix it. He ruined it--he ruins everything."
"He almost ruined us," Shaw said dryly.
"Can I have the potion for my sister, please?" I tried to sound polite.
"Of course." The witch said magnanimously, though it was hard for her to stop petting the case as she studied the dagger.
"We know where you live," Shaw reminded her, eyeing the bottle of potion.
"Oh, you don't need to threaten me. The counter enchantment will work. You just need to pour the potion into her mouth."
"The nursing staff should love that," Shaw muttered. "Doc would skin me with her scalpels if I messed around giving one of her patients some untested magical liquid."
"It's all I can do," I said. Rose was still deep in the midst of what the hospital was calling a coma. But we knew better.
As we made our way to the hospital, I was so nervous I wanted to talk to them about what we would do next if the potion didn't work, but Shaw already had a plan. Violence.
