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“Yes. She followed me from the ranch.”
Peri squashed her flare of anger. Her mother had been a murderous bitch, but she’d been punished for her sins. Wasn’t it time to allow her to rest in peace? But then again, what if Destiny wasn’t lying? What if she truly believed that she was being haunted by her former coven leader?
“How do you know it was my mother?” Peri demanded.
Destiny frowned in confusion. “I could see her, of course.”
“Oh. Okay.” Peri didn’t press the issue. “What happened?”
“She promised I was finally going to have the power I always craved, but she lied.”
Peri narrowed her eyes at the witch’s bitter tone. “What have you done, Destiny?”
Destiny cowered back, pressing a hand to her chest. “It wasn’t me.” Peri’s suspicion that Destiny was involved in the deaths was confirmed by the guilt that shimmered in her eyes.
“You killed that poor bartender at the Jackalope Station, didn’t you? And the fortune teller who was just trying to make some extra money for her family.”
Destiny tossed her hair in a defiant motion. “I told you it wasn’t me, it was your mother.”
“Even if my mother did come to you as a spirit, why would she murder those women?”
“She needed the chaos from the humans to feed and the magic from the witches to gain power.”
Peri stepped back. The words revealed exactly who was pretending to be her mother. Only the miasma would hunger for chaos. So where was it hiding? And what was it doing with Destiny?
Touching the jade bracelet that encircled her wrist, Peri began weaving a protective spell. It was a damned shame she didn’t have the opportunity to brew more potions, but she would work with what she had.
“What happened to the magic that killed my mother?” she asked Destiny.
“I don’t know.” Destiny held her hands out in a pleading motion, moving toward Peri. “I just want to go home. I mean it this time, Peri. I’m so scared.”
Peri hastily snapped the protective spell in place, holding out a hand in warning. “No, stay back.”
“What’s wrong?” Destiny stared at her in confusion, but she was close enough for Peri to see the shards of crimson shimmering in her eyes.
Acceptance smashed into Peri, destroying any hope that Destiny was an innocent victim. The miasma was inside her, controlling her every move.
“You’re not Destiny,” she accused.
“Peri—”
“No!” Peri lifted her hand in warning. She didn’t know if she could hurt the miasma, but Destiny was human. It was quite possible she could be injured.
She allowed a thread of magic to penetrate her shield, arrowing toward Destiny’s cheek to slice a shallow wound. Instantly a trickle of blood wound its way down her face.
Crimson fire consumed Destiny’s eyes, her lips parting to release a mocking laugh. “Very good, Peri Sanguis.”
Her voice hadn’t changed, but it resonated with a power that vibrated against Peri’s protective shield. As if it was seeking to snare her with its words.
Peri’s mouth went dry. She’d seen what the miasma had done to her mother’s coven, and later to Richard Pascal. Not to mention the fact that she’d touched only a small fragment of the magic when she’d been studying it in the playroom and it’d threatened to consume her.
Now she was face to face with it.
The chances of surviving were slim to none.
Stiffening her spine, Peri silently chided her defeatist thoughts. She’d faced death before. At the hands of her own mother. The only certain way to die was to give into her fear.
Forcing herself to meet the smoldering crimson gaze, she concentrated on reinforcing her shield. At the same time, she sought a way to keep the miasma thinking about something other than sucking her dry.
