Page 109 of The Prince's Curse

When her grip loosened, Stella felt scraped out, and she knew that Armina had made good on her threat to take it back; she didn’t care. Survival was all that mattered.

The darkness had gone, but her vision remained dim and gray. Stella gritted her teeth and rasped, “Illuminate!”

The darkness spiraled on itself and exploded in a burst of sunlight. With light filling the room, Stella reached out and aimed her focus at the knife block on the counter. In a dancing display of silver, the knives emerged from the block and flew at her.

Spinning deftly, Stella flung the knives toward Lux and bolted for the basement door. She’d free the vampire and escape through the sliding doors. She clambered down the stairs, tripped, fell down four stairs at a time, and caught herself just at the bottom.

Rhys gaped at her. “The hell is going on up there?”

The door splintered open above her, and she ran for him. “I’m getting out of here. You want to go?”

He growled, struggling against the chains. She braced herself and yanked the wooden stakes out of his lean chest. Muscles strained against the chains, and he twisted against the metal chair. “Come on,” he muttered. One of the chains snapped, and she fought to unwind it for him.

A gunshot rang out, and Rhys swore. Vampire blood splattered on her, and he shook his head.

With dark eyes like voids, Jordan slammed to the ground on the basement floor. He tsk’ed. “We were supposed to hunt a witch together,” he said flatly.

She pointed at him, saw that beautiful vision of him flying backward, and snapped her fingers. The magic sparked to life, but she could feel Armina’s fingers on her face, digging into her brain, and her spine popped as she flew backward instead. Her fingers twitched as if electrical current was running through her.

“Shit,” she swore. The bitch had twisted up her power. She was just a human with faulty wiring.

“Go,” Rhys said. “Warn them about my blood if you?—”

His voice was cut short when Jordan pounced on him. With her eyes stinging, Stella bolted through the downstairs door. Begging for her power to work, she worked her hands quickly through the air, leaving a ward to catch Jordan as he left.

She sprinted up the side of the house, out to the gravel driveway. “There she is!” Lux shouted from somewhere. A nearby tree cracked. She ignored it and dove into the car, peeling down the curving mountain road.

Run.

Go.

Survive.

Chapter 26

The thick, unpleasant smell of the pagos filled Shoshanna’s cramped workshop, and Julian did not envy his mate’s predicament. She met his eyes, nodded, and then took her first tentative sip of the viscous green liquid. He gripped the doorframe to keep from running to her as she jolted. One hand clapped over her mouth, but the other went up in a stop gesture.

Misha took the flask from her, watching carefully. “Is your body rejecting it, or is it just the taste?”

With her free hand, Scarlett put up two fingers, prompting a little laugh from Misha.

“Sorry about that,” Misha said.

“I told him a little cardamom and honey would go a long way,” Shoshanna said as Scarlett took another long drink from the flask.

“Adding ingredients is risky,” Misha said.

Shoshanna just chuckled. “I need to introduce you to my friend, Ruby. Give her a couple of weeks, and she could sell this at Starbucks.”

He ignored the bantering witches and focused on Scarlett, whose pulse was slowing. The unpleasant medicinal smell partially masked her scent, though he still smelled her clearly amidst the others. Her eyes finally opened, meeting his gaze.

“Are you all right?” he asked quietly. She nodded, her lips twitching in the faintest smile before she looked away. At her request, Kova had stayed back from the mission to find Armina’s safehouses. Knowing that Shoshanna planned to drug her to the gills, she wanted the security of her old friend nearby. That stung, but Julian couldn’t blame her, given that she’d known Kova her entire life, during which she’d been informed that Julian and his allies were the scum of the vampire earth.

“Does she need another dose?” Misha asked.

Scarlett winced, but didn’t complain as Shoshanna gently took her hand. The human witch sighed and said, “I’m sorry. I know it’s terrible, but we have to bring you down a little more.”

“If this is what it takes, let’s do it. I’d rather choke down that sludge than die next week,” Scarlett said.

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