Page 3 of Wicked Thirst
Power rose around her. Her magic flowed in bright lights from her hands up her arms. Wind kicked up, sending her hair flying about her face. She was deadly beautiful in a way that would ruin us all. She screamed over the sound of her storm of rage. “TURN. HER!”
I threw my shoulders back and tightened my grip on my sword. “I. WILL. NOT.”
Tears poured down Dracinda’s cheeks, yet she didn’t sob, didn’t draw in one hitched breath. She lifted her arms, and I felt her power about to slam into me.
“Dra . . .” A wheezing cough took Danna’s breath away. “Come.”
Her magic stopped and she turned back to her dying sister. Once again, she dropped to her knees and leaned on the bed beside her. “I am here.”
“I’m . . .” Danna drew a slow breath, “. . . scared.”
“No, no, dearest.” She gathered her sister’s hand into hers and pressed it to her own cheek. “Hold on just a little longer.”
“I fear,” she let go of a slow wheezing breath, “I cannot.”
“No. Fight this! We will find a way.” She leaned over her sister and used her cloak to wipe the sweat from her brow. Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Sister . . . please.”
When Danna’s eyes slid shut and those deep, labored breaths started, I knew it was time. There was a specific sound to those last gasping inhalations. It was like the body was preparing to let go of the spirit for good. The weak vessel that her body was could not contain her any longer. Death had come for her. Dracinda jumped to her feet and ran toward me. She wrapped her hands in the lapels of my furs and fell at my feet. “I beg of you . . . turn her! She will live eternally in your kingdom. You will rule her, and me, as subjects. I vow it. I vow a loyalty only we can offer.”
They’d committed crimes, murdered the innocent, stolen, and cast the darkest of magic. Evermore would be a better place without them, and if I courted her wrath . . . then so be it. I pried her fingers from my coat and took a step back, leaving her on the ground at my feet. “I will not, and none of my people will either.”
Her eyes flared and anger ravaged her face. She sprang to her feet to stand and face us all. “Fools!”
When a single breath left Danna’s chest and she did not draw another, we all stood there for long moments waiting to see if her chest would rise once more. When it didn’t, Dracinda threw her head back, screaming the agony she felt at the loss of her beloved sister. The air grew colder, and the moon seemed to glow brighter. Magic crackled around her, and her eyes flared with wild madness. Tears poured down her face, yet she said nothing to any of us. A crazed smile spread across her face as if her last bit of sanity fled with her sister’s soul.
Tristan stepped forward, trying to stop her from building her power. He held his hand up, and for a moment pink smoke seeped around his fingers. Would he use his influence to bring her to heel?
She glared at him as if in warning. No one, not even The Fallen, could control Dracinda. “Don’t.” When she turned to face me, her tears were gone. Her face was smooth with a coldness that sent a shiver down my spine. “Do you know what it is to love another more than you love yourself?”
I didn’t answer.
“You will . . . Oh, you will.” Her words were low, almost like a threat. “Love is a curse you will know well.”
“There is nothing left for you here.” I drew my sword as her magic lit up her palms.
She lifted her hands, and her power wrapped around me, holding me in place like chains I could not break. “Mark these words, avenge thy crime. Bound by blood in space and time.”
“Let me go.” I struggled against her to no avail. I couldn’t move, could barely breathe.
Wind whipped through the clearing and wound around me, mixing with her magic. It grew impossibly bright and hot.
“From kin to kin, one wretched vine. A wicked curse seals a shaded line.” Her lips drew up in an evil smile. “What was denied shall now be taken, for when thee love thee turn forsaken.
Deep in thy veins thy soul will burn. Forever more thy thirst shall yearn.”
“NO! DON’T!” Tristan leapt in front of me, but she lifted her other hand and fired a ball of fire at him. His large body soared across the sky and crashed into the forest in the distance. Trees cracked around him and fell to the ground. Fire exploded over the dry, dead trees, nearly engulfing him in flames.
The other Fallen all leapt into action, drawing their weapons and running toward her. A tornado of power surrounded her, forcing them back just enough for her to keep her hold on me. “Breath by breath, thy mind unwound, to madness now thy life is drowned. And if fate shall deem thy love requited, don’t speak the words or curse the blighted. For if on the wrist thy souls entwined, death shall call and forever find.”
Power seeped into my body, and I felt my blood boil in my veins as it wrapped around my every cell and sank into my bones. Pain like I’d never known riddled my body, and my back arched so hard I thought my spine would snap. Light shined from my skin so bright it burned my eyes. Burning, so much burning, from the inside out. My mind whirled with the need to just survive. But I felt that all would be left of me was a ball of ash and dust. Drops of my own blood beaded my skin like sweat. It streaked down my face and into my eyes. It felt like acid with every blink and every move I made. My skin felt like it was peeling from my bones. Everything ached, and I felt my bones would snap beneath my muscles.
A bellow ripped from my throat, and I struggled against her hold, calling upon my own blood magic to make it end. Red mist flew from my skin, and with the little strength I had left, I shot it toward her. It smacked into her chest, and for a second, I felt the hold I could have on her. With my last bit of strength, I bellowed one word: “STOP!”
She released her magic, finally freeing me. I dropped to the ground and my legs gave out as I fell. The frosted ground felt like a balm against my burning skin. The breath felt tight in my chest, and a sharp ache spread through my body.
“What . . . what did you do to me?” I managed.
“The House of Shade will know love . . . and the pain it will bring for all eternity.”
