Page 34 of Their Blood Rite

From the tree line, the rest of the coven arrives. Every fighter. Every protector. Every witch able to stand or hold a weapon breaks through. A wave of soil slams into me, severing my connection to Cole’s blood. The left side of his face is burnt and melted, and he pants heavily as he props himself up against a tree.

‘KILL THE BLOOD WITCH!’ Cole commands.

The great wolf roars and starts to attack, barrelling into them tooth and claw first.

It takes the last of my strength to send as many as I can backwards. All I achieve is knocking a few down, but with the added distraction of the wolf, it gives me time to escape.

As I pass the fire, I snap off my father’s necklace and toss it in the flames. Fuck him. I hope he burns.

When I see the podium, I can’t resist. I grab the coven’s beloved Grimoire, and I run.

Branches rip my face to ribbons. I hear them in the distance. Hear them fighting the wolf. Hear them come after me. My bare feet stumble over jagged rocks and stones. I feel my way in the dim light of the blood-red moon above that casts everything in an eerie crimson glow.

Keep running. Keep running.

I’m bleeding and utterly spent. My body begs for me to stop. But if I do, I’ll be torn apart by the wolf or the coven. Either way, stopping is not an option.

Run. Keep running.

Run from the father who abandoned me to this fate. Run from the man who swore to love me forever. Run from my home. From the only life I have ever known.

Run into the dark. Into the unknown. Into a world that decorates their town borders with the skulls of my kind.

Run. Run. Run!

I can’t stop quick enough when a dark figure steps out from behind a gnarled and twisted tree. I slam into a chest like stone.

His arm wraps around my waist and pins me to his body. His clothes are cold against my naked flesh.

‘I will kill you!’ I warn, trying in vain to get free. ‘You and the rest of the coven!’

I look up into the face peering down at me, expecting to see Cole.

It’s not. It’s a familiar face with a familiar half grin, but not Cole’s.

‘You’ve come for me already…’ I breathe, knowing I’m looking death in the eye. My death. ‘Make it quick.’

‘Come now, Little Pixie,’ Shaw says, his voice as smooth as silk and as dark as the night surrounding us. ‘Why would I make anything quick when you kept us waiting?’

‘Waiting?’ I look up into those vivid green eyes. ‘U-us?’

A twig snaps from behind. I look back to see Dorian striding with purpose straight at us. His eyes are narrowed in determination.

My entire body goes rigid, gripped in fear.

The trees rustle from the direction I came. The white wolf leaps through the brush. I cling to Shaw, ready to spin him so the wolf’s teeth will reach him instead of me.

But without missing a beat, the wolf transforms from the great white beast into a man. His feet don’t falter as he joins Dorian, who holds out a long black coat made of leather.

Archwin slides on the jacket, and the two walk towards us.

‘Sorry about this, Pixie,’ Shaw smiles, pulling my focus back to him. ‘But if we don’t mark you, you can use your blood magic against us. And we can’t have that now, can we?’ He takes the Grimoire from my hands and drops it to the floor, uninterested in it.

Shaw spins me so my back is against his chest, giving me a clear view of the two others heading towards us. His arms grip my middle tightly, making it hard for me to breathe.

Dorian’s mouth opens, and his teeth sharpen. Then Archwin, his teeth like miniature versions of his beasts.

‘It will only hurt for a minute,’ Shaw whispers in my ear, his warm breath contrasting with the chill in the air.

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