Page 98 of Their Blood Rite

But all three of them just stand there, staring expectantly at me.

‘Seriously. Please don’t make me kill a rat.’

With a tired groan, Dorian strides to the basket and pulls out a dagger. Several squeaks later, he slams the basket by the dead witch's head and thrusts one of my hands into the mess of dying rodents.

‘There,’ he grunts.

‘Great. Thanks for the help.’

‘You’re the first squeamish blood witch I’ve ever met,’ he adds, watching my scrunched-up face.

‘Well, this is the first time I’ve had my hand in rat guts. Perhaps I’ll get better the more I do it,’ I bite back. ‘What do I do now?’

‘What did you do with the guy in the woods?’ Archie asks.

‘I don’t know.’ I shrug. ‘It just sort of happened.’

‘Trust your instincts,’ Shaw says. ‘Touch him. See what happens.’

‘Touch the dead man’s melted head and see what happens. That’s fantastic advice. Thanks for that.’ I rest my hands on his head. ‘Gross…’ I look down into those empty eye sockets. ‘Hello?’ I offer. ‘Is anyone in there?’

The guys are all sniggering, amused at my naivety. I have no idea what I’m doing. All this follow-your-intuition shit is easily said, but not so much when put in action.

I take another deep breath as I press the tips of my fingers harder to the cold flesh beneath. I do my best to ignore the writhing rats and focus on the blood seeping between my fingers.

‘Speak.’

The corpse jolts, and their laughter quickly stops.

‘She fucking did it…’ Archie whispers.

The connection between the corpse and me is intense. Painful. Like the air is being pulled from my lungs and my heart is being crushed. The more I wield the power, the more the corpse moves. Until he groans and splutters, twitching and moaning as if in agony.

‘Ask your fucking questions!’ I demand, straining against the pain. ‘HURRY!’

Shaw surges forward, peering down at the man.

‘Why did you attack us?’

A raspy and rattling breath comes from the corpse.

‘Answer him,’ I command.

‘Kill… wolf…’ he replies, his voice hollow and dry. Empty of life and anything that made him living. It’s a soulless voice and will haunt me in my dreams.

‘Who sent you?’ I ask.

‘My… Coven…’

‘Earth Coven?’ I ask.

‘Yessss. We come to kill the wolf who murdered our leaders. Come to kill the eye thief. Come for revenge.’

I’m thrown backwards and crash into the wall, my head pounding and that raspy voice still ringing in my ears.

A pair of boots stops before me. Dorian crouches down.

‘You okay?’ he grunts.

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