Page 129 of Her Blood Revenge

I shove her off easily, annoyed she’s got blood on a fresh dress. She always was weaker than me. Now, with my strength, she’s nothing but an annoyance. Poppy goes to bite her.

‘Don’t!’ I yell. ‘Don’t kill her.’ Poppy stills, and I get to my feet. ‘Hey, Thalia.’ I pull out the dagger and drop it to the floor. ‘I wondered where you'd gotten to.’

Chapter twenty-two

The Necromancer

Thalia doesn’t say anything, but the look in her eyes is crystal clear.

Rage. Hate. Murder. But also fear. She’s afraid of those emotions. We weren’t raised to feel them.

I press my hand against my wound, seeing my blood sleep through my fingers. It’s not too deep, and I’ll heal soon enough. But it still hurts, and if I were human, this would be a far bigger problem than it is right now.

Thalia is trembling all over as she faces me. She, too, is dressed in the same green dress I am. I wonder if everyone here is color-coded. Earth witches belong in green. Air in silver. Water in blue. Fire in orange.

Thalia takes a determined step forward, ready for another attack. I trap her feet in thick roots and keep her away from me. Archie will more than likely smell my blood soon and come running. If he catches her mid-attack, he’ll kill her without flinching.

‘Thalia. What are you doing here?’

Her face is crumpled in pure loathing as she looks at me and gestures to her mouth.

‘Oh right…’ I whisper, remembering that the guys cut out her tongue. ‘You can’t talk. Look. I know we’re not friends-’ She scoffs exceptionally loudly. ‘But if you try and kill me again, Archiewill kill you. There’s no try. He’ll just tear your head off, and that will be it for you.’

Her rage intensifies at the mention of his name, and she glances around her as if expecting to see him.

I step closer.

‘You fucked me over hard, Thalia. And you lost your tongue because of it. That was not my choice, but I’m not going to apologise either. Be grateful it wasn’t your life. You hurt me beyond measure when you turned on me the way you did. So I know we will never be friends. And that’s okay. I don’t want your friendship. But I don’t want your death on my conscience either. I’ve had enough of that to last several lifetimes.’

She tries to speak, but not a single sound is coherent in any way. Frustration brings tears to her eyes as she rests a handkerchief on her mouth, catching the saliva.

‘Our coven is dead,’ I tell her.

She blinks me into focus and goes rigid.

‘You may not believe me. But it’s true. During the Athir celebration.’ I shrug and shake my head, loathing the way those words hurt. Fuck. I wish they didn’t. But Thalia has a right to know her family died. That everyone died. ‘Neve. The Blood Queen. She slaughtered them all.’

She staggers back, and the tears brimming in her eyes spill forth. I find myself struggling to meet her stare.

‘All?’ she asks in a garble.

I nod.

‘Liar!’

I shake my head and look away, giving her some privacy to mop up the spit.

‘Not about this, Thalia. I was there. Neve wasperforming some kind of spell. It killed every earth witch in the village.’

Her lip trembles as she leans down to write in the dirt.

My Dad?

‘He didn’t make it.’

She visibly pales and loses her balance. My roots keep her upright as she begins to furiously shake her head.

‘Cole has sided with Neve. He helped her kill the coven.’

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