Page 59 of Her Blood Revenge

The ancient earth god. Those are his stars. His constellations. They mark the end of summer and welcome our winter solstice. It’s an excellent time for the Earth Coven when we can rejuvenate our magic.

I look back at Neve. At the arch. The bones begin to bleed, and in the distance, the sky erupts in flames, and the air fills with screams and snarls.

A child-like giggling has me turning, and suddenly, I’m standing in the endless halls of the castle. I walk along each one, desperately trying to find the source of that laugh. I know it. I remember it well. It carried in the air when I died.

Ahead, a pink dress and a whisp of long blonde hair disappear around the corner.

‘Catch me if you can, baby blood witch,’ Sinthia teases.

Her sickly sweet voice brings bile to my throat, but I follow, unable to resist. Everything moves in slow motion. My body feels like I’m running through water.

A dream. I know it’s a dream.

One not controlled by Shaw, as his dreams are crafted much better and more realistically.

And much nicer.

I turn the corner and come face to face with Sinthia. Blood spills from the open gash in her stomach. Intestines and other lumps of organs I don’t know the names of hang out, dripping blood to the stone floor. My toes wiggle. It’s cold and thick.

Sheholds her childish smile and flutters her lashes as she looks at me.

Her right hand reaches out to a closed door, and she pushes it open.

Sinthia descends the stairs beyond, humming a tune. I follow, taking each step slowly. Below, a stone slab lies before me.

Sinthia lies atop it. All around her are lit candles. The room has no window, but a soft light similar to sunlight surrounds us. It’s blissfully warm, and the smell of spring fills the air. I walk around her, stopping by the top of her head.

She opens her mouth to speak.

She can’t.

I rest my hand on her head.

In the blink of an eye, the room is plunged into darkness. I scream and stagger back, horrified to see the decaying corpse of Sinthia lying on the slab. The smell of spring is gone, replaced with the stench of death. Flies buzz around her rotting flesh. Her head is severed, resting an inch from the rest of her body.

Slamming my hand over my mouth, I resist the urge to vomit.

Thisis no dream.Thisis real.

And down here is the same place the guys brought me to speak to the dead earth witch. It’s where they killed my father and Kieran.

It’s their cellar where they held me captive.

I must have walked here in my sleep.

I look at Sinthia. Her skin is a mottled grey with patches of green around the torn parts of her flesh. I wretch andlook away, utterly disgusted. The fresh air from above drifts down the stairs, luring me out.

But I get a thought. An urge.

I step closer, looking down at her. The bitch who tormented Archie. Who tried to kill me. Who slaughtered countless in her pursuit of power.

The blonde one. They left the blonde one but took the brunette.

I thought they were talking about Thalia, who is also rotting in one of these rooms down here.

But they meant her.

And the brunette…

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