Page 66 of Hers to Claim

“Yes, but this doesn’t feel like that. This feels like nothing.”

Kima gestured for silence and took out her phone. She glanced over a few messages and then met Mari’s eyes. “Dash says he can’t feel anything either.”

Mari let out a sigh. At least it wasn’t something that she was doing wrong. “So what’s the plan now?”

Kima tucked the phone in her jacket pocket and then started undoing her pants. “Plan is mostly the same. I go in and look for the witch. Nara flies overwatch. You lot stay out here.”

When her jeans hit the ground, she stripped out of her shirt and jacket. Her clothes and Nara’s went into a bag at her feet that Rio slung over his shoulder. Neither of them were the slightest bit put out by being naked—shifters were like that.

“I’ll send Nara back once the coast is clear. The other group will be pushing in from their side.” Kima transformed into a huge lion in a flash of magic that smelled of warm spices. The lion’s jaws stretched into a gaping yawn.

Nara leapt into the air and shifted into her bird form on the way down with a surging flap of wings that generated enough lift to climb swiftly.

The two of them moved toward the building where according to Halcyon Vincent had set up. They only managed to get ahandful of feet away before they were engulfed completely by shadows.

“Fuck, shadow trap.” Rio dropped her hand as he whirled around. On every side of them the shadows closed in.

Mari fell into blackness. Alone.

Chapter 20

Mari fell for whatseemed like a very long time. But the strange part, aside from that she couldn’t see anything at all in the blackness that surrounded her, was that she didn’t seem to be accelerating. She fell at a constant pace. The wind barely disturbed her hair.

Eventually, she landed on her feet. Not in the jarring way that she expected after falling so long, just as if she’d dropped down from a step. The darkness persisted for a few seconds, and then began to clear.

The room around her was dim and piled with wooden crates in stacks a dozen feet high. Rio and Dante were flanking her, both looking as confused as she felt. Before them was the tall and beautiful form of Vincent, smiling radiantly at them. Next to him stood a man dressed all in black with slicked back hair who Mari guessed must be the shadow witch from the black tendrils that snaked around him.

Dante reacted first, trying to get between her and Vincent, but the seraphim lifted a hand casually and tsked. Dante froze in his tracks, though it was obvious he was still straining to move.“None of that now,” Vincent said in his deep and melodious voice.

Rio leapt into action next, but Grim took care of him, wrapping Rio in cords of shadow that were as thick as his arm. Both of them continued to struggle, but there was nothing either of them could do.

“Their loyalty to you is amusing.” Vincent sent a vicious smile her way. “It will be such fun to use that against you.”

Mari swallowed, determined to not let her fear show. “If you let them go, I’ll do whatever you want.”

Rio sent her a pained look, but couldn’t speak because one of the shadow arms had circled his neck and covered his mouth.

Vincent chortled. “My dear, you’ll do what I want because if you don’t I’ll flay the skin off them and make you watch. Over and over.”

She had wanted to get Dante and Rio clear before she attacked, but that clearly wasn’t going to be possible. She hissed in a quick breath, and then struck with her magic, going after the shadow witch first. He was surprised enough by her attack that he dropped Rio, moving his shadows in her direction all at once.

The moment Rio’s feet hit the ground, he sprang, his hands wrapping around Grim’s throat. Now that the shadow witch was taken care of, she turned her attention to Vincent.

He grinned at her, completely unperturbed. With a flick of his hand, he sent Grim and Rio both tumbling away from him and into a stack of crates. The pile collapsed and a few large crates fell on top of them. She knew Rio could take a knock like that, and she didn’t care about the witch in the slightest.

She focused every bit of her magic on the threat in front of her. Gritting her teeth, she pushed at him, trying to knock him from his feet. Her magic parted around him and dissipated in a harmless swirl.

“Is that really all you’ve got, little girl?” Vincent teased. “The tricks of these earthbound witches? I thought I had seen a glimmer of something great in you.” He sighed. “But perhaps I was wrong.”

Dante fell to the ground in a heap beside her. Her heart climbed into her throat, nearly choking her.

He made a bored gesture and slapped Mari in the face with his magic, making her head snap to the left. His power was cold and impersonal, and she resisted the urge to cringe away.

She wanted to hide somewhere he’d never find her. He was too powerful. She should just kneel before him now and beg for forgiveness. Maybe he would spare her life.

With a start, she realized that thought hadn’t been her own. It was something he was doing to her. She tried to fight back against it, but the terror held her magic in a vice. Her magic didn’t feed off of those negative emotions, especially when they were hers.

But she knew someone who did. Balling her hands into fists, she called to Dohal. She poured every bit of desperation she felt into the sending, every bit of fear that haunted her.

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