Page 48 of A Bloodline Redeemed

“Lovell,”the dark thing whispered, as I started to feel what might be an actual ear.“Remember who you are.Lovell.They all want to possess you.They are all terrified of you.Because deep down, the part of them that is prey recognizes an apex predator when they are near one.”

I shuddered.Only then realizing that Icouldshudder.I was still hungry.Still drinking from the bright lines of power and lifeforce that grounded me.But I had a body.Heavy and cold.Resting on the cold, hard ground.

I pulled again at the tethers I could sense in my mind’s eye.Lifelines.I drew on the power, on the magic, until I felt strong enough to finally,finallyreach my own.

And then I pulled some more.

The hunger.The magical deprivation.The fuckingsoulhunger.It drove me to soak up every bit of power around me, then reach inside.Deep.Deeper.Into a bottomless well that wasmine.The thing I had always been so afraid to claim.I reached down into the shadowy well and wrapped my hand around it, taking hold of my dark inheritance.

My witch.The dark voice inside my head faded as I drew in a sudden, harsh, gasping breath and sat up, my eyes flying open and seven new lifebonds snapping into place without discussion or consent.

I was alive.I was awake.

And I was fuckingpissed!

Someone was going to die.They were all going to die.

I would burn the world down.

Chapter 28

River

Idroppedoutofmydozenth attempt to alter time, my knees hitting the rough pavement.Exhaustion made my muscles weak and my vision blurry.No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop that fucking spell from hitting Oleander Lovell.It was targeted somehow.It would seek her out wherever I managed to move her, ripping through whichever of her mates or other bystanders might be in the way, custom made for our witch.

Blood magic, probably.At some point, these assholes had obtained Lovell blood and used it to attune their weapon, hone it for maximum effectiveness.Because without Andy, all the powerful monsters around her were useless, frozen with pain and despair.

“Are you finished now?”a smooth, angry voice demanded.Waves of heat lapped against my body as I forced myself to look up at the jinn, squinting to get my eyes to focus.He was in a glorious rage, every inch of his lithe, compact dancer’s body outlined in a thin halo of fire.

“Yes,” I managed, my voice barely a croak of sound from all the exasperated yelling I’d done the first half-dozen or so times my attempts to save Andy went horribly wrong.

I didn’t ask the Aahil how he knew what I’d been doing.Usually people missed it, but there were subtle cues.And he might act like a shallow brat ninety percent of the time, but the jinn was extremely powerful and in tune with the magic around him—perceptive of others and his surroundings, even if he wasn’t always so perceptive of what was going on inside himself.

I swayed in place and shook my head, trying to pull myself back from a fuzzy mental tangent about insight, and sensitivity, and articles I’d read about trauma…

Searing fingers wrapped around my wrist, jolting me out of my thoughts and back to the present.“They are trying to bring her back,” he snapped, giving my arm a yank.“Come.Use your luck magic.”

I sighed, feeling like every bone in my body had been sapped of energy.Use my magic.Sure.Right.As if it were that simple.Piece of fucking cake.

The warm hand that gripped my wrist squeezed so hard my bones ground together, his fire magic surging, and I was pretty sure I was in danger of having my hand amputated at the wrist if the jinn burned any hotter.“Now!”

The imperious tone of voice didn’t hide the desperation boiling under the surface.And it was a desperation we all shared.So, despite feeling like I might fall over, I shoved myself to my feet and let the little fireball drag me the few feet to Andy’s side.

My legs gave out again and I dropped down beside her, across from where Elijah knelt, holding Dyre’s limp body in his lap.“Fuck,” I said, rubbing a hand over my face.Jumping through time over and over had scrambled my brain.I thought this was the timeline where Dyrehadn’tbeen blasted by the curse on its way to Andy…

“He’s inside her,” Elijah whispered.His deep, rich voice echoed oddly, kind of similar to the way Dyre’s did when Sunshine spoke… but Elijah’s voice wasn’t creepy.It was resonant and warm, and it sent weird pulses through me, like… frissons of joy… which was completely wrong in this situation.But still, hewasan angel.Was this angelic magic at work?I’d never felt anything like it.I stared at him, not blinking, as my mind spun with questions and possibilities.

Heat flared at the back of my neck, Aahil’s searing fingers squeezing the muscles there, again yanking me back into the present.“Focus, idiot!If she dies, I will burn you alive.Slowly.”

“Aahil,” Zhong muttered in warning.

But I waved a hand, dismissing his concern.If anything, the jinn’s threats were keeping me conscious and in the here and now, when the strain of magic depletion wanted to drag me under.“I can’t do anything, Aahil,” I said, my heart aching at the admission.“I’ve tried.I can’t fix this.”I reached out and took one of Andy’s pale, icy hands in mine, not fearing the curse.It had been made just for her.It was no danger to me.

Tears pooled in my eyes for the dozenth time in the last few minutes.Damn it.She didn’t deserve to die like this.If she evendiddie all the way.If the stupid cult leader’s taunts were true, Andy would be trapped inside, a decaying remnant of her soul stuck inside the corpse, forever.Death would be ablessingcompared to that.

I shook my head, immediately denying the thought.I didn’t mean that!I told whatever was listening—the universe, some deity or other, my luck magic.I wouldn’t want anyone thinking that death was the solution.

“Dosomething!”Aahil insisted, gripping the back of my shirt and giving me a little shake by the ruff, like a misbehaving dog.“Make sure the wraith can reach her.”

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