Page 106 of The Witch's Heart
Declan and Dean both move to assist Logan, to attack, but Cutter pauses long enough to point his finger at them and whisper a handful of words under his breath. In an instant, both wolves go completely still.
Their bodies strain and a desperate whine rises into their closed mouths, but whatever he’s done has effectively restrained them.
“No!”
My own scream rips from my throat and I jump to my feet, hurling myself at the monster-turned-man. But I don’t get far before Cutter whispers something else and a blast of magic slams into me too. I’m driven back into the hood of a car and the wind is knocked from my lungs. When I try to renew my attack, my feet stick to the street beneath me.
I stare at my legs in horror as I realize what has happened.
Cutter has magic.
He’s not only a vampire. Somehow, he’s also a witch.
“How?” I choke out, but Cutter’s gone back to his deadly dance with Logan. The two of them spin and leap like they’re both principals in some sort of murderous ballet. I hold my breath, terrified Cutter will use his magic to freeze Logan too, but he doesn’t. And I realize when I catch sight of his maniacal smirk, he wants this fight. He wants to destroy Logan using brute strength--like Logan did to his men inside.
I struggle to break free, calling up my magic to cut through his, but nothing works. How is it possible that Cutter has magic? I think back over all I know, but there was never any hint before.
A heavy grunt sounds and I jerk my attention back to the fight. Logan stands with Cutter behind him. Cutter’s arm is around his neck, a single finger pointed at Logan’s throat. Cutter’s nail is elongated, tipped sharply like a claw. He presses it into Logan’s skin until my breath catches and I yell, “Stop.”
Cutter’s eyes dance. “Here we are again, little witch. Same place we were before. You have something I need.”
“Let him go,” I say.
“Give me back my wolves.”
Declan and Dean both growl through closed lips.
“How do you have magic?” I ask, trying to understand.
We escapedLe Rêveonly to end up here. It’s heartbreaking in the most macabre and ironic kind of way.
“You gave me a parting gift during our last moments atLe Rêve. Don’t you remember?”
His smile is smug, infuriatingly so. My heart hammers in my chest because it’s clear he thinks he’s won. Maybe he has. So far, my magic has yet to eat through whatever spell he’s cast to hold me here.
“My blood,” I say. “The experiments.”
He nods, expression lit and I know he’s enjoying this moment. The slow dawning and the pleasure he takes out of watching it hurt me.
“You were my greatest prize. Daughter of the new moon coven. Genevieve’s blood. Her heart could only sustain me so much longer but with your blood, infused with the blood of your toys, here, it made me so much stronger than I ever dreamed. You helped me figure out the last piece of the puzzle.”
His gaze flicks to Declan and Dean.
“And now, with your blood, I can finish this.”
“What makes you think I would ever help you again?”
He smiles. “Love is a weakness, little witch. And here you’ve gone and fallen for all three of these vessels. Now,” he respositions himself, pressing his sharpened claw harder against Logan’s throat, “If you want to save this one, give me the wolves.”
Fear burns in my gut. I look at Logan who’s standing perfectly still, not because of magic, but because one wrong move would tear his artery wide open. He meets my eyes and there’s so much sadness and longing in him.
“Don’t do it,” he says quietly. “Just let me go.”
“You know I can’t do that,” I say.
A tear slips down my cheek, but I can’t lift my hand to wipe it away. Dean and Declan whine as if they know it’s there without even looking.
As if they, too, feel the pain about this choice I must make.
