Page 27 of Claim the Twilight
Her heart beat hard and fast, her scent tinged with a bitter tang. “I’m sorry you had to see?—”
“Don’t.” She squeezed me harder. “You’re alive, and the bastards that hurt you are dead. That’s all that matters.”
Not all of them. Not Jacqueline… “Did you find Jacqueline?”
“Yeah.” Holly stepped back as we broke the hug, and a rumpled, disheveled Jacqueline shuffled into the room.
My mind flashed back to the underground chamber. I was back in the death chair, pulse pounding so hard and fast it was one continuous beat, and rising above the rush of blood in my head was Jacqueline’s voice. Chanting. Summoning. Sealing my death warrant.
My vision bled to crimson. Heat lashed through me. The world slowed down. When it sped up again, I had my hand around the witch’s throat.
Chapter 12
ORINA
Jacqueline’s eyes bugged as my hand tightened around her slender throat. A spike of satisfaction lanced through me.
“No! Orina, stop!”
“Let her go.”
Jacqueline clawed at my hand, her eyes bright with terror. I could end her now. One hard squeeze and I’d crush her windpipe. One twist of my wrist and I could snap her neck. Or I could do both. She deserved it. Deserved to die for what she’d done, not just to me, but to the people of this city. She’d helped to unleash evil.
Killing her would be justice.
I gritted my teeth, eyes burning with the primal desire to mete out justice.
But I wasn’t a murderer.
Not yet.
I released her abruptly, and she fell to her knees, hands clutching her throat as she wheezed and coughed.
A cold calm settled over me as I looked down at her. “You’d better have something useful to tell us or I’ll throw you to the wolves in Silverwood Forest.”
She dragged herself to her feet. “There’s an artifact that Micah and Christian were searching for. It contains the only power that might be able to rival Loviator. I heard them talking about it. I’m not sure what the power is, but the artifact was supposed to be traded at the boat house the night of the blaze that killed most of the Order operatives under Padma’s command…”
“The teapot,” Kaster said.
“Teapot?” Jacqueline frowned at him.
“It’s the artifact,” Padma replied.
Jacqueline looked from Kaster to Padma. “You have it?”
“We do,” Padma said. “But the thing inside got out.”
But it wasn’t gone. It had an attraction to Padma. “Have you felt him at all the last couple of days?”
She shook her head.
“What are you talking about?” Jacqueline asked. “Tell me, and I might be able to help.”
The sound of her voice grated on my nerves, but I bit back my revulsion and replied. “There was a spirit in the teapot. He got free.”
“Then we need to find him. He’s our only hope against Loviator. He’s the answer to stopping her. He must have the power.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Padma said. “He’s weakened. He told me that he needed to recharge.”
