Page 33 of Cruel Revenge
“But I do love you. Please give me a chance. We can really talk about this, Carey,” Courtney went back to trying to reach for her. It was Courtney’s blatant lie that made me focus again, knowing I was going to talk to Carey once we left. I almost started moving to stop Courtney from trying to grab her, but Carey stood up, shaking her head as she got out of reach.
“Stop trying to touch me. You don’t get to touch me,” Carey said, glaring.
“Carey,please!” The smell of Courtney’s desperation was overwhelming. “Why don’t we go for a walk and talk privately?”
“No,” I snapped. “That won’t be happening.”
“She’s not your daughter!” Courtney screeched. “She’s mine, and if I want to talk to her alone, you have no right to stop me!”
“Carey, we’re leaving,” I said quickly, standing up.
“No!” Courtney grabbed a glass and threw it, sending glass everywhere as she went into a full-blown tantrum over the dinner not going her way. “Carey isn’t leaving with you!”
Carey started walking toward me fast.
“You can’t take her!” Courtney tried once again to grab Carey, but I reached out and caught the woman’s wrist first, yanking her close to me to meet my stare.
“I’ll break every bone in your body if you try to touch her again,” I snarled.
Courtney broke under the ferocity of my stare, my gold eyes bright enough to reflect perfectly in her pupils.
“I need her!” Courtney whimpered.
Those words brought a pit to my stomach.
The desperation is real.
That was when the smell of magic also hit my nose as Courtney’s eyes narrowed, even through the woman’s fear and pain.
“Carey, run!” I roared. I shoved Courtney away to get to Carey, but found myself halted by a tight grip on my neck. It came from nowhere. I felt nothing except the pressure of its hold.
With Carey staring wide-eyed at me, I was yanked back hard, unable to process what was happening, confusion and fear reigning supreme as I slammed into the far wall away from Carey.
“Jacky!” Carey’s screech pierced through the bang of my impact, which knocked the air out of me. Once I could breathe, I roared as I tried to claw at whatever held my neck, only for my nails to hit my own skin.
“RUN!” I roared again, kicking against the wall, but unable to move, magic the only thing I could smell now.
Carey was paralyzed, and there was nothing I could do as I saw two SUVs screech into the parking lot and stop right at the door of the restaurant, one jumping the curb onto the sidewalk around the building. Courtney was reaching for Carey, grabbing her wrist. I screamed louder as I struggled, trying to free myself, but only making myself bleed more since there was nothing to grab. Carey, my beautiful tough girl, punched her biological mother in the face, and Courtney screamed in pain as her head snapped back from the hit. That was when Carey started to run.
“LEAVE HER ALONE!” I screamed as Carey tried to get out of the building, only to face the people who got out of the SUVs outside.
“JACKY!” she screamed as two masked assailants grabbed her arms, ignoring her attempts to defend herself by overwhelming her. She was kicking, attempting to pull herself away. She bit someone’s hand that tried to cover her mouth.
“NO—”
Whatever was on my neck grew tighter, cutting off my airflow, choking my scream.
“Enough screaming,” a familiar, but different voice said. I looked desperately, trying to see who it was, and horror stunned me to see the witch from Alaska. Not a projection this time, but in the flesh. With an impatient look, he had his hand held up in the exact position needed to grab a throat and squeeze. Exactly what was happening to my throat.
I kicked the wall, trying to shove off it, but his magic refused to bend at all.
“You and your dog aren’t the only ones who know how to take things from others,” he said, squeezing a little tighter, causing me to start trying to gasp for air as breathing became difficult. “While there may be no witches like your mother, that doesn’t mean there aren’t witches far more powerful than you can comprehend. You are inferior to me. All of you are inferior tome. It’s time for the rest of your kind, including that flea-bitten, mangy mutt of a lover you have, to learn that.” He stepped closer, squeezing harder. Spots showed up in my vision. “You took my things. Now, I’m taking yours.”
“JA— MMMF!”
Looking back at Carey, I could see they finally got a gag on her, wrapping it around her head to silence her. She was still fighting. They couldn’t secure her arms as they dragged her to the SUV. She was giving them a hell of a fight. She kicked everyone who grabbed at her legs, hitting someone hard enough in the jaw that they fell back into the restaurant’s door, then on their ass. Heath had taught her how to defend herself so well. Anyone else would have been whisked away so much faster.
And I was trapped, dying as I watched her be taken from me. As she fought, I couldn’t.
