Page 47 of Maiming
An eerie calm steadies the rapid beating of my heart and a smile carves my lips. I want her to know how pathetically awful she’ll be for the rest of her ugly existence.
“Someday some poor shifter is going to mate with you, Brylee. He’ll put up with you and he’ll try to love you but he never truly will.” Magic cackles in my palm, demanding to be released. Her attention flickers to the sparking white color flickering in my hand. “Just know that Kain would have. Kain would have tried to love you every day. He wouldn’t have given up because he’s just not the type. So, I want to thank you for screwing up so monumentally. Without you and without your disgusting little flaws, I never would have met these perfect men. I never would have gotten to call them mine.”
Because they are. They’remine.
Her mouth thins as she opens it to sneer another offensive thing. But I cut her off.
“I’ll be here for another month. I’ll be here until the mating ceremony. While I’m here…” My gaze lifts to her father behind her before lower down to look at her big eyes. “…don’t draw attention to yourself. Don’t throw out your judgmental fucking hate everywhere. Because someday that nasty mouth of yours is going to get you hurt, Brylee.” The fuming magic in my fingers snaps out in a slash of color. It strikes against the ground right at her feet. A shrieking cry slips out of her as she backs up against her father’s chest.
I never even blink.
She walks away with storming steps. And I don’t see her for the remainder of the long and happy festival.
It’s a perfect birthday. And now I know it’s going to be a perfect month ahead of us too.
Fifteen
Deadly Magic
That night,I hear her voice a moment before I wake. A chill runs down my spine, alerting me to something I can’t see but I can feel all around me.
Petty threats do nothing, Arlow. Actions. Actions are what define us. Let me show you what you should have done. Let me show you the errors of your ways.
My head tilts as I realize, I’m not dreaming. Her voice is in my mind like my own rational thought. From beneath the pile of protective shifters, I shove out of the blankets. Kain groans as I push out from under him. Chaos and Rime sleep soundly. Quietly I step out into the hall.
Silence streams through the darkness of Myla’s house. Not a noise is heard. My steps are slow as I cross the floor through the living room and I pause there next to Sinister. His eyes open the moment I’m in front of him. His crimson eyes shine in the shadows.
“What are you doing, Arrie?” His gruff voice waves slightly as if he’s more worried than his smooth features portray.
“I don’t know.” Confusion swells within me. It’s an intuition, I think. It’s … I know exactly what it is.
It’s magic.
Sometimes I’m head strong and sometimes I’m a down right idiot, but I’m not stupid enough to walk out blindly to the voice that’s calling to me in the dead of night.
“Will you come with me?” My messy mind finally clears, and my gaze settles back onto the loyal demon.
“Yeah.” He stands and searches the darkness for his shirt. “Just give me a minute and we can go do whatever it is you need to do.”
His voice sounds far off as her words circle my mind once more about what I should have done.
And then I’m walking toward the sound of it. The door opens as if my own hand isn’t the one turning the knob.
“Arlow, wait.” Sinister’s stumbling after me into the night, just as barefoot as I am. “Fuck, it’s freezing out here. Are you out of your mind? Arlow, what are you doing?” And on and on his voice drones, but the words are a swaying sound.
My thin skirt shifts against my thighs and my feet lead me to a feeling that’s pulling through the air. Soft cold flakes fall from the sky. They lie thickly along the ground, gathering up with each snowflake that slips down from the heavens.
I don’t even notice though. All I feel is the magic around me. Inside me. It’s like a line of life that I can’t see, but I feel it like it’s wrapped around my soul and double knotted. A white puff of air slips across my dry lips and I stop the moment I see her.
Big eyes are filled with fear when she finally looks at me.
“Arlow? It’s you, isn’t it? It was your voice. You’re the one doing this. I should have known.” Brylee’s lip curls with disgust but her hands shake at her sides, a telling sign of the distress that’s wrecking her slender body. “Did you lure me out here to kill me? Just like you did Natalie? That’s impressive. Makes you feel like a worthy mate, doesn’t it? Lashing out at human women. I may be human, but I’m deserving. At least I’m not a fucking murder like you.”
“That’s enough.” Sinister takes a step forward, but he’s too late.
Her scream tears out of her throat and her body curls in on itself. Bones crack and crumple and as she sinks to the white snowy ground with a cry of agony I drop down right along with her. My eyes are wide, my hands extended but unsure of what to do.
“Don’t—Don’t touch her.” Sinister’s body wraps around me, his arms holding mine down at my sides. “This is something powerful. We shouldn’t be here.” His body pulls at mine, but my feet refuse to move. “Arrie, let’s go. Get the fuck up.”
