Page 48 of Maiming
I shove him away and he stumbles too easily beneath my touch. Because he’ll never force me to do anything I don’t want to. And I know it.
My fingers tremble and the way her body is contorting in bizarre angles is hard to look at. My stomach turns and I think I might be sick, but I force the power out of my palms in steady waves. I have no idea what entity is causing this. I only know what the end result will be.
All I can do is ease her pain. That silence ripping scream of hers dies against her quivering lips the moment my calming magic sinks into her. My chest hurts. It hurts so fucking bad from all the sickened and pitying emotions I’m locking away within it, but I ignore the way my stomach turns with thickness and my chest tightens with terror.
I hated Brylee but no one deserves this.
I feel the way my magic is mixing with the darker energy of whatever else is twirling in her frail body. It’s a dense and revolting tangle of dark magic and no matter how hard I try, it claws up into me.
My eyes close the moment I feel it enter my chest.
And then there’s only the quiet of the night.
Until there’s not.
“What the hell did you do?”
Carlin’s eyes never leave his daughter’s still and contorted body. My hands lower at my side slowly, reassuring him that I’m not a threat.
Despite how badly I look like one in this terribly poorly timed moment.
“She didn’t—” Sinister’s words are cut off so quickly I barely have time to react.
“You fucking killed her.” It’s the last thing the cool and calm Lord says before his body collides into mine.
Big hands close around my throat. The stars I admired so much just days ago become spotted with the disorientation of my vision. My nails sink into his cheeks and I shove at the crazed shifter. I can’t focus on how wide his erratic eyes are dilated. Or the way his arms tremble with so much reckless strength.
I’m focused entirely on controlling the rising power within me. The foreign dark magic that’s swirling inside me rears up, and I know if I don’t tramp it back down this crazy mother fucker will burn me at the stake just for my title as a mage.
I have to control myself. I have to keep my innocence. I have to remain calm. I cannot fight back with magic. It will not end well for me. I can’t do it.
Even as he tries to murder me with his bare hands.
The grip around my neck scrapes against my skin as he’s hauled off of me. Stinging breath meets my lungs. Water streams down the side of my face as I blink up at those shining beautiful stars.
My head tilts and all I can see is the steely strength that’s contracting the hard muscles of Kain’s bare back. His fists hold his leader up by the wrinkled collar of his shirt. The tightness of Kain’s jaw clenches harder as he tips his chin up to Carlin.
“Do noteverput your. Fucking. Hands. On. Her.” The seething sound of his voice cracks with uncontrollable rage.
Rime lowers himself at my side, pulling me up against his chest as we both stare, wondering if Kain is seconds away from murdering the village’s alpha male.
“Kain put him down.” Chaos’ tone is calm and he inches closer but he never touches Kain.
When I look up, I realize how many people are standing around us.
Several dozen people crowd around me, Rime, and the dead girl who I hate.
“It was her,” someone whispers.
“She killed her,” another person hisses.
On and on those assaulting accusations swirl around me, lashing at my exposed skin as I shiver against Rime’s chest. Sinister stands a few feet away and he takes a single step closer to me, but I shake my head at him.
I’ve been accused before. I’ve been burned at the stake—not that they succeeded with that burning. And they’ll take anyone associated with me. The knot in my stomach tightens so hard that I think I might vomit.
I tried so hard to be a better person. I tried so fucking hard to hide all the ugly battered parts of myself. And for a second—for a single shining second—life was perfect. Only for it to come crashing down around me.
Slowly Kain lowers Lord Carlin. The man’s knees wobble when his feet touch the ground and his blinking eyes stay focused straight ahead, never once managing to look to the right where his daughter lies. His chest shudders as he takes uneven breath after uneven breath.
