Page 112 of When Bones Whisper
Desperate to get away from the sharp buzz of energy zapping through the evil, she crawled out between shadowy silhouettes and landed on the floorboards. Her energy drained quickly, but she didn’t plan on going far. Just being out of that dark void was enough. The darkness inside of their crawled over her skin. She could sense their desires. Demons were twisted beings and the ones imprisoned in that mirror were the worst of them all. If they got out, then no one would be safe.
Duke’s meow jolted through her. Feline yellow eyes spotted Charlotte through the veil. Duke meowed when she reached him, and ghosted her fingers over his fur, which stood on end at her touch.
Dust motes floated in the orange hue of the candlestick as Nathaniel climbed inside, his sharp jaw clenching when he looked around at the stacks of old books and fading portraits.
Nathaniel looked right through her, but her familiar’s loud meow halted him before he could reach the mirror.
“Is she here?” he asked, kneeling to stroke Duke between his ears.
Duke meowed again, this time louder, his tail flicking in the air.
“Where?”
Nathaniel tracked his eyes to her ghost, and he stood, his expression crumpling. “I amsosorry, love. I am, but I’m here now and we have a plan. Katherine is going to help us. I found her brother, held captive by the Avery witches,” he explained, as if sensing her protest from the other side. “She will do what we ask.”
A loud creak sounded behind him. Katherine pulled her way up the ladder, and climbed onto the floor on all fours, before standing and brushing the dust from her dress.
The temperature immediately dropped several degrees as rage coursed through Charlotte’s body.That treacherous cow.
She raked her fingers through her golden curls, catching her breath. “Is she here?”
“Yes.”
Katherine eyed Duke. “I assume he led you here.”
“Not the first time. I could feel her.”
Her lashes flickered. “The bond is broken.”
“I don’t need any damned bond to feel her. I know she is here.”
“Are you certain?” Katherine asked, her upper lip twitching.
“I could tell the moment I saw her beautiful green eyes, that it was not my Charlotte,” he stated, and her heart swelled.
Charlotte’s fingers whispered over the nape of his neck, and he shivered under the touch. “Is that you, love?” She touched him again, and his brows pinched together, his forehead wrinkling horizontal lines.
Katherine rolled her eyes and let out a weighty sigh, only turning her head when Alexander ascended the ladder behind her.
“I am disappointed in you the most, Alexander,” she said, turning to face him. “I’m forced into being here, but you’re willing to go to all this trouble for some girl he got his cock wet for.”
In a blur, Nathaniel’s hand was around her throat, pinning her to the wall, her head angled under the low, slanted ceiling. “One more word from your mouth, and I will tear out your wretched tongue. Understood?”
She nodded and he released her, her legs crumpling beneath her as she landed with a thud. Spluttering and coughing, she stood, brushing the dust from her purple gown. “Now get on with it, before that thing possessing my beloved’s body wakes up and discovers us up here.”
“It’s not as easy as that,” Katherine remarked.
“If you want to see your brother again, you will find a way.”
Alexander subtly shook his head in Katherine’s direction when she opened her mouth to protest, and Charlotte noticed theway Nathaniel’s eyes darkened, untamed power shimmering behind them.
“That mirror,” she said, pointing at the glass, “is locked with blood magic. Only a witch in her bloodline can unlock it, and the demon controlling her body isn’t going to do it.”
Alexander strode to the oval frame, running his fingers over the ornate metal. “What about an exorcism?”
Her brows rose. “You cannot be serious.”
“Mirrors have been used for centuries to trap demons. This one should be no different. If anything, it would be more powerful.”
