Page 47 of Shackled to the World
Chapter Thirteen
The smirks slid off their faces. Two of the witches panicked and backed away, while the lead female and the single male lifted their hands, spells sparking along their fingers. The only one who didn’t react, besides the widening of her eyes, was the witch standing in the back.
Smoke curled around Mason, snaking up his legs to wrap around him. Sparks flared where the particles ate away the magic.
“Do you feel that, Brittney?” The male held out his hands as if he could feel the magic, a tiny bit of awe on his face, which was quickly replaced by greed.
Just when Brittney held out her hands, a wisp of smoke curled up, then lashed out at the guy, quickly coating the tips of his fingers black.
They both jerked back, the guy hissing as he tried to scrape off the black gunk, but it was like his fingers were stained. “What the fuck is that?”
He glared, taking a threatening step toward her, when the black fog rose threateningly between them.
“You’re such a child, Brad. Suck it up.” Brittney huffed in annoyance and flapped her hands at him. “It’s your own fault for touching that shit.” She eyed the dark particles avidly, then dragged her attention away. “Give me the book and we’ll leave you alone.”
Magic reverberated in the air, the words echoing loudly. The spell slammed into Annora, hitting her chest hard enough to knock the air out of her. The compulsion to obey crawled over her, seeking a way to infect her. The darkness from the afterworld lashed out, curling around the magic and crushing it, sending glitter fluttering to the ground as it sucked all the energy out of the spell.
“You fucking bitch.” Annora could feel the dark particles play with her fingers, weaving in and out of them, eager to devour the witches and teach them a lesson. “Did you really think it would be so easy?”
The spell around Mason fractured, and the dread holding her hostage eased, reducing her need to kill them and leave their carcasses behind as a warning. “My guess is that you have about two minutes to leave before Mason breaks free and hunts you down like vermin.”
Brittney scowled, while Brad hiked up his chin in defiance, as if he thought he could take a troll and survive.
“Give it up, Brit.” The girl in the back crossed her arms. “She’s not going to buy your bullshit, especially when you iced her friend and tried to spell her. You were told to befriend her, not make her our enemy. Hetty and Suesette are going to be so pissed.” She laughed gleefully, clearly eager to witness the upcoming smackdown.
“Like you could do any better, freak.” If looks could kill, the girl sticking up for her and Mason would drop dead.
The freak lifted her hands and shrugged like she didn’t give a shit. Her blue hair was cut like a bob, only it was short in the back and longer in the front, the strands brushing her jaw. “I didn’t want to be here in the first place, and I wouldn’t be if I wasn’t ordered. You fucked up. Any chance of you getting the book is gone.”
Brittney looked homicidal, but when Mason tore free with a roar, she whirled back, her magic swirling in the air.
Annora pressed her small palm against Mason’s chest. To her surprise, he stopped. With a wave of her arm, a plume of black particles soaring through the air like a swarm of bugs. “Try it again. Let’s see if you survive.”
Brittney narrowed her eyes, as if seriously contemplating the challenge, when Brad swore. “Fuck—I can’t access my magic!”
Brittney and her goons glanced at him, then to the blackness that still stained his fingers.
“You did this to me.” Brad took a threatening step toward Annora, then hastily retreated when the dark particles rose like a beast ready to strike. “Fix it.”
Annora crossed her arms, able to feel Mason practically breathing down her neck with the need to pulverize the threat. If she concentrated, she could feel the afterworld feeding off his magic, slowly draining him with each pump of his heart.
“I really don’t see why it’s my problem.” She didn’t flinch under their glares. “I want your word, under magical oath, that you will keep your distance from me and my people.”
Brittney crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. “Fuck you.”
Before Annora could do anything, Brad grabbed Brittney by the throat with his infected hand. “Your word—or I’ll snap your scrawny neck, you bitch.”
Her blue eyes bulged, hatred burning in them, but she relented with a small nod. When his hand loosened from around her neck, Brittney coughed, glaring at Annora and Brad the whole time. It took only a few minutes for four of the witches to give their oath, their magic sparking in the air, binding them.
As soon as they finished speaking, the sludge painting Brad’s fingers flaked and floated away like ash on the breeze. Then the witches were spun on their heels and forcefully marched away by their own magic.
All except for the girl they called freak, who lingered behind. “A word of warning…the witches won’t give up. They want your magic too much to just let you go. And you might want to watch out for Brad. Male witches are rare, which makes him a spoiled brat. He won’t take kindly to you beating and humiliating him today.” An evil smile crept over the girl’s face. “Although I have to say I enjoyed it immensely.”
A wisp of fog reached for the girl, brushed against her boot, then seemed to disintegrate and fall back to the ground.
It didn’t see her as a threat.
“Why warn me?” The fact that this one warned them didn’t make her less dangerous.
