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  The details of what he was saying escaped me as I honed in on this one, pervading fact.

  The man I loved, didn’t love me.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” I whispered, wiping a tear that dripped down my face.

  “It actually wasn’t too hard, Blair.” He was getting cocky now. “When I met you, you were like a lost puppy—just begging for anyone to take you in. Give you a family like you never had. Love you for what you were.” He sneered. “You made it too easy.”

  “You’re sick.”

  He scowled. “What was sick was dating you.”

  “Then why did you say you were going to propose, huh? Why did you keep asking me to try to turn you? If your ‘orders’ were just to date me, why did you keep trying to take things to the next level?”

  He shifted nervously on his feet and his eyes darted to the woods, as if afraid that someone else might here.

  “I had to make you feel safe and loved, so you’d come here of your own free will. It’s a requirement of the spell we’re going to perform tonight.”

  All at once, the other thing Tony had been saying rose to the front of my brain. The minor detail that my broken heart had glossed over in its betrayal.

  He was going to kill me.

  * * *

  Chapter 3

  With a sudden gasp, I tried to bolt to the trees, only to fall down as my feet stayed rooted to the spot. I looked down at them in terror, but try as I might, I couldn’t get them to move. What the hell? I’m frozen in place! Seems my ex-boyfriend was a more powerful witch than he’d ever let on.

  Tony watched my struggles with cool indifference.

  “Please,” I begged, “let me go. If you’ve ever felt anything for me, just let me leave. I’ll pack my stuff and get outta town. You’ll never hear from me again.”

  “I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Tony whispered. Then he lifted his hands high in the air and began to chant.

  “Wait!” I shrieked as a rope flew out of the mist and bound my arms to my sides. The wind shrieked around us, tossing Tony’s words into the sky, as something I couldn’t see lifted me off my feet and laid me down on the altar.

  One by one, faces I’d known since childhood came out of the dark. Maurice, Tabitha, Kendra, Stephen. People I’d give my life for. People I’d counted as friends. They gathered around the altar in a circle, holding blazing candles in their hands.

  “Tony, please!” I cried, struggling against the ropes. But he ignored me, keeping his face tilted up to the sky as he closed his eyes and chanted. My heart shattered as I felt a door swing close forever. He was not the man I wanted to marry. He was a stranger I didn’t want to know.

  “We’ve waited for this night for a long time, Blair.” It was a voice as familiar as my own. I tilted up my head to see Maurice, an actual distant relative of mine. “The stars are in alignment and the moon is full. Ravena’s blessing is upon us.”

  “Maurice,” I gasped, “please tell them to stop this.”

  But his eyes were just as cold and heartless as Tony’s. “You’ve always wanted to tap into your powers. Tonight, you shall have that chance.”

  “My powers?” I whispered in confusion, straining to look around. Thunder exploded and lightning zigzagged across the sky. The flames of their candles flickered and danced, but somehow, didn’t go out. “I can’t believe this is happening.” Tears blurred my eyes. “I’ve known all of you since you were babies, watched you grow up. How can you turn on me like this?”

  My only answer was the screaming wind. The witches joined hands around me.

  I looked again at Maurice. “If you’re going to kill me, why bother tapping into my power? Why not just finish it?”

  He smiled. The same smile I’d seen him use on the children when they stepped out of line. “It’s simple. We want those powers. And we’re not the only ones. Word just got out about you and everyone knows your location. There’s a pretty bounty on your head, my dear. Other supernatural creatures are already lining up for the reaping.”

  My eyes welled over and I shook my head, trying to understand.

  “What are you talking about?! I’m only half-witch! My powers wouldn’t be great enough to attract anyone, let alone put me on a hit list! Yours would be greater than mine!”

  “On the contrary,” he leaned in to be heard, “you’re a hybrid. Aside from being an unspeakable violation of our blood, it also makes you powerful, more powerful than any full-blooded creature. Why do you think we haven’t let you use your magic all these years? Witch powers stored in a vampire vessel for almost two centuries create an energy force like no other.”

  “So this is a mercy killing then, is it?” I hissed through my teeth. “Kill me and steal my powers before any other supernaturals get the chance?”

  Maurice’s gaze narrowed. “Exactly. Better in our hands than theirs.”

  “I wish you’d never taken me in,” I spat in sudden rage. “I would have been better off on my own—or even with my father!”

  “Your father?” Maurice laughed. “If your father were here, he’d be doing this himself. He’s pure evil, Blair. Evil runs in your veins.” I twisted and turned in the ropes and he straightened out solemnly. “But no matter.”

  The whole circle was chanting now; they paused as he held up his hands.

  “Let’s get on with this, shall we? It’s not fair to keep Blair waiting. We promised her a quick death, and that’s exactly what we’ll give her.”

  My skin crawled at his nonchalance. A man I’d loved dearly and raised like a son, cast me aside like I was nothing. My eyes found Tony and his words echoed in my mind.

  Like I was an abomination.

  The chanting grew louder. One by one, the members of the circle lay their hands on me. A brilliant flash of lightning lit the clearing and I tried not to sob. My life was going to end on this cold slab of stone. Everything I was or could be would be lost forever.

  And not a single person on the planet would care.

  “The circle is reborn!” Maurice shouted over the claps of thunder.

  A young girl I’d been teaching how to play the piano stepped forward and handed Tony a jeweled dagger. Without pausing, he slashed his wrist and dripped a crimson river of blood in a strange pattern on my chest. A chill ran up my spine as the warm liquid dripped slowly down my sides. When he was finished, Tony held the dagger up to the sky.

  “Give me the powers we seek. Anoint this coven! Let it be done!”

  Behind him, the other witches were passing around an old goblet, something I’d seen in Maurice’s study countless times. Something I’d no doubt played with as a child. As each one took a sip and lowered the rim, their mouths were stained deep red. My stomach lurched as I smelled the blood. Then Maurice kissed the goblet and lifted it toward the sky, just like Tony was still doing with the dagger. There was an almost painful flash of light, and the next second, the ground around the altar was on fire.

  I screamed and jerked against the ropes, but much to my surprise, the roaring flames did nothing but gently warm the stone. Smoke wafted in the air above me, but couldn’t penetrate an invisible arch that extended from my hair to my toes. Whatever spell the witches were casting, it must be working. I was firmly in its hold.

  It was over, I realized. This was the end.

  I closed my eyes and tried to picture better times with Tony. Tried to picture my mother. Tried to picture how my life could have been. There was no point in wishing now. No point praying for things to come. I could only hope that if this was my time, it would indeed be quick.

  Then a bolt of electricity shot through my body.

  My back arched against the rock and I screamed bloody murder. I could feel the burning sensation in the very stitching of my skin. Ripping through every part of me. Tearing its way out.

  “We’re tapping in!” Maurice cried.

  There was a glint of silver above my eyes and I realized that Tony was standing at my head, the dagger poised above my
heart.

  “Wait until her power is fully restored to capture it,” Maurice warned. He then looked at a man with a long sword in his hands. “Then behead her and be done with this once and for all.”

  My heart lurched.

  Time seemed to stop as I felt the pressure inside me build. My body was on fire. Lit up with a strange power I couldn’t control. The last thing I saw was the grim satisfaction on Tony’s face as he lowered the dagger. But there was something else there as well. Was it...remorse?

  Then all at once, everything changed.

  His expression tightened in abject fear as I heard screams echo around the clearing. Bewildered, I lifted my head to see streaks of white hot light ripping through the bodies of the witches that held me. Despite my present predicament, decades of habit kicked in and I looked around in desperation to find the cause of their plight. It wasn’t until I followed the light back to its source that I realized the truth.

  It was me.

  “Don’t touch her!” Tony shouted, leaping several steps back. “Everyone retreat!”

  I sat up in a daze. Bodies were thrashing violently as the current rushed through them, like fish out of water. As Tony cast the dagger into the grass and raced for the trees, I saw Maurice crumble to the ground.

  Now’s your chance, a voice inside me cried. Take it!

  I stood atop the altar as rain poured down my face. When I pulled against my bindings, the rope fell away as though it were string. The storm screeched above and another strike of lightning hit me full force. This time, I embraced the energy. Small orbs of light appeared at my fingers, illuminating my pale skin as I faced down my would-be assassins. There was a moment’s pause, a moment where my old world and my new one stared each other head on.

  Then I let go.

  I don’t remember making it out of the clearing. I don’t remember getting to the trees. I just remember the sense of flight. The power. Faster and stronger than anything that might chase me, anything that might hunt me down. The world around me blurred as I flew deeper and deeper into the forest, feet barely skimming the rocks as my newly awakened power propelled me forward into the dark.

  I can’t believe I’m about to die.

  How many times did I think those words tonight? How many times did I think my life had come to a crashing end? Now, as I raced forward into the unknown, something new occurred to me, something I’d never thought of before.

  I can’t believe I’m about to live.

  ––––––––

  * * *

  Chapter 4

  Another bullet whizzed over my hair and buried itself in the bark of a tree straight ahead.

  Since when did Tony have a gun?

  Since when did Tony decide he wanted to kill me?

  I forced these questions from my mind and pushed myself faster through the trees. If they wanted to kill me, they were going to have to catch me first.

  The vegetation blurred past as my heart pounded away in my chest. Streams of sweat trickled down my scalp and mixed with the lines of tears already making their way down my neck. The rain had lightened up, but now I almost wished for it. Anything to mask the sounds of my departure. Anything to help shield me from unwelcome eyes.

  And speaking of...

  A twig snapped suddenly behind me, and I froze in my tracks. I had no idea how Tony had caught up with me so quickly. How many other powers had he been hiding? My dress clung to my trembling shoulders as I slowly turned around to face him.

  “Listen, Tony, I didn’t mean to—”

  My voice trailed off at the same time that I registered their scent. A vampire and a werewolf. No one I knew. But they obviously knew me.

  “Who’s there?” I tried to sound braver than I was.

  Without making a sound, a tall woman stepped out of the trees. She had jet-black hair pulled back in a long ponytail and was wearing a black leather jumpsuit that clung to her like a second skin. I barely had time to register her presence before a towering man stepped out behind her, keeping his dark eyes fixed on me.

  “Aw, honey,” her voice was deceptively sweet, but there was a hard edge beneath it, “it looks like a lot of people want you dead.” Without any further preamble, she reached behind her and pointed a black crossbow directly at my chest. “Myself included.”

  “Oh, my gosh!” I gasped, taking an involuntary step back. “You’re going to kill one of your own? Just let me go!”

  She smiled. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but I can’t do that.”

  “Listen,” I held up my hands in surrender, “Please believe me when I say that I have absolutely no problem with you—I just want to get the hell out of here. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.”

  The man behind her chuckled softly and her eyes flashed to him before returning to me.

  “In that case, believe me when I say that I have absolutely no problem with you either. Unfortunately for you, that doesn’t really matter. You’re on my list, you see,” she leveled the crossbow, “and once you’re on the list, I’m afraid you can only get off of it one way.”

  By killing me.

  I struggled to keep up as the ground was once again pulled out from beneath me. “You’re one of the...bounty hunters?”

  She cocked her head at me. “Clever little thing, aren’t you?” The man beside her shifted impatiently and she placed a steady finger on the trigger. “So any last words? I can give you a blindfold if you think it’ll help.”

  “I can’t believe this,” I crossed my arms protectively over my chest as my eyes welled up with tears. “You’ve never met me, never seen me before in your life, and now you’re just going to kill me? In the middle of the woods?”

  Did I miss something here? When did this become acceptable? The trendy thing to do on a Friday night?

  Her eyes swept the dark trees and she shifted in her tall boots. “I have to admit that usually I opt for a more private setting. But between my timetable and my competition—not to mention there’s that warlock we found searching the woods—I’ll take what I can get.”

  My heart stopped. “Tony? You met Tony?”

  She looked at me with supreme indifference. “I met a warlock. We didn’t exchange pleasantries.” My face must have been a sight to behold, because she studied me with a little more attention. “Why, you know him?”

  “He’s my boyfriend,” I mumbled, unable to apply the word to the man I’d seen tonight.

  “That’s sweet. Trying to rescue you, is he?”

  My chin dropped. “Trying to kill me is more like it. Turns out these powers of mine are nothing more than a death sentence.”

  She raised her eyebrows, genuinely surprised. “Your boyfriend? Wow. I thought I had bad taste in men.”

  The werewolf beside her spoke for the first time. “Let’s just finish this please.”

  I don’t know if it was the werewolf’s cruel indifference, or the fact that the love of my life was still roaming the trees trying to kill me, but my fear was suddenly replaced with wild, uncontrollable anger. A strange pressure built up inside my body just like when I was on the altar, twisting and expanding, fueled by my rage.

  The werewolf took a step toward me, but the next moment, jumped back in surprise. It’s no wonder. My hands were glowing.

  “What the hell is this?” he demanded. “I thought you said she didn’t have powers.”

  “She didn’t,” the woman finished, staring at me with narrowed eyes. “It must have just happened, but her magic’s been activated.”

  She kept the arrow pointed directly at my heart, but the man took a step back.

  “We shoulda been warned about this,” he muttered. “It changes everything.”

  The vampire gritted her teeth. “It doesn’t change a thing. She doesn’t know how to use it. She’s just a baby witch with no one out there to guide her.”

  The man shook his head and stared at me nervously. “Looks like she’s doing just fine to me.”

  “She’s bluffing,�
�� the woman replied, but she glanced down at my hands.

  “She’s dangerous!”

  “She’s standing right here!” I interjected.

  The woman smiled. “Dangerous, maybe. But she won’t kill us. I’ve studied her case file. Not only does she drink from a blood bank, but she’s a fucking nurse, for goodness sake.” She turned her deadly sweet eyes to me. “No, honey, you couldn’t hurt a fly.”

  Emboldened by her words, the werewolf lunged.

  It came out of nowhere, catching me completely off guard, and yet I found that by the time he got to me, I was completely ready for him.

  The white light radiating from my fingers turned blood red and crackled with electricity as I lobbed it his way. It hit the ground like a grenade, blasting him backward into a redwood.

  “Wouldn’t hurt a fly, huh?” he demanded, peeling himself off the bark.

  “That’s it, bitch,” the woman’s eyes glowed, “you asked for it.”

  But the energy was surging through me. Numbing my doubts, compelling me forward.

  “You’ll have to catch me first!”

  I threw another shower of red light her way and took off back into the trees, listening as her screams faded further and further into the night.

  * * *

  Chapter 5

  After another few minutes, that blinding confidence of mine started to wane.

  My muscles were aching with fatigue, my hands were ripped and bleeding from pushing through miles of brambles, and I was painfully aware that I was still barefoot.

  I wanted desperately to stop—to seek shelter somewhere, collect my wits, figure out what the hell I was going to do—but a strong instinct pushed me forward. They were still out there, still searching for me. Professional, trained killers. And from the crescendo of footfalls in the distance, they weren’t far behind.