“Save your threats. They don’t exactly scare me,” Slade says with a smirk. “I’ve gone through more than you can even dream up, so there’s not a lot that scares me anymore.”
“Just fucking tell us where they are!” Chaz roars. “Now. I really thought you fucking gave a damn—”
“About what, duster?” Slade interrupts, his cold smile still intact. “About the anointed stray you tried to collect? I let the wolf live, and now you’re using her against me. I’m really not a nice guy, so keep pushing me, and I’ll take her from you as well. But the Aquarius has to die.”
“Why?” Kimber demands, moving closer.
The cold smile turns into one so bitter and deadly that the leaves around him begin to wilt in his presence.
“Do you know how the rings started? It was the Aquarius.”
Kimber sucks in a breath, and Slade winks. “Yes, little visionless visionary. The Aquarius wanted to learn all the best ways to kill us. Obviously it evolved and had a change in management, but they used the notes and findings from the Aquarius to learn all of our weaknesses. They used those secrets to trap us. To hunt us. To imprison us… And you want to host one because your night stalker has a sweet tooth for her? Pardon me if I don’t really give a fuck.”
“It wasn’t fucking her,” I growl, glaring at the stupid bastard I wish I could kill.
“Her blood is their blood. Nature will have her after us eventually,” Slade states dismissively.
Kimber’s eyes narrow. “And Ella? What the hell did she do to deserve this?”
Slade’s smile falters, and his shoulders tense just barely, but just as quickly he schools his features again.
“I guess the princess shouldn’t have been playing hostess to the Aquarius. Collateral damage happens when people side with the enemy. Remember that.”
He disappears before we can argue, and Kane curses before slamming his fist into the wall again. Kane may be stronger, but I’m a freak. I busted through Gage’s spell once. Maybe…
My fist slams into the wall, but nothing happens. Chaz is pounding away, and hell, I think he might come closer to making a dent before anyone else.
Just as I’m about to hit the wall another time, panic rises and strangles me. Again, it’s not mine. It’s hers.
She’s alive.
My fist slams into the wall so hard it shatters like glass, and I ignore the gasps as I follow the suffocating pain and terror she’s projecting.
Someone is going to fucking die.
Chapter 14
LEAH
“We were wrong about her,” Victor growls at Aunt Masie. “She would have already shown herself by now. Eighteen. All the rest did at eighteen.”
I don’t know what they’re talking about, and I don’t care. I’ve learned over the past eight years that Victor Montgomery is certifiably crazy. Aunt Masie should have cut ties with him years ago.
“Just tell her. If nothing else, she can help us.”
“No!” Aunt Masie barks. “She’s my niece. I decide. You saw what it did to… You saw. I won’t let it do that to her.”
By now, I’ve gotten so used to their random, cryptic conversations that I can’t even find curiosity for it anymore. They don’t notice me sitting in the barn’s loft as they look toward my window in the house, thinking I’m asleep. I couldn’t sleep.
I start college tomorrow, and I’m worried everyone there will hate me as much as this place has hated me.
“Fine!” Victor barks. “Call me if anything changes. I mean anything, Masie. We need more.”
He walks away, and Aunt Masie grips the side of the barn, blowing out a breath like the air in her lungs is just too heavy and she needs the extra energy to stand.
Tomorrow, she’ll be free of me, which means no more arguing with Victor, since they always seem to argue in vague about me. Tomorrow I’ll be free from this small, cruel town.
Tomorrow, my life changes.