“Anyone. Why that family? Mortals kill each other all the time for personal issues.”
“It wasn’t a mortal.” I shook my head. “The elders said they got there just in time to save the Allsbrook baby. Besides, you just admitted that President Swan asked you to destroy my coven.”
“He did ask, and I refused. I claimed I had no issue with your coven, nor was I ordered by my father to begin one. I am not an American vampire. I am a notorious guest upon his lands, so he cannot force me to do so. President Swan is always looking for someone else’s power to cover himself. If I failed to destroy all of you on my first try, he would then come to you and tell you I was not his vampire but feared I would return. So you all would fear as they always fear. He would make some sort of deal with you all and have you at his mercy.”
“So, either we are all destroyed when you attack, getting rid of the treaty and our coven, or you fail the first time, and we are so terrified of your return or fighting you for all eternity that we ask for his help.”
“Exactly. But he wouldn’t have sent anyone else before I rejected his offer.”
“So the vampires who attacked the Allsbrook did so on their own, too,” I muttered. There were so many dots missing.
“My love.” He lifted my hand to his face, then closed his eyes and inhaled before kissing the back of it. “Have you ever wondered that maybe…”
I waited for him to finish his statement, but he didn’t. “Have I ever wondered what?”
“That maybe this is too dark a conversation for our first night together.” He raised his eyebrow. “What happened to us simply being man and woman, not witch and vampire? Can I not just stare into your beautiful eyes and be lost in them instead of this mystery? It would bring me no greater joy in eternity.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled, laying down right beside him. “You are very good at these lines. How many other women have you said them to?”
“None. Like you were a shitty girlfriend, I was a shitty companion to all others before you.”
I kissed his lips. “Good.”
“You are possessive. Perfect, as am I,” Theseus replied, gripping my chin and bringing my lips back to his.
And I just knew I was going to have to heal myself all over again.
* * *
“Concentrate!”
“Focus!”
“Centralize all your thoughts, all your magic, on one goal!”
“I’m trying!” I yelled back at all the elders around me as I felt the pressure of my magic rise in me, and it felt suffocating, agonizing—forced. But what was worse was the feeling of the magic around me, which wasn’t coming from the elders. It was something else, something beyond that I was gripping onto, trying to bring closer. It was like a game of tug-of-war in my soul. The more I pulled, the more I felt another pull against me. It made my face cringe and my skin crawl. Whatever I was fighting, I didn’t like it. It felt rotten.
Letting go quickly, I snapped my eyes open and backed up out of the nine-point star, trying to breathe. Glancing down at my hands, they were covered in blood for the briefest of seconds, and the sight sent my heart racing, but when I blinked, it was gone.
“Why did you stop? You were almost there, Druella!” my uncle’s voice hollered in front of me.
Still shaken, I glanced up from my hands to him. “This doesn’t feel right, Uncle.”
“The only thing not right is your mind, Druella, because I do not know where it has gone!” he snapped at me. “For weeks now, you have been distracted, unmotivated—”
“Axel,” Mrs. Reyes cut in before he could further berate me. “We’ve gotten further today than we have gotten in years. She is almost there.”
“Almost is not good enough.” He glowered but took a deep breath through his nose. “And how can I help you get where you need to be if I cannot tell if it is your magic that is lacking or your focus.”
My hands balled into fists, and I bit my lip to stop myself from losing my temper.
“What is lacking is your explanations,” I grumbled through pinched lips.
“What was that?” he questioned, but I didn’t answer, so he did what he always did—he pushed. “Do not speak under your breath, Druella. If something is bothering you, say it.”
“If something is bothering me?” I scoffed, glaring at him. “Everything is bothering me. I keep saying it, and none of you seem to care. None of you are explaining what this great weapon is that I am trying to summon. Are we the ones taking more land? Why are you all obsessed with this silly prophecy? None of you ever answer any of my questions!”
“It is