"Oh, fuck." Maxine interrupted while Corinne grappled with the possibility of killing a man. "Dimitri, I didn't want to like you, but even I have to admit that this shit is romantic."
"You think this is romance?" Brenna's screech was nearly deafening.
"What?" Maxine's tone was defensive. "He literally spent the whole morning searching and found someone for her to sacrifice in her spell."
"That's not a sign of a healthy relationship." Brenna was near hysterical, but I blocked them all out, my entire body honing in on Corinne and what she needed.
"Look at me." My thumb brushed her lips, and I knew that she was terrified.
"He stole children?" Her voice was breathy and pained. But I gave her the confirmation that she so desperately needed.
"All under eight, all female."
Brenna and Maxine kept up their debate in the background, but I only had eyes for Corinne.
For a long while, she sat there in silence, her hands clasped in mine, until she finally spoke the one word that would either offer her freedom, or serve as her demise.
"Okay." As the words slipped from her lips, it was as if the very flame from the candle seemed to flicker higher in celebration.
Wordlessly, I stood and shut the doors to the conservatory. Corinne and her Witches may be bound by the Club, but tonight they would be bound by the death of a criminal.
Marie's icy gaze tracked me carefully, but she made no attempt to move, nor did she attempt to stop me.
"We need to chant the words." Corinne voiced the pragmatics of the spell as she finally accepted her decision.
"That's my cue to go to bed." Jesse rose from her seat.
"Sit down." The command came naturally. Not one of these Witches would leave this room - at least not while Thomas Payne was still breathing. Because I refused to let Corinne deal with this on her own, and if death had to be taken, then they would all share the burden.
Jesse seated herself back down from where she had just risen.
"No one is leaving this room. Not until your spell is complete. You call yourself a family? Well, families stand by while tough decisions are made. Corinne has made a tough decision, and she doesn't need you abandoning during her time of need."
I expected rage - I expected arguments - I expected bargaining. I had not expected the silence that greeted me.
As one, they gathered around the candle and began to chant.
Aset heed our call .
Aset take our sacrifice.
Aset. Aset. Aset.
They repeated those three lines over and over again as I slid the knife into Corinne's loose grip.
Corinne stepped forward, giving the darkness that resided in her license to breathe.
As the chanting grew, her fingers shook with the prospect of snuffing out a life. And as the tip of the knife pierced Thomas' flesh, she all but flinched and halted her progress. The death not yet completed, the curse not overturned.
I stepped towards her, wrapping my large hand over hers, both of us covering the hilt of the knife as I slid the metal deeper into his flesh, piercing his heart and severing his connection with the living. It was my movements, all executed by Corinne's hand, and I almost dared the Gods to say otherwise.
A wind howled through the air and I watched as Zoey brought the candle closer. It was Corinne who pulled the blade from his chest, the gurgling sounds somehow louder than the wind that beat against the plants, and once the blade was entirely freed from his chest, she wiped the blade down on the candle, allowing his blood to mingle with hers from the day before.