If I could give it away, I would.

  Tatiana deserves it, she is the stronger sister. Being the oldest and the leader of our family, she should have it all.

  Why me? The youngest child born to an earth witch, I don’t understand.

  My stomach makes a loud noise and I know it’s from hunger, but that isn’t my main concern. My concern is my bladder. It’s so full, I’m think I might soil myself.

  The door creaks, drawing my attention, then the queen with her cherry-red lips, as bright as her white teeth shine, enters with a sinister smile aimed right at me.

  “I need to use the bathroom.”

  She laughs, then raises an eyebrow.

  The instant relief is like an orgasm I’ve been holding and keeping at bay. The warmth runs down my legs and I smile at the feeling of my stomach no longer hurting.

  “See? Trash.” I glance over to see who she’s talking to and see Bronik standing next to her. His eyes shine on me, silver and vibrant, as they run the length of my body before looking back to the queen. She lifts a long, ruby-red nail and drags it across his cheek. “Whatever did you see in her anyway?”

  He doesn’t answer. Instead, he looks away from me and stares at her. I see the way she is looking at him—it’s the way I look at Grim.

  Something you want but you cannot have.

  “I’m going to come back soon and bring a visitor. Aren’t you excited to have your first visitor?” the queen asks me.

  I say nothing. I don’t trust her, and speaking would only spur her on. Plus, I’m currently lying in a puddle of my urine. She doesn’t care about me. She cares about only one thing—and that’s power.

  People in power always win.

  I heard that once, and I hope to God it’s not true.

  I’m getting cold. It’s as if the air has become frigid since I woke up. My teeth are chattering from the shivering. The door creaks open again and I turn toward it. What else am I to do, stay where I am doing nothing? I’ve done enough of that.

  Now, I’m getting angry, on top of being hungry and scared.

  I want to see my sisters.

  I can feel my power simmering below the surface, unable to come out but wanting to more than anything.

  “A visitor, as I promised. Bronik is going to sit you in a chair. Remember, Talia, hands to yourself.” Bronik carries a chair over and places it behind me, breaks the hold on my wrists, and sits me in it. He grabs each hand and ties them behind my back before he walks back to the door. My feet are still tied, keeping me from being able to make a run for it. I look up again, unable to move, but glad for the change in position.

  “Tanya.” The word echoes as it leaves my mouth. Tanya stands next to the queen, her head down, biting her lip. My eyes scan over her to make sure she is okay, and I see nothing wrong with her, not even a scratch. In fact, she is dressed well, her hair is done nicely, and her face is glowing. Even if she is hiding half of it from me.

  “I see you are happy with your visitor.”

  I say nothing. It could be an illusion for all I know. But my sister looks alive and well—better than well, actually.

  She looks happy.

  Apart from right now, where her head is down, and she won’t even spare a glance my way.

  “Tanya was kind enough to tell us all about you,” the queen says, and my eyes fall to the queen, looking as happy as a schoolgirl on her first day, as she speaks. I want to tear her words from her throat and shove them back to make her choke on them. But that’s impossible in my current state, tied down and covered in urine.

  To cut her and watch her bleed would be incredibly satisfying right now.

  “You are glad to see your sister, are you not, Tanya? I know you have enjoyed your time here. Would you like to go back and be with your sisters?”

  That gets Tanya’s attention, and she raises her head to the queen and shakes it, words spluttering from her mouth. “No. No, please, can I stay? I did as you asked.”

  Tatiana would be so sad right now to witness this.

  Me? Well, it simply makes me angry. Furious. Tanya has a good heart, and the queen has been using that to her advantage.

  “Of course you can. Just tell your sister to give me what is mine, and you can stay here with me.”

  I glare at the queen, her mouth a thin line as she glares back.

  “I know you have to give it, I’m not stupid.”

  The problem is, she is stupid. This power that I have isn’t mine to give. I take, borrow, but I cannot give power.

  I hold my head high as I look directly into her eyes. “You must be, because if you were smart, you would know I cannot give it.”

  She moves, and in an instant, she is standing in front of me. She is careful not to touch me as she leans in close. So close I can smell the mint on her breath.

  “If you can take, you can always give. It only means we have to work out how. And believe me, trash, we will find a way for me to have what you have. Even if I have to make a deal with the devil. I’ve done it before, and I will do it again.”

  Ignoring the queen, I see my sister staring at me. She looks down to the floor when my eyes meet hers.

  “Tanya, Tatiana is waiting for you to come home.” Tanya’s eyes close and she squeezes them tight.

  The queen steps back until she is next to her and places a hand on her arm. “But she is home, aren’t you, my dear?”

  Tanya nods her head, not disagreeing with her.

  Then the queen addresses me again, “But I do have someone else I thought I would maybe bring in to persuade you. I was hoping you would do so easily, knowing how I have looked after your sister so well. But you haven’t, so I guess we’ll have to try another way.” Her hands raise and she claps them once.

  Bronik walks in, grabs hold of Tanya, and steps her back, keeping his hand in hers as another angel steps into the room this time. He is carrying someone over his shoulder, and when I see who it is, I try to move against the ropes tying me down, but I can’t move. It’s impossible.

  “Seems he is a good tracker, tracked you to me all by himself.” Queen Veronica walks over and touches Patrick’s hair, lifting it as he lies over the angel’s shoulder, passed out.

  “Let him go. He has nothing to do with any of it.” My voice is broken, and it cracks, having not used it much.

  “Lies. All the wolves will be dead soon. Thinking they can side with you is not a possibility. They will pay for their disobedience with their lives.” She spits the words like venom from her lips. “Lay him down, then we shall play.” Queen Veronica looks back to Tanya. “You can stay.” Tanya nods like a well-trained puppy, and I keep the tears at bay that she is choosing this life over us.

  It hurts.

  It hurts so fucking much.

  “I like to play with my subjects. I was going to be nice to your family. To only get rid of you and let them live their lives normally. But then you had to go and do that disappearing act of yours. I wonder why it is that Death saves you.”

  I have no answer for her because I don’t know why he chooses to save me. It’s a mystery to us both.

  “No matter, though. He can’t reach us in here, so he will never know what pain you are about to endure.” Patrick is placed in a chair and bound to it the same way I am, but he has extra rope around his hands.

  “Patrick…” I say his name, but he doesn’t move. I lean over as far as I can go to hear if he is still breathing. When I hear a slight release of breath, a sigh of relief rushes over me.

  She hasn’t killed him.

  Yet.

  “Patrick is under a spell,” the queen says, then reaches her hand out and touches his head, waking him. He moves his head slightly before a loud roar rips from him as he tries to move. It’s useless, though. Neither of us can move and we are both tied down, unable to do anything. “Now.” She claps her hands. “He is awake.”

  I don’t spare her a glance. Instead, I keep my eyes trained on Patrick. His deep brown eyes lock on me, searching me over to make sure I am okay, before he turns his nose up.

  He can smell it.

  Shit.

  His eyes fall to my pants, and he growls.

  “Oh, hush, puppy. It’s you, you should be worried about, not this precious bird over here.” She nods her head, and a vampire walks in through the door. I watch helplessly as he strides over to Patrick and then tears his shirt off him. Patrick doesn’t even flinch at the action. The vampire leans down, and I watch as his fangs protrude until they touch Patrick’s skin and he bites, taking something precious that isn’t his. Patrick remains still throughout, and my heart hurts for him, breaks for him.

  “Why?” I question as I watch the color leave Patrick’s face.

  “We can’t have him at his full strength now, can we? This is the fastest way to drain him, and it’s quite efficient if you ask me.” I can hear the smile in her voice, so I don’t have to look at her face to know it’s there.

  Bitch.

  The vampire pulls away and Patrick’s head bobs before he manages to steady himself and lock eyes with me again. Two puncture marks now mar his neck, joining with his other scars, but he doesn’t seem to care.

  “Patrick, Patrick, Patrick… why would you choose to follow such a lowly being when you could have chosen to follow the queen?” she asks him.

  “Because you are evil, worse than any other human, as bad as the shit under my boot, and do not deserve the position of power you have. You steal, break shit, hurt people to get where you are. A true queen would never do that to her people,” Patrick says proudly, all the while keeping his eyes locked on mine.

  “How wrong you are. A true queen will do whatever is necessary to get to where she wants to be. You really think your precious Talia here could kill someone close to her if it meant saving others? No, she couldn’t. I can tell you that much. But if you don’t believe me, ask her sister.” The queen waves Tanya forward.

  She takes a few steps, looks up with her emerald eyes and answers, “You couldn’t. We both know it, Sister.” Then she steps back and looks back to the floor. As if she isn’t betraying me with every word. Every step. Not just me, but our entire family and Tatiana who has loved us more than life itself.

  “See? Now, wolf, are you sure you want to stay on that side?”

  Patrick doesn’t answer, but we all know what his answer is, as he holds his head up high and locks his eyes with mine.

  “Have it your way, then.” The queen grasps his shoulder, then smiles. “Now remember, Talia, we can stop this anytime you want. You just have to give me your power.”

  “Don’t you dare. You let me die… do not give her anything,” Patrick says to me as her nails dig into his skin.

  “As you wish, wolf.” She smiles as her nails start to draw blood and it trickles down his skin.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Patrick is screaming, and I am helpless to stop it.

  She hasn’t stopped.

  First, she bled him with her nails. Dragging them all over his chest, carving her name into his skin, telling him when he is buried it’s her name they will remember, not his.

  Now she is tearing his nails from his nail beds. Three have gone as she smiles, lifting them with her magic and pulling them free.

  I have to look away, I can’t stand to watch this disaster play out even a second longer.

  “Look, trash, look.”

  I ignore her words, but cold hands pull my head back to face Patrick who is still strapped to his seat in front of me.

  He is covered in blood, and I wonder how much more of this bullshit he can take.

  How much more I can take.

  I’m not sure.

  It’s breaking me into pieces to watch, but I can’t give her what she wants.

  For one, I don’t even know how to.

  And two, I don’t want to.

  It would be a disaster and irresponsible.

  “My mother told me to stop playing with my food as a child. She would snap my knuckles for doing so,” the queen says offhandedly, wiping her bloody hands on her dress. “Did she tell you the same thing?” She looks behind me to a vampire who doesn’t say anything.

  “Pity. I’m going to let you play with your food while I rest.” Her smile is evil, but she takes a step back to my sister. Tanya hasn’t looked up once from her spot in the corner. The vampire steps forward and licks his lips as he walks over to Patrick. His screams have stopped, and now he is slumped as far forward as he can go being tied to the chair.

  “Patrick.” My voice is packed with worry.

  How much can he endure?

  How long will she keep us here?

  What else will she do?

  “It’s worth it,” is all he says before he sits up straight as the vampire reaches for his arm. Then, so quickly, the vampire bites into his skin, breaking and drinking. I want to tear his head from his body. Does he not have a conscience? Does he not realize that Patrick has hardly anything left to give?

  “You could stop this, you know.”

  My watery eyes look to the queen.

  “Don’t,” Patrick says.

  I glance at him. “You would die… for me?”

  He doesn’t hesitate when he answers, “A thousand deaths I would gladly take.”

  My heart breaks, and I know that I cannot give her what she wants. Because that means what he’s doing would all be for nothing. If he can stand being tortured, having his blood drained from his body, for me, I can do this small thing for him.

  “I saw that.” The queen is in front of me in a flash, careful not to touch me as she gets right in my face. I hear the drinking stop, and the air goes still as she spits out her words, “I’ll kill Tatiana next. She’s on her way. When I capture her, I will bring her into this room and kill her. You won’t be able to stop me.”

  I look past her to Tanya to see her reaction. But she hides it well, not even making a sound or moving one inch.

  She is truly her puppet.

  And the queen is the master puppeteer.

  How could she fall victim to her so quickly? I truly don’t understand.

  Is it a spell? It has to be.

  Tanya would never turn her back on us like this.

  “Tatiana will kill…” I bite the words off and close then open my eyes, “…you first, and I think you know it.” I sit back and she snaps her pearly whites in my face before she pulls back.

  “I know your sister well, and she would have been one of the strongest witches to ever live. If it weren’t for you, that is.” The queen smiles, taps her vampire on the shoulder, and they leave. My sister is the last out the door and she doesn’t even spare me a backward glance as she walks out.

  I feel my heart break just a little bit more.

  Then I focus on Patrick, and it breaks completely.

  “Can you shift?” I ask.

  He lifts his head, barely. He’s so weak now. I think that was her plan. Have the vampire drain him so much that he could do nothing.

  “No.”

  I don’t ask him if it’s because of the room, I have a feeling it only works on witches, which is why she hasn’t used any of her powers. If a vampire can still bite, I’m sure Patrick can still shift.

  “I’m so sorry, Patrick.”

  He doesn’t reply. Instead, his head falls forward, and I’m helpless to do anything as he passes out.

  I can’t remember the last time I felt this helpless. This entirely useless. But I feel it now as I sit and wait for Patrick to wake. It’s been hours. His soft breathing is the only thing that’s been keeping me sane. We’re both still tied to the chairs, and I can still smell myself and it’s becoming uncomfortable. The queen doesn’t seem to care. And why would she when I am not willing to give her what she wants?

  But it isn’t hers to take.

  “Talia.” Patrick says my name. His eyes open, and his head lifts. Deep brown eyes meet mine. “I’m okay… just takes me a little longer to heal when I can’t shift.”

  “And are drained of blood,” I add.

  He cracks a small smile. “I can live with only a small amount of blood.”

  “But I can’t handle watching…”

  “And that’s what she wants,” he says. “Don’t give it to her.”

  The door to the room opens and in she walks, all by herself this time. The vampire who’s with her stays at the door. When I look at her hand, I see a bright shine. She walks behind Patrick as she places her hand on his shoulder. “Last time. Will you give me your power?”

  “I literally can’t. What are you not understanding about that!” I yell at her.

  “If you can take, you can give.” Anger is rooted in her voice now. “Last chance.”

  I shake my head.

  Patrick offers me a small smile before the unthinkable happens. She raises a knife in her hand and puts it to his throat. Then, in the slowest way possible, she cuts, and blood gushes from the wound, which he can’t reach to stop. It pours in rivulets down his front, and the whole time, a pretty red smile sits on her lips.

  Evil.

  “Next will be your sister.” She walks out without another word, dropping the knife on the ground.

  I’m frozen in shock.

  My eyes are open, but my mind isn’t wanting to catch up.

  Patrick gargles on his own blood as it pours from his throat, and tears I didn’t even know I was crying blur my eyes.

  “Clean him up and dispose of him,” I hear her say from outside.

  The vampire enters the room as the queen leaves.

  “Help him!” I scream at the vampire.

  He ignores me as he unties Patrick from the chair. Patrick is unresponsive, completely still. No more sounds.

  Did she just…

  She did.

  “I’ll kill you, bitch! I will tear your tongue from your fucking throat and then watch you choke on your own blood. You whore!” I don’t know if she hears me, but I thrash in my chair as Patrick is carried out of the room, his blood dripping all over the floor.

  “I knew you had a mouth, but wow.” I turn my head to Bronik standing in the doorway.

  My angry eyes burn into him as I seethe. “And you. Do not think I will let you go so easily. You… you I will happily kill as well.”

 

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