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“It is a sacrifice that must be made,” she warned, her voice dropping lower as it filled with magic. She thrust her arm forward, her fingers releasing me in the same moment. I was weightless for a moment, time seeming to suspend as I watched Susannah get farther and farther from me.

My body struck the stone floor, knocking the air from my lungs as I gasped. I coughed, waiting for that breath to return as I writhed on the floor in pain.

Fuck.

I rolled over, getting my hands beneath me. The vines on the Bray throne writhed in response, looking as if they wanted to interfere. To help.

But they couldn’t strike the Covenant. No magic could touch them, a gift that had been given to keep them from being struck by errant members of their Coven. Susannah’s foot snuck out from beneath her robes, her toe bones catching me in the shoulder and pushing me to my back.

I wheezed as I fought for breath, feeling as if something inside of me had been broken. Pain tore through me as she placed that foot on top of my chest, pressing me down into the stone as I glared up at her.

“You will remember your place.”

“I’ve never been very good at that,” I said, my breath a raspy gurgle as moisture filled my mouth.

She removed her foot from my chest, squatting beside me as her hand wrapped around the front of my throat. Pushing down until the pressure became too much, she stared at my mouth.

“I may need you alive, but I do not need you to be awake, Willow. You would do well to remember that the next time you think to question me,” she warned, those fingers clawing at my throat and tearing it open.

“I hope you burn,” I rasped, raising a hand to grab her wrist.

I punched her ulna and radius, taking too much joy in the way she reared back as her bonecracked. Her fingers tore across the front of my throat, threatening to do more damage than I could survive. She spread them at the last moment, seeming to realize how close she was to losing the last of her bloodline.

“Did your mother tell you of the deep sleep, Willow?” she asked, cradling her cracked bone as she stared at it in confusion. It was as if she’d never been hurt, as if none had dared to strike her. “You will live, trapped within the realm of dreams, until I decide to wake you. I suppose if Iban could get past the… distasteful aspect of breeding you while you’re unconscious, it would be a far simpler way to get you to do the one thing that is expected of you.”

I swallowed. “You’re disgusting.”

“I suppose if he isn’t up to the task, I can find someone else who will be. It hardly matters who the father is in the end. Your bloodline is strong enough, regardless,” she said, moving toward me once more. She stared down at me as I pushed myself to sit, cradling my torso as I wrestled the pained grunt that fought to escape.

I scrambled back, attempting to put distance between us as she reached for me. I had no doubt that if she laid her hand on me, I wouldn’t wake again. I would remain in slumber, and once I’d given her what she wanted, she’d get rid of me.

“Touch her again, and I will tear your skull from your spine, Susannah,” Gray said, his voice deep and menacing. George stood beside him, wringing his hands in front of him as Susannah snapped her head to face them.

“George,” she whispered, her voice cruel.

“You go too far in this, Susannah. This is too far,” he said, glancing at Gray where he stood beside him.

The Vessel strode forward, coming to my side and glaring at my ancestor.

“She is a member of my Coven, and I will do what I want with her,” she said, raising her chin as he bent down beside me.

He slid his arms beneath me, lifting me as he straightened his body.

I gasped as pain filled my torso, and the deep set to Gray’s scowl made me want to wither on the spot.

“Like Hell, you will. This one is mine, and you know it as well as I do,” he growled, and I was in too much pain to question those words. “Do what you want with the rest of your witches, but the next time youtouchher, I will rain Hell upon you. You will have violatedmyright. What do you think He would do if he discovered that, Covenant?” he asked.

I watched as George nodded, pleading with his other half. “He’s right, Susannah. You let your anger get the best of you. If I hadn’t stopped you—”

“Shut up, George,” she snapped, turning and waving a hand at Gray. “Get her out of my sight then and tell her to stay out of my way.”

Gray didn’t hesitate, striding for the doors of the Tribunal rooms. I laid my head on his shoulder, taking comfort for a single moment as my torso throbbed with the bite of sharp pain. He may have only intervened because of his promise to protect me, but that didn’t matter now.

All that mattered for now was the fact that I was awake.

23

GRAY