Page 178 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

My eyes closed. I saw Amy and Gwendolyn laughing together. The witches huddled around the book of astrology and clinking sparkling drinks.

Heat crawled up my neck. I was uncomfortable inside my own skin, but I stayed rooted in place. The choice I made would have to be the correct one. I would make everything right again.

When Juliette returned, I took a single step forward.

Juliette screamed. She pulled out a knife from behind her back and stabbed herself in the stomach as she glared at me.

56

EVIE

My jaw fell slack. I stared at the knife sticking out of Juliette’s abdomen as she screamed bloody murder. The uneven circle of crimson bloomed from her wound.

A wound that bleeds.

“What have you done?” she asked me, her eyes weeping fat tears.“What have you done?”

In a burst of vampiric speed, Conrad, Aster, and three guards entered the room. I backed toward the window. Aster's eyes moved quickly from Juliette to me, rage quickly eclipsing his shocked expression. Conrad merely expressed quiet amusement.

I didn’t bother telling Aster the truth.

As soon as he snapped an order at the guards, I conjured my shadows. In quick bursts of movement, I impaled all three of them through the chest. With Juliette slumped against him, Aster conjured a defensive shield. The faintly glowing red magick encased him, Juliette, and Conrad from my screaming shadows.

Kylo’s voice was sharp in my mind. He would tell me to let it go and to save myself.

I sent another shadow through the window.

On my third step toward my escape, the most excruciating pain I’d ever experienced slammed into my head. I buckled in agony. My mind was wiped. I screamed. It felt like my head was splitting open, pulled apart over and over again.

The more I fought to use my magick, the sharper the pain became, until I was a puddle of screaming, crying shadow on the pastel pink rug.

The pain only subsided when cool metal closed over my wrists. Through the blur of tears, I tried to stand. Instead, I threw up violently.

“Clean her up,” Aster’s venomous voice hissed. “I’ll be with the healers. I can’t stand to look at her right now.”

A new set of guards hauled me roughly to my feet. I couldn’t wield a drop of my power through the magickal bondage.

Juliette would live. I’d gathered no further proof of treason. And now I was bound and powerless.

I’d failed.

The moment Aster left with Juliette in his arms, Conrad’s quiet amusement transformed into a smirk.

“Not your smartest move, girl.” He shook his head with a sigh. His movements were slow and measured. He stopped in front of me, his eyes back to their haunting emptiness. “Though, neither was sleeping with the vermin.”

I made no outward reaction. My heart thumped harshly.

“Aster is a fool to believe you are untouched,” he sneered. “Pure of blood.” His laugh was as cold as his pale eyes. “Not to worry. Even worthless whores may seek redemption through proper devotion to the Dark Mother.”

He gripped my face so hard I winced. At the sight of my pain, he smiled.

“It will be an honor to help you repent and atone.”

I fought the urge to throw up a second time. I’d never felt more trapped. Failure was a crushing weight against my ribs. And Kylo—oh gods, what was Kylo going to do?

His intuition had been right. I hadn’t listened. And he let me go, anyway.

I’d clearly been set up. But why was Conrad acting so differently now than just moments ago? And how had Juliette known I’d been lying or planning to kill her? That had to be the reason she attacked herself.