Page 18 of Cruel Revenge (Jacky Leon #12)

Carey was paralyzed, and there was nothing I could do as I saw two SUVs screech into the parking lot and stop right at the door of the restaurant, one jumping the curb onto the sidewalk around the building.

Courtney was reaching for Carey, grabbing her wrist. I screamed louder as I struggled, trying to free myself, but only making myself bleed more since there was nothing to grab.

Carey, my beautiful tough girl, punched her biological mother in the face, and Courtney screamed in pain as her head snapped back from the hit. That was when Carey started to run.

“LEAVE HER ALONE!” I screamed as Carey tried to get out of the building, only to face the people who got out of the SUVs outside.

“JACKY!” she screamed as two masked assailants grabbed her arms, ignoring her attempts to defend herself by overwhelming her. She was kicking, attempting to pull herself away. She bit someone’s hand that tried to cover her mouth.

“NO—”

Whatever was on my neck grew tighter, cutting off my airflow, choking my scream.

“Enough screaming,” a familiar, but different voice said.

I looked desperately, trying to see who it was, and horror stunned me to see the witch from Alaska.

Not a projection this time, but in the flesh.

With an impatient look, he had his hand held up in the exact position needed to grab a throat and squeeze.

Exactly what was happening to my throat.

I kicked the wall, trying to shove off it, but his magic refused to bend at all.

“You and your dog aren’t the only ones who know how to take things from others,” he said, squeezing a little tighter, causing me to start trying to gasp for air as breathing became difficult.

“While there may be no witches like your mother, that doesn’t mean there aren’t witches far more powerful than you can comprehend.

You are inferior to me. All of you are inferior to me.

It’s time for the rest of your kind, including that flea-bitten, mangy mutt of a lover you have, to learn that.

” He stepped closer, squeezing harder. Spots showed up in my vision.

“You took my things. Now, I’m taking yours. ”

“JA— MMMF!”

Looking back at Carey, I could see they finally got a gag on her, wrapping it around her head to silence her.

She was still fighting. They couldn’t secure her arms as they dragged her to the SUV.

She was giving them a hell of a fight. She kicked everyone who grabbed at her legs, hitting someone hard enough in the jaw that they fell back into the restaurant’s door, then on their ass.

Heath had taught her how to defend herself so well.

Anyone else would have been whisked away so much faster.

And I was trapped, dying as I watched her be taken from me. As she fought, I couldn’t.

“And as a warning to your mother and father, I’m going to leave you,” the witch said, reaching behind him with his free hand. He pulled a long metal spike from a quiver on his back. He had four of them, all about an inch thick. It floated up, controlled by his free hand.

In the blink of an eye, it went through me, pinning me to the wall.

If I could breathe, I would have screamed.

It wasn’t silver. That was the only good thing.

It was still fatal, though. The idea that it wasn’t silver was a sad consolation prize.

I would have accepted a death from anything if it meant Carey wasn’t being dragged into an SUV against her will.

“Sir, the werewolves are sedated and secured,” another witch said, running in from the back rooms of the restaurant.

I tried to focus on the words, wondering if I would get the chance to tell anyone.

Despair was my last companion as I listened to the witch.

They weren’t just taking Carey. They took the kids.

Stacy and Kody. Arlo and Benjamin. Carey. They were taking all of them.

“How many?”

“We were only able to secure the three males… the bitch put up too much of a fight once she realized the communications were down. She had to be put down before she killed one of ours.”

“Three of Heath’s youngest werewolves are now ours, and the female is dead…” he said, smiling, his eyes never leaving me. “Do you think he’ll bargain to save the werewolves or the daughter?”

The grip on my throat eased up.

“Fuck… you,” I growled weakly.

A second spike lifted from his quiver and went through me, going through my shoulder.

“Have fun dying, Jacky, daughter of Subira,” he said. The grip left my throat, and I sagged over the spikes. My head dropping let me see I was three feet off the ground.

As the witch walked away, they finally got Carey into the car with his help, a simple wave of his hand sending her into the car. He then kept walking, getting into the second SUV. It didn’t leave yet, though.

And I realized my chest was burning. Not from my emotions.

Not from the pain of my injuries or my lungs finally having air again.

It was like a flame was being held to my chest. Even dying, I tried to push off the spikes, holding them with my hands to pull myself off them by letting them finish running through me.

I watched as Carey kicked at people, trying to finish pushing her in.

She was screaming, fighting against all odds.

So, I was going to do the same.

I pulled myself, screaming weakly at the pain, the burning on my chest never abating. It was like something was clawing into me now as well, reaching deep into me and grabbing something.

My fingernails turned to claws as I roared, pulling again. This time, it was enough. Gravity helped. I fell off the spikes and hit the floor. Blood greeted me, already enough to make everything slippery.

That was when the burning grew unbearable. The smell of magic was too strong, and this time, it was very familiar. Subira’s face flashed in my mind as it felt like claws grabbed some hidden part of my heart and yanked.

Ripping clothing and screaming pain were what came next as my Change raced to happen and finish as quickly as possible.

A string broke somewhere around my neck.

Stars danced in my eyes, but they didn’t blind me from seeing Subira’s charm, radiating heat, sitting in the blood.

It was one simple grey pebble but now a charred black rock.

My mother’s magic had just saved my life. Once I had gotten to a spot to allow the Change, it had forced me to do it to make me heal.

Now, it was time for me to have my second chance at life to save my daughter.