Page 27

CHAPTER 27

“T hank you for dinner. It was delicious.” Nimera smiled at Jonah and Elora as Caleb helped her into her jacket.

“You’re welcome,” Elora said.

Caleb hesitated before hugging Jonah. “I’ve missed you,” he said in a low voice. “Don’t you dare fucking disappear again on me.”

“I missed you too,” Jonah said. “I promise you I won’t.”

Caleb glanced at Elora, who had joined Nimera. They were exchanging phone numbers, and Caleb smiled. “I like Elora a lot, Jonah. I’m glad you’re dating her.”

This was the moment when Jonah told Caleb he and Elora were just friends. But he couldn’t. Not when every part of him screamed to make Elora his forever.

“We need to get going, babe,” Caleb said to Nimera.

“Two minutes,” Nimera said without looking up from her phone, “I’m showing Elora a -”

The front door exploded, drowning out Nimera’s voice and sending hunks of wood flying through the air. A piece the size of a softball slammed against Elora’s head, and she immediately collapsed. Nimera screamed as a jagged piece of wood pierced her right calf, driving her to her knees.

“Nimera!” Caleb shouted as hard yellow light flooded the foyer.

They threw their hands up to block the light, and Jonah squinted at the woman wearing the long black robe who had walked into the foyer.

“What the fuck?” Caleb said when she raised her hands and pointed them at him.

“Caleb, look out!” Jonah shoved his brother to the side just as a beam of yellow light shot from the woman’s hands. It left a sizzling hole in the wall, and Jonah dove to his right, sliding along the marble floor on his stomach toward the side table when the woman shot a beam of light at him.

The woman cackled harsh laughter as Jonah jumped to his feet and grabbed the gun from the holster fastened to the underside of the table. He fired at the woman, cursing when the bullets stopped a few feet from her and fell to the ground.

Caleb had crawled to Nimera, and he pulled her into his arms, studying the blood flowing from her leg. Beside them, Elora lay too still on the floor, and Jonah’s heart threatened to claw its way out of his chest. She couldn’t be dead. Please, God, Elora couldn’t be dead.

He stared at the woman, fear rocketing through him when she grinned at him. The memory of the light, of her voice telling him he would be trapped as a crow forever stampeded through him, and his whole body shook wildly as she cocked her head at him. “Hello, shapeshifter. It’s been a long time.”

“Get the fuck out of my house, witch,” he snarled before aiming his gun at her.

She laughed again, a high-pitched shriek that made him want to burst his own damn eardrums. “Your weapons are useless against me, idiot.”

“What do you want?” If he could keep her talking, keep her distracted, Caleb could get Nimera and Elora the fuck out of here.

Elora is dead. She’s dead because of you.

No, she fucking wasn’t! She couldn’t be dead.

“It took me longer than I thought to find you,” the witch said. “I knew the moment my spell was broken, but it was more difficult to find you than I expected. I should have kept one of your feathers, but I didn’t believe you’d ever break the spell.”

She studied him, her hazel eyes cold and ruthless. “It must have been a powerful witch or warlock who broke it. Tell me their name.”

“Fuck you,” Jonah said. “I won’t tell you again - get the fuck out of my house.”

“You dare to speak to me in such a manner?” The witch’s face went bright red. “Do you know who I am, you wretched slug?”

“Calm yourself,” Nimera spoke softly from her spot on the floor, her gaze intent on the witch’s face.

The witch curled her lip. “Your emotional manipulation won’t work on me, fae bitch.”

She turned her gaze toward Elora, and bright panic infused Jonah’s body. He needed to keep the witch’s attention on him.

“Hey! Look at me! I don’t fucking care who you are,” Jonah growled. “You’re just some crazy mother of a chick I banged for a weekend three years ago. A chick whose name I can’t even fucking remember.”

Her gaze snapped back to his, her eyes radiating pure fury. He needed to shift, his only chance of defeating her was in animal form, but even just thinking of shifting made his legs watery and his chest tight with panic.

If he shifted, the witch would trap him again, and maybe this time, Elora wouldn’t be able to break it. Maybe this time, he’d be trapped forever, and if that happened, he’d go fucking insane.

“You broke my daughter’s heart!” The witch shrieked. “I am going to fucking kill you this time, shapeshifter!”

She raised her hands, and Jonah tried desperately to shift. Nothing happened, and he stared wide-eyed at the witch. He told himself to run, but his body was a frozen lead lump, refusing to obey any of his commands as the gun fell from his suddenly numb hands. He was about to die, murdered by an insane witch because three years ago, he couldn’t keep his fucking dick in his pants.

The witch spoke an incantation, and her hands glowed bright yellow. Her voice rose to a roar, and Jonah cringed as the light shot from her hands.

“What the fuck?” he said when the beam of light stopped only inches from his body.

“You little bitch!” the witch shouted. “You think a barrier spell around him will stop me from killing him?”

Jonah stared at Elora, who was standing in front of Caleb and Nimera. Blood soaked the side of her head and face, and she looked sick to her stomach, but her hands shone with blue light, and she stared steadily at the witch.

“Leave,” she said. “You are not welcome here.”

The witch looked her up and down. “You have some power, but you can’t defeat me. Walk away, witch, and I’ll let you live.”

“I asked you to leave,” Elora said. “I won’t ask again.”

The witch grinned, revealing rotting black teeth and a blackened tongue. “My name is Malencia, and someday, you will regret crossing paths with me.”

“Lady, I’m already there,” Elora said.

The witch cackled laughter again, and Jonah shouted a warning when she whirled to face Elora, and the yellow light shot from her hands. It stopped inches from Elora’s body, and Elora gave her a hard grin before speaking an incantation. The blue light intensified, and Jonah stumbled back when Malencia burst into bright blue flames.

“Holy fuck!” Caleb shouted.

With a soft whoosh, the flames around Malencia disappeared. She was uninjured with no burn marks, and she sneered at Elora. “Is that all you’ve got, fire witch?”

She shot another beam of light at Elora, and Jonah’s stomach hit the fucking floor when it broke through Elora’s barrier spell and hit her. She was knocked backward into the wall with a skull-rattling thump. She slumped to the floor, and Malencia laughed triumphantly and raised her hands again.

Jonah rushed her, and without looking at him, Malencia slammed her arm into his midsection. It felt like being hit by a piece of concrete, and he flew through the air, crashing into one of the side tables and flipping over it. Pain erupted in his shoulder, but he ignored it and jumped to his feet.

“You’re dead, shapeshifter,” Malencia howled.

Before she could blast him with light, Caleb smashed into her. They tumbled to the ground, and Jonah ran toward them, his left shoulder a ball of agony. Fuck, he’d dislocated it again.

He tripped over a piece of the door and went sprawling, landing on his dislocated shoulder hard enough to make the world waver as white-hot pain slammed through him.

“Stay the fuck away from my brother!” Caleb snarled.

Malencia tossed Caleb off of her like a twig. He slammed into the wall and fell to the floor, his head bouncing off the marble floor. His eyes rolled up in his head, and his body went limp.

“Caleb!” Nimera screamed.

Malencia shrieked when a ball of blue flame hit her directly in the chest. Elora was back on her feet, tossing fireballs at Malencia like a pitcher in game seven of the World Series.

Malencia staggered back, screaming again when one of the fireballs landed on her sleeve, and the fabric burst into flames. She beat at the fire with her hand before saying an incantation that extinguished them.

She stared at her arm, the skin burned red and shiny and glared at Elora. “You little bitch! That fucking hurt!”

Elora gave her another hard grin before speaking an incantation. Blue light washed over Malencia, and she screamed piercingly, her body writhing in agony as Elora walked toward her, her hands held out in front of her.

“By my power, flame and flower, let the fire consume her from within!” Elora shouted.

Malencia screamed again, falling to her knees and her back bowing as smoke billowed from her skin.

“By my power, flame and flower, let the fire consume her from within!” Elora repeated.

With another shriek of agony, Malencia thrust her hands at Elora. Yellow light bathed Elora in an eerie glow. Her body went stiff, and her lips parted in a silent scream as yellow light erupted from her mouth.

“Elora!” Jonah shouted.

Malencia cried out, and the yellow light disappeared. Elora collapsed to her knees, her chest heaving as she sucked in air. Malencia staggered back, leaning against the wall as the smoke dissipated from her body. She stared at her trembling hands as Elora stood, bracing her hand on the wall.

Fear flickered across Malencia’s face before she glanced at Jonah across the room and then at Caleb lying motionless at her feet.

“No!” Jonah shouted when the witch muttered a spell, and Caleb’s body rose in the air.

Jonah staggered to his feet and then dove to the left as Malencia shot a beam of yellow light at him. The beam was weak and nearly translucent but still powerful enough to knock the picture off the wall behind him.

The glass from the picture frame shattered on the floor as Malencia shot another beam of light at Elora, who ducked out of the way. With Caleb’s body floating beside her, Malencia gave Jonah a taunting grin. “If I cannot have you, I’ll take your brother instead.”

“No!” Nimera screamed. Blood flowed freely from her leg as she dragged her body toward Malencia and Caleb.

Jonah climbed to his feet, ducking another beam of light as Malencia ran out of the foyer with Caleb’s body floating after her like he was tethered to her by an invisible cord.

“Fuck!” Jonah shouted as Elora stood, bracing her hand on the wall again. “Elora, we have to stop her!”

Elora nodded. She took a few stumbling steps forward before she stopped and swayed back and forth. “Jonah?” she whispered. “I don’t… feel so good.”

He shouted her name, panic infusing his entire body when she collapsed like a broken toy. He stumbled past the broken pieces of the door, falling to his knees beside her and using his right arm to pull her against his chest.

“Elora! Baby, wake up. Look at me, baby. Please.”

He studied her pale face, his body shuddering against her small and oh so fragile one. “Please, Elora. Wake up, baby.”

She didn’t move or open her eyes, and panic eating at his insides like a hungry rat, he turned to Nimera and said, “Call 9-1-1.”