Page 128 of Possess Me at Midnight

O’Shea addresses Blackbourne. “Lift the teleportation lock. I must reach Mathias’s witch now. I need the element of surprise.”

If he hasn’t already lost it.

Sighing, Blackbourne removes his wand from his coat, then gives it a dramatic wave. “It’s been removed outside the house, except for the challenge ring.”

Perfect. I think.

A blink later, Tynan is gone.

I turn my focus back to Mathias. Time to ensure he never frightens or harms anyone again. Time to dish out death.

Retrieving my sword, I crouch before him and press the blade to the back of his neck. “How does all that pure-hearted blood seeping in through your wounds feel? How do you like the enchantment of goodness?”

Mathias screams in pure agony. He’s even paler now, on the verge of turning gray. He coughs up blood. I suspected earlier that my blood, mixed with an old-fashioned virtue enchantment, would serve as a poison to Mathias’s system.

I hope he chokes. I hope it fucking kills him.

But for good measure, I’m going to sever Mathias’s head from his body.

I press the blade against the evil wizard’s neck. My hand trembles. “I’m going to make certain you never hurt anyone again.”

“As you’re so fond of saying, fuck off.” Mathias crawls toward the challenge ring’s door.

“Stop him!”

Blackbourne shrugs. “No one has conceded or won this challenge. I cannot interfere.”

More bloody stupid rules. Do Councilmen have nothing to do all day but contrive them?

Shoving the thought away, I leap toward Mathias. The other wizard clutches his stomach as he drags himself out the nearly invisible door. I latch on to his ankle before Mathias can break free of the challenge ring.

“No, you bloody bastard. This is a fight to the finish. To the death. Let’s end it. Why won’t you die?”

“You first,” Mathias snarls as he tries to pull his leg free from my grasp.

I’m not letting go.

Blackbourne tsks and clucks, observing with great concern. I ignore him and focus on Mathias, using every muscle in my body to reel the other wizard back into the challenge ring, one clawed inch across the floor after another.

With a roar, Mathias glares at me over his shoulder, then leaps up, pinning me to the floor. The maniacal wizard clasps my shoulders in a crushing grip and presses his forehead into mine.

Fuck. Having Mathias panting in my face makes my stomach roil. Instantly, my energy begins to drain, pouring from my body everywhere Mathias touches me. I grab the sword and, with Herculean effort, bring it crashing down on Mathias’s back again. He convulses and snarls—but doesn’t let go.

Before I can yank the sword free and stab him again, Mathias bulldozes into my head, creates a mental link, and fills it with images of Gailene. I’ve shared memories with others before and know this is a true memory, one that only Mathias could have put in my head. Gailene naked, bloody, pleading for help. Begging for me to save her.

The sight is bad enough, but the words…crushing. I scream as I see Mathias crawl from between a sobbing Gailene’s bloodied thighs while she’s tied down to a filthy bed, shaved, branded. A line of Anarki stand behind him, all hoping for a turn before the girl dies. And too young to perform her own magic, too inexperienced with this sort of violence, she calls for me over and over.

The sounds rip through my soul, shredding me with guilt and fury and shame. When my beloved sister needed me, I was unable to rescue her. Even now, I can’t seem to muster the strength to stab Mathias again.

The vision continues, and another wizard kneels to Gailene. Her sobs increase. She knows the death Mathias plans to deal her, and she begs for mercy. Mathias merely laughs and watches the carnage unfold.

“Are you ready to die, begging as your sister did?” Mathias taunts, wand raised.

The vision is the past. The painful, awful, twisted past, yes. But it’s written. Done. And I can’t do anything to change it. The future… That I can impact. I’ll never bring Gailene back. But I’ll be damned if I let this bastard destroy my future the way he destroyed my past.

I suck in a breath, dig deep inside me, then jerk my body away from the other wizard’s, determined to break the physical link draining me and stop the haunting images poisoning my head. Muscles screaming, I lift the sword dipped in good blood and enchantments and drive it into Mathias’s shoulder again. The wizard howls in agony.

“To kill you is a vow I made long ago,” I rumble. “Today, I will keep it.”