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Chapter forty

Annabella

I couldn’t look away from Sam’s convulsing body.

His screams tore through the room as Lydia’s spell ripped through his mind.

Blood leaked from his nose, trickling down his face and into his mouth.

His eyes were wild, unfocused, darting around the room before locking on mine with such desperation that something in my chest twisted painfully.

Part of me wanted to feel satisfaction at his suffering. He’d lied to me. Manipulated me. Made me believe he cared when all along he’d been Council. The enemy.

But another part of me—the part that remembered him Shifting to save me from the mad dog, the way he’d positioned himself between me and danger without hesitation, how he’d looked at my partial Shift with wonder instead of disgust—that part couldn’t bear to watch his mind being torn apart.

He’d risked his life for my team, for me, when he could have let us all die.

On the bed beside Sam, Talia’s body arched against her restraints, her screams harmonizing with his in a horrific duet.

Vivienne stood over her, and for the first time, I noticed the expression on her face—not the clinical detachment I expected, but something closer to hunger.

Her pupils were dilated, a flush of excitement coloring her cheeks as silver-purple light flowed from her hands into Talia’s skull.

I turned to check on Lydia and froze. She was practically glowing with euphoria, her breathing shallow and rapid, like someone in the grip of an intense high.

Her hands trembled as she directed the spell, not from exhaustion but from what looked disturbingly like ecstasy.

The witch circles beneath the beds pulsed, feeding the spell, and Lydia was feeding off it in return.

None of this felt right. We were supposed to be wiping identities, not causing this level of agony. The previous mind-wipes had never been this violent. And Lydia had never looked like she was getting off on the process.

Sam’s eyes found mine again, and I saw a flash of recognition. He was still there, still fighting the spell. His lips moved, forming words I couldn’t hear over the magical energy crackling through the room, but I thought I caught “Webster” and “danger.”

Lydia’s phone vibrated on the metal table. Without breaking her spell-casting, she glanced at it, her concentration seemingly unaffected even as her face lit up with whatever message she’d received.

“Simon’s just checking in,” she announced, her accent more pronounced as she maintained the complex magic. “He wants this finished before we move to the new location.”

Of course we’d be moving locations. With a Council extraction team incoming, staying here would be suicide. But something about Lydia’s tone, the satisfied way she’d said it, made my wolf stir uneasily.

“When did he contact you about the new location?” I asked, stepping closer to Lydia.

Lydia’s rhythm faltered for just a moment, the trails of her magic briefly fluctuating before she smoothed them out.

“Please, Annabella. I am always in contact with Simon. You don’t really think he has left this little group all to you, do you?

I report back to him daily, and he wants us to move quickly. ”

Daily reports. What the flaming fuck? How long had Lydia been going behind my back, feeding information to Simon while I thought I was leading this team?

My wolf snarled, recognizing the betrayal.

I’d thought that Simon trusted me. That he saw the potential in me.

Me, a half witch, half Shifter. I’d thought that it hadn’t mattered to him because I’d proven my worth, but I wasn’t someone to be trusted with something like this.

No, he’d had a full-blooded witch monitor me the whole time. The humiliation burned through me, followed quickly by a cold rage that made my vision sharpen.

The quality of light changed as Lydia’s spell pattern adjusted, intensifying as it burrowed deeper into Sam’s mind. His screams suddenly cut off, replaced by a choked whimper that was somehow worse. His eyes rolled back, showing whites streaked with red.

“Stop the spell.”

“We can’t stop mid-wipe. The neural pathways are already being rewritten.”

“I said stop,” I repeated, putting steel into my voice. “I want to speak to Simon myself before we proceed.”

“That would be inadvisable. He specifically instructed that we get this done ASAP.”

I stepped directly between Lydia and Sam, breaking the magical connection. “I’m still team leader. And I’m telling you to stop this procedure until I’ve spoken with him.”

Duke shifted his weight behind me. Lydia and Vivienne exchanged a glance that lasted a heartbeat too long. Something passed between them. My wolf bristled, sensing danger before my human mind caught up.

“Duke,” Lydia said quietly, her voice suddenly cool and commanding, “restrain her. She’s emotionally compromised. It’s for her own protection until the mind-wipe is complete.”

I spun to face Duke, shocked at Lydia’s command. “What the—?”

Duke’s hand clasped around my arm. “Annabella, don’t make this difficult.”

I wrenched away from him. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Move her away from the subjects,” Vivienne instructed, never breaking her concentration over Talia. “We’re at a critical juncture.”

Duke reached for me again. “Let’s go, Annabella. We can sort this out after the wipes are done.”

“Like hell we will!”

“You’re distracted by your feelings for that Council dog,” Duke growled, his scent spiking with aggression. “Lydia is right; you’ve been compromised.”

Vivienne exhaled sharply. “Enough of this.”

Magic slammed into me, pinning my arms to my sides. I couldn’t move, couldn’t even turn my head as the force of the immobilization spell squeezed air from my lungs.

Unlike the one Zeke and Lydia had thrown at Gideon, this wasn’t a static binding that relied on my resistance to maintain its hold. This was actively maintained—I could feel Vivienne’s power flowing through it, adjusting and tightening every time I tried to relax or shift my weight.

Lydia resumed her position, her hands once again weaving patterns above Sam’s head. He convulsed again, blood now flowing freely from his ears.

Rage exploded through me. I’d spent my entire life being controlled, manipulated, pushed down.

Never again.

My wolf prowled the edges of my consciousness, agitated and ready. I felt her scratching at the walls I’d built, sensing the danger. I hated calling on her—hated what it meant—but I couldn’t get out of this alone.

I lowered my walls. Just a hint, just enough that she could slip through. Like opening a valve just enough to release pressure without letting the whole system burst.

The familiar burn of resistance rippled under my skin. My wolf pushed harder, wanting more control than I was willing to give. I clenched my teeth, fighting to maintain the balance I needed; just enough power to break free, not enough to lose myself to the part of me I’d spent years suppressing.

Can’t breathe. Panic flared as the spell squeezed around my chest like iron bands. My vision started to gray at the edges.

I reached a bit deeper, pulling on both sides of my nature—witch magic and wolf strength. The two forces had always felt separate, conflicting, but there was power there.

Pain shot through me as the energies collided, my dual nature at war with itself.

For a terrifying moment, I thought I might tear myself apart from the inside.

But then a partial Shift flowed through my hands, claws extending just enough to touch the magical bindings I could feel wrapped around me.

The threads of the spell felt cold, slimy.

I dug deeper, puncturing the magical construct, then whispered the first word that came to mind:

“ Disrumpe. ”

The immobilization spell didn’t just crack—it exploded. Shards of magical energy scattered like broken glass. I sucked in a desperate breath, the partial Shift rippling through me with an exhilarating rush that left me dizzy with newfound strength.

Duke lunged for me. I kicked off the wall behind me and leaped at him. My legs wrapped around his thick neck as I twisted in mid-air.

Duke’s hands clawed at my thighs, trying to break free. I squeezed tighter, cutting off his air.

His face turned red as he staggered, fighting for balance. I threw my weight forward and down, flipping first me and then him.

Duke flew through the air and crashed into Lydia.

She shrieked as they both went down hard, her hands ripped away from Sam’s head as Duke’s body crushed her against the floor.

The spell connection severed like a snapping cable.

Raw magical energy erupted from the broken link, crackling through the air in violent purple arcs that left smoking holes in the floor.

Then the magic dissolved with a sizzling hiss, and Sam’s body went limp on the bed, his chest heaving with shallow breaths.

Duke groaned, rolling off Lydia.

“Stay down,” I snarled.

“You stupid, sentimental little half-breed!” Lydia raised her hands, purple energy crackling between her fingers.

“Annabella!”

We all turned as the door burst open, and Mira rushed in.

“Council extraction team,” she gasped, tablet clutched to her chest. “They’re here!”