Page 2 of Wicked Ends

Helena sighs and taps her foot, then without warning the room is filled with invisible pressure. I can feel her magic pressing down on my bones.

I try to reach for my own power. I picture it like a river or a current, but it’s not flowing. I try harder, reaching for a switch to flip.

Nothing. Nada. Not even a spark.

Because my magic isn’t mine. Ash owns it, courtesy of the blood contract, and he’s not in the mood to share.

I bite down on panic. “Is this about Ash? Because if you want to murder him, you’ll have to get in line.”

Helena’s eyes narrow. “You’re very brave, Rose. Or very stupid.”

“Why not both?” I shoot back.

She flicks her wrist. I slam back against the wall, hard enough to knock the air out of my lungs. The witches close in around me, their faces pinched with excitement. Bloodthirsty d-bags.

Helena leans in. “Like I said, Rose, you’re not going anywhere.”

I try again to grab my magic, desperate this time. Still nothing. Goddamn Ash. He’s gonna feel really stupid when he realizes I was trying to save his ass.

“Let me guess,” I choke out, playing for time. “We’re skipping straight to the torture part of the show?”

She smiles. “You’re going to help me, Rose. Whether you want to or not.”

I glance over her shoulder, searching for Ollie. He’s gone. Maybe there’s hope after all.

But right now, it’s just me and six traitorous witches who want me dead so they can have all of my power, and the woman who’s about to make that happen.

Screaming for help is tempting, but ultimately pointless. No one is getting past Helena, no one except Ash, and he’s not here.

I go limp, sliding down the wall until I’m sitting on the floor. If I’m going down, I’m going down on my own terms. They’ll have to drag me.

Which is exactly what they do.

Helena gestures for her minions to pick me up. Two of them grab my arms, yanking me to my feet. One gets a nice elbow in the ribs for her trouble.

They drag me into the hallway. Helena leads, and the others fall into a tight formation around me, paraded down the hall for all to see.

I glance at every door we pass, hoping for a rescue.

But the hallway is empty. Either everyone’s hiding, or Helena’s got this whole floor under lockdown.

They take me to the faculty wing.

I dig in my heels.

Helena ignores me. Her minions do not. One of them shoves me forward so hard I almost faceplant.

“Careful,” I say. “Wouldn’t want to bruise the merchandise.”

Helena smiles at that. “Don’t worry. Once I have what I want, you’re expendable.”

We can file that under Things I Already Knew but it still makes my stomach lurch.

As we reach the end of the hallway. Helena stops in front of a door and turns to me. “Inside.”

I glance at the witches holding me. “Them first.”

“Enough.” Helena points, and an invisible force shoves me through the doorway. I stumble, catch myself on the edge of a table, and look around.