Page 46 of To Crave Truly

He barked a laugh. “What do you want to know about those doddering old fools?”

“I came across some limbs bearing their marks.”

“What?”

“They’re the ones stealing witches.”

“Impossible.”

That piqued my interest. “Why?”

“Because I exiled them a decade ago.”

I was stunned into silence. What the hell—

A pulse of electricity hit me square in the chest. Fuck that hurt.

I dropped my magic and my father fell to a heap on the floor, laughing as he tried to regain his footing.

I threw a ball of lightning back at him, knocking him back down to the floor.

Still, he laughed. “So predictable. So pathetic.”

A blast of air hit the back of my knee and I stumbled to the ground.

“Come on, boy. Is that all you’ve got?”

Lightning cracked through the room, loud and sharp, as I channelled it towards him. He dodged and rolled, and I scorched nothing but the carpet and some of his precious books.

He hurled shards of ice at me. I managed to miss most of them, but one sliced my cheek and one caught the inside of my thigh. That one stung like a motherfucker.

“Perhaps you need more lessons?” he sneered. “You never were any good at combat. I thought being part of the Elite would have improved that.”

I launched a fire ball, catching his shoulder and enjoying his shout of pain.

“You should just give up. Like your mother did.”

I froze. His words barely registering.

He used that to his advantage, hammering me with everything he could think of. I threw up a shield, but he knew how to beat me. He’d been doing it for years. It wasn’t long before my knees faltered, and I gave him the opening he was looking for.

Pain radiated across my cheek as he hit me. I fell to the ground and his foot found my ribs. Over and over again.

He was right, I was pathetic. I deserved this.

I should get up.

I tried to roll over, to get my knees under me, but he stomped on my back.

“I thought you’d be stronger without your mother there to coddle you. But you’re not. You’re just like her.” Another kick. “Soft.”

He fisted his hand into my hair and pulled me to my knees. Another punch to my face. A crunch as he broke my nose. Blood poured down my chin and I felt pain everywhere. It would all be over soon.

My eyes closed, my body succumbing to the pain my father inflicted.

A slap to my cheek brought the world back into focus.

“Do you want to know what her last words were?” he asked, his grin wide and cruel. “She begged me to protect you.”

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