Page 46 of Spelled By Truth and Tresses

Our love was not sweet or gentle. No, it was violent and chaotic. The obsession between us burned both ways, just the way I liked it.

Josh cleared his throat and we broke apart panting, my arms resting on Jax’s forearms.

“I don't mean to interrupt the love fest, but we kind of have an evil bastard over here that needs taking down a peg or two,” Josh drawled.

I snorted. “Right.”

Thomas stumbled through the exit, then leaned his hip heavily on a nearby gravestone, the attached vines snapping beneath his weight. His hands shook as he ripped and tore his hair, his obsession with me fully bleeding into insanity.

I shook my head, backing away quickly, then widening my legs in a defensive stance. I needed to be prepared for anything this psychopath could throw at me. This was one of the main reasons I needed to control my magic. My siren beauty was toxic in large doses. When not contained, siren magic had been known to lure countless seafaring folk to drown themselves, if only for the chance to be with the siren they obsessed over.

My magic was not the only reason Thomas looked like shit, no, it only festered the rot within him that had already existed. He grinned insidiously at me, then stood upright, black goop oozing between his teeth and dribbling down his chin. Rot had set deep within him as he gave into the type of darkness that overtook and consumed the soul.

Jax pulled out his phone, then placed it on the ground by his feet; Panic Waves by Our Promise blared throughout the graveyard. My void instantly responded bursting from my chest and surrounding me flooding my power in to my fingers.

I closed my eyes and grinned. Fuck me. Jax was right. It feels so damn good to embrace both the light and the dark, to live in the morally gray where I belong.

I took a large step towards Thomas, and he did the same.

“I've had enough of your shit, asshole,” I called, then whipped my power at him like that of a rope, squeezing around his body.

He squirmed violently, knocking his glasses from his face, then raised his arms as my magical connection broke. He laughed long and hard, his voice cracking and barely audible over the encroaching storm, swiftly moving across the sky. He raised his arms and several cracked headstones rose with the motion. My eyes widened at the realization that he possessed more magic than anyone knew.

Fear temporarily paralyzed me, my boots sinking into the dead grass.

“Zellie! Move!” Jax shouted.

I threw my body to the side as a massive headstone crashed to the ground where I’d been just moments before. Thomas continued to laugh manically as he hurdled headstones in my direction. I dashed throughout the graveyard, dodging his attacks, but he followed me.

I could feel Jax and Josh circling around him slowly, one on each of his unprotected sides. I trusted the men to keep me safe as I turned inward, focusing my attention behind my ribs.

Okay, inky void. I know I’ve been shitty to you in the past, but I accept that you’re a part of me—a part of me I’ve been denying for far too long. I’m sorry I trapped you within me. Trust me when I say, from here on out we are in this together. My inky void warmed pleasantly, then purred. I smiled. Let’s do this, IV.

Energy crackled within me, then my true siren magic blasted from my inky void. A wave of dark gray magic flowed from me as I shoved my hands forward and straight into Thomas’ chest.

His body thumped heavily to the ground and his limbs twitched. However, I was not foolish enough to believe he was dead. He rose from the ground on unsteady feet, but his eyes blazed with lust and unhinged obsession.

“You're mine, Zellie. I must have you.” His voice cracked. “I will have you, my darling.”

I raised my chin, then glared at Thomas. “I am no one’s to claim. I am my own woman. Your mind is weak. It’s not your fault you fell like easy prey to my siren magic. Your mind was too weak to resist the pull,” I explained, then circled him. “However, you are the one who made the choice to murder innocent people. No one coerced you. No. You fed the rot in your soul and reveled in the bloodshed.”

I turned my head trying to find Jax and Josh, but Thomas took advantage of my momentary distraction. He climbed on top of me, knocking me to the ground. Pain seared through the back of my skull as it connected with a headstone. My vision swam and bile rose in my throat.

“Get the fuck off me,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. My mind wandered as I struggled to focus as my skull throbbed with my heart beat.

My vision blurred as he straddled me. Thomas laughed hysterically, then leaned forward and licked the blood trailing down the side of my face.

I recoiled as far as I could, then screamed for Jax, but there was no reply.

“Don't waste your pretty cries on him. You’re mine. You’ve always been mine.” I squirmed and caught a glimpse of Jax and Josh much too far. Their mouths moved like they were shouting, but no sound came out.

The evil one caged them behind a shield, the dead witches whispered. The men bashed at the shield and the magic rippled with every impact, but they couldn't break through. We cannot break it as we are already lending most of our power to you.

Fuck me. I was on my own.

I gritted my teeth. “Fuck you, Thomas.”

The ground shook beneath me, and some of the more dilapidated gravestones crumbled to dust before my eyes. Skeletal hands shot from the ground and various stages of decayed bodies, crawled through the packed dirt and rose to stand against Thomas.

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