Page 141 of The Blood Witch

And the worst agony imaginable when Fey fell, crashing to the ground and crying out in pain as Vee’s power reached out and took control of her body.

Jasper whimpered, trying to stand, but that same power held him down as well, pinning his four legs hard against the rough brick of the roof. He couldn’t get up, couldn’t even move.

“You were supposed to be on our side,” Vee shouted, standing over Fey’s body. She flexed her hands, and Fey let out a pained groan, her body twisting. “Don’t you get it? They need to be punished for the suffering they caused! For the people they’ve killed!”

How had he missed this? How had he missed her suffering, her pain?

How had he been so blind?

His sister’s death had nearly killed him. For years, he couldn’t even look at Viv and not see the sister he had loved. The sister he had lost.

Vivian had been alone, so alone, all those years. Surrounded by family, sure, but had anyone ever gotten close to her? Had anyone ever managed to make her feel loved? Cared for?

No one had even known about this side of her. No one had even known she was a Witch.

They’d let her down. No father, no mother, and passed from elder to elder, house to house. They’d fed her scraps of their affection.

And they’d turned her into this.

Jasper’s heart was breaking for her. She’d seen so much death in her short life, hadn’t she? So much suffering. Caught in a system designed to keep her down.

And given the power to change everything. Given the power to even the scales.

With effort, he stood, whimpering. Vivian was so focused on holding Fey down, and Fey was fighting, fighting that power that was trying to overtake her.

Jasper took a step forward, dragging his front paw along the ground, unable to even lift it fully. And then another. And another.

He had to reach her. Had to save her. Vivian had no one on her side, no one left to protect her. But he wouldn’t turn his back on her, not now. Not ever.

He just needed to reach her, somehow. To let her know she wasn’t alone.

Another step. Another.

He was less than ten feet away from Viv when Fey shook off her control. Less than ten feet away when she scrambled across the brick, grabbing her long and deadly blade, and shifted into a crouch. Less than ten feet away when Vivian noticed him there, looking away from Fey and staring straight into his eyes.

He didn’t recognize the Witch staring back at him.

“Kill her,” Vee commanded, and with horror, Jasper found himself turning away from Vivian, his muscles tensing and bracing to attack.

Turning away from her, and straight toward Fey.

Chapter 69

FEY

Fighting Vivian’s control was like fighting a storm.

It was torture, having someone twist your own body against your will like this. But Fey had known torture, before. She had known suffering and pain. And she’d survived.

This was nothing new to her. And when everything else failed her, when everything else turned away, she had the powers the Goddess had given her.

Earth answered her call first, filling her with strength. Her rage came next, Fire coursing through her body. Then Air, pushing back against an invasion.

And finally, her body called Water.

Vivian’s power was an infection, a foreign body invading her own and seeking to control her. And all that delicious power inside of Fey came out to fight it.

She could feel when Vivian began to slip, and she started to lose control. She pushed even harder, forcing Fey’s body to bend, trying to break her.

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