Page 2 of The Blood Witch

These men would kill him, just like the men who killed Jayce’s brother, Vee knew. Kill him and get away with it because no one cared about kids like them. No one cared about poor scavengers just trying to steal enough to stay alive in this city. No one cared about the forgotten strays. These men were rich. They wore high-quality clothes of the upper-class, of the Witch nobility. The Queen didn’t care what men like them did, so long as they kept paying their tithes to the crown.

It wasn’t fair. The few silver coins they’d get from all their work today meant nothing to men like this. But that money could keep their whole gang of strays alive for a few more weeks. It wasn’t fair that they wouldn’t share it.

Jayce tried to block the third kick, his arms coming up to defend himself, and there was a sickening crack as a bone broke. Jayce screamed so loud it sounded like his throat might break.

The entire world came to a stop when Vee heard that sound.

Jayce was like a little brother to her. She’d promised to protect him and keep him safe. She snuck him extra food for years. She’d held him when he cried over his brother’s death. He looked to her for protection, and she was failing him. Vee was letting these men beat him to death right in front of her.

Something was roiling inside her, something bright and hot, like a fever. It pulsed and grew, and grew, and grew, until Vee couldn’t feel anything but this glowing energy inside herself.

“STOP!” she yelled, as loud as she could, louder even than Jayce’s screaming. Loud enough that it echoed all around her.

And they did. All three men stopped in an instant. Frozen in place, like statues.

Ba bump.

Ba bump.

Ba bump.

How strange. Vee noticed a new sound all around her. A sound inside of her. No… not just one sound. Four sounds, four distinct heartbeats, entangled with her own. She cocked her head to the side and listened to it, marveling at how interweaved it was with that light suddenly burning inside her.

Ba bump.

Ba bump.

The hand that held her hair was limp now and Vee scrambled out of that grip, looking at the surrounding men in shock. Her scalp throbbed where he’d held her.

They were all completely still, as though stuck in that singular moment of time. Only their eyes moved, wide and full of terror.

Terrified… of her.

Ba bump.

Ba bump.

“Jayce,” Vee whispered, scared that if she were too loud, she might break this spell, might shatter whatever magic was causing this. “Jayce, come here.”

He did, scrambling to his feet and retreating behind her, away from the men. She could feel him, too, could feel the beat of his heart, the pulse of his blood in his veins. She could feel his thoughts, distant and foreign. Fear, yes, but now something else. Relief. Hope.

I wonder…

Vee reached her hand out, closer to that pulse, the energy coming from these men. Reached andpulled, drawing that energy to her.

“It’s okay, Jayce,” she told him as the men screamed. “It’s okay. They can’t hurt you anymore.”

Bones cracked and shattered as the men contorted, and Vee watched in fascination as their bodies twisted and bent. That pulse inside them responded to her whims, as pliable as a hot wire.

“We’re safe, Jayce,” she said, a smile twisting across her face as power surged inside of her. “No one can hurt us anymore.”

Part One

Chapter 1

FEY

Within the quiet confines of her coven’s temple, Fey let the tight grip she held on her power slip, just a little. In the two years since her new powers had awakened—the two years since she’d taken the antidote that purged the Allium from her blood—only here did she allow herself that luxury.

---