Page 74 of The Blood Witch

Ba bump.

Tommy shook his head, just the slightest movement from side to side.

She took him so quickly he didn’t even have time to gasp.

It didn’t matter that he was bigger than she was. Didn’t matter that he was stronger, physically. None of that mattered when she could kill them all with a flick of her wrist.

Wordlessly, she called to the blood in his veins, commanding him to his knees, and forcing him to kneel at her feet.

“Of course you don’t know,” Vee said, staring down at him. His body shuddered and went still. “Because you’re nothing but a stupid boy. I don’t need to tell you what plans I have, and I don’t need to explain anything to you,Tommy.”

He was perfectly still under her hold. Unnaturally still.

“Does anyone else have a problem with how much time I’m spending with Amalia?” Vee asked, looking around the roof. She made sure to look at each of them, one by one, meeting each set of animal eyes that gazed at her.

No one spoke.

“Good,” Vee said simply. She let go of that hold over Tom. Suddenly free, he gasped for air, scrambling away from her.

Oh, Vee realized, as Tom coughed and spluttered, trying to catch his breath.Breathing. Right.

She forgot, sometimes, when she took full control like that. It was a lot to keep track of, after all, keeping the heart beating, the blood circulating through the body, and keeping the lungs going.

Oops!

“For the record,” Vee said, raising her voice so they could all hear, “access to the princess gets us access to the palace. To the council. And maybe you could see that, if you weren’t so busy trying to get into Kayla’s pants.”

There were snickers of laughter from around the rooftop. Kayla’s lips thinned, but she at least had the pride to raise her chin, unashamed.

“And we need access to the council. We don’t even know who’s on it, for Goddess’s sake. We don’t even know who’s meant to be representing us.”

“My uncle says it’s one of the Lions,” one of the younger boys said. “Kellos maybe, or his sister.”

“Your uncle is an alcoholic, Kevin,” Vee snapped. “He doesn’t know shit. But neither do we, which is why we need access to the palace. So, let me ask you all again—does anyone else have any issues with me spending time with the princess?” Vee asked, looking around.

No one said a word. No one even moved.

They were scared. Maybe it had been too long since she’d put one of them in their place. Maybe she should start doing it more often. Only Jayce’s heartbeat was steady. No fear, no doubt. Forever confident in her decisions.

Vee smiled.

“Good,” she said. “That’s settled then.”

Chapter 33

AMALIA

Amalia chewed on her lower lip, twisting to look at herself in the full-length mirror in her bedroom.

She looked…

Beautiful. That’s what Vee had called her. Beautiful.

Staring at the reflection of herself, Amalia almost felt it. Beautiful. She smiled and ran her hands over the fabric of her new clothes. The fabric was luxurious, soft and silky under her fingers.

She’d decided to ditch the jacket, if only for the moment, wearing just a short midriff top in a lovely turquoise color and matching pants. It felt scandalous, showing so much skin, but… in a good way. It was thrilling. Her fingers trailed over the exposed skin of her stomach, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

Her mother would have hated this, Amalia knew, turning and looking over her shoulder to admire herself from a different angle. Goddess, she would have thrown such a fit if she had seen her daughter in an outfit like this. But these clothes. They looked incredible on her, made her look powerful. And the way they made her feel…

---