Page 48 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

Just like Exile.

“Yes, but I knew you’d come for us. Gods, you look just like your mother.” Her friendly eyes looked me over.

“I came to kill her,” I confessed. “That was my plan before I heard all of this because of what she had done to Exile, but now I want to because she has kept all of you prisoners.”

Genia smiled brightly at me.

“Then let’s kill the bitch.”

We stood, and Genia grabbed some daggers from a small drawer before walkingover to me.

“You don’t have to do this,” I told her. “I can manage her on my own; I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Oh, I know you can handle her. I’m just going as backup, and honestly, I just want to see her take her last breath.”

I smiled at the woman before we snuck out of the cottage. It was darker now; the last fading beams of sunlight had completely faded behind the trees, leaving moonlight to guide our way on the pathway. We didn’t need to walk for long before Yerma’s home came into view. I knew it was hers simply because it was huge.

The large home was white with a large green yard surrounded by a black fence. It was far nicer than the small cottages everyone else was living in. She didn’t have any guards outside, so I assumed it would be fairly easy to break in. When I turned to Genia, though, there were dozens of witches coming out of their cottages. I stood up straight as I looked at all of their red eyes watching me before they all bowed to me.

I smiled at them as I forced my eyes to shift to red. They gasped. Faint whispers of how I looked like my mother spread through them.

“I’ll be right back,” I whispered to Genia.

Then I hurried to the house and peered into the window, only to see the bottom floor empty of any guards. I slipped through the front door. The house smelled likethese small blue flowers that grew by my father’s castle. It instantly put me on edge. I should have asked Genia what kind of magic I was up against, but she didn’t seem too worried for me. A soft moan from upstairs caught my attention.

I crept up the stairs, careful not to make noise. The sounds were clearly those of pleasure, so I followed them. The bedroom door was wide open, and I paused when I saw her. Yerma was beautiful, her hair a fiery red, and her skin pale. But that wasn’t what made my eyes go wide. It was the three men she had in bed with her. Gods, they were really going at it. I tried not to look at them, but a small red wound on Yerma’s shoulder grabbed my attention. It looked infected and...

I let my darkness out to see what magic it pulled, but I was met with nothing. Interesting.

“Sorry to interrupt,” I called out, making all of them freeze. Yerma’s purple eyes looked at me with so much hatred in them.

“Thea,” she snipped. “For a second I thought you were your mother, but then I remembered that she’s where she should be... dead." Her full lips pulled into a wicked smile.

“Now see, why did you need to go and say that?” I huffed. “I was just going to kill you quickly, but now I think I’ll draw it out.”

Yerma was still straddling one of the men, just staring at me oddly.

“You can’t kill me.” Her eyes flickered over to something, but I didn’t take my eyes from her. “You think I’m stupid? I knew you’d come someday, and I’m prepared.”

“Let’s hope so, because if not, I’m going to drag your naked ass outside and gut you in front of all the coven, and then I’m claiming all your witches too.”

This pissed her off, her jaw tensing, but she just glared.

“Good luck getting past my ward. If you step foot inside my room, you’ll die.”

I smiled as I sent Cassius’ shadows from me and grabbed her with them. Her pretty eyes widened as I wrapped her up and dragged her toward me. The men just stared at the scene unfolding without moving. At least they knew better than to get in my way.

“You really think a ward would protect you?” I laughed as she dangled a few feet in the air as I headed down the stairs. She was trying to talk, but my darkness wrapped around her mouth so she couldn’t.

As soon as I walked outside, it was clear every witch that lived here was waiting, watching. My fire mist exploded from me, twirling around all of us so that I could see everyone. Slowly, my eyes looked over the witches to see if anyone was going to attack me. No one moved. I washoping that Yerma had been such a bitch that no one wanted to defend her.

“If you don’t want to witness me killing Yerma, then you should probably leave now,” I warned. My darkness was swarming around me in a frenzy, excited to get revenge for Exile and my mother. Not a single witch left.

I released my darkness from around her mouth.

“Anything you’d like to say?”

Yerma glanced around at all the peering eyes.

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