Page 93 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

“I can’t lose Cassius. Where the fuck is this bloodstone?”

Della moved toward me and forced my face so she could look into my eyes.

“I’m going to teach you how to do blood possession.” She smiled.

Chapter 25

Thea

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I looked at Della as she and I snuck into my father’s room. I had frozen time in their room so they wouldn’t wake up.

“It’s fucking brilliant. You possess your father, and you will be able to control him and what he does. He will go get the stone for you and not know any wiser.”

“That does sound fucking brilliant.” I smiled.

I made my way around their giant bed to my father’s side. He was lying on his back, sleeping peacefully. I lifted my hand so that I could focus on my fingers. A moment later, the tip of my pointer finger became a long pointed claw. I wiggled it and smiled at Della. She walked closer to me and watched as I took my pointer finger and held it above my father’s collarbone and sank it into his flesh. It created a small puncture wound when I retracted my sharp fingernail.

I dug the claw into the tip of my finger, making it bleed, then let a drop of my blood fall onto my father’s wound. My blood sank into the cut, and the wound healed in front of our eyes. Della and I glanced at each other; shit, that was easy. When I looked back at my father, he had the same red veins where I marked him that Flora did.

“Let’s go to the throne room, and you can summon him from there.” Della nodded as her star mist surrounded us. A moment later, I sat on my father’s throne, and Della stood next to me. Closing my eyes, I called my father and told him to come to the throne room alone.

It only took a few minutes for my father to stroll into the room and shut the door. He stood staring blankly at me.

“This is actually kind of fucking creepy,” I told Della. “Bring me the bloodstone,” I demanded of him. My father blinked slowly, then walked to the throne I was sitting on. I stood up quickly, ready to fuck him up, but he lifted the cushion before lifting a small section of the wood under it, revealing a hidden compartment.

“It was protected by the same magic binding found in cuffs.” Della’s eyes widened. “No wonder you couldn’t find it.”

He handed it to me without hesitation.

“Go to bed.” I waved him away and waited until he left the room before smiling at Della. My bloodstone shinedred brightly in my hands, like it recognized it belonged to me. The stone was small but felt heavy in my palm. Suddenly its color changed to a dark purple. I glanced at Della for an explanation.

“It must change color when its energy is being used, or it’s taking its true form because you are its owner?” Della looked at the stone that was shaped like a crescent moon. I could feel the energy from it fueling me and my magic. It was coursing through me so rapidly that I felt dizzy at first.

“Can any blood witch use this?” I asked.

“I’m not sure.” She frowned. “We should go so we can figure out who the hell is up to all of this. I will be invisible to everyone but you.”

Wisp appeared next to us and burned the same purple color as the bloodstone. I used Cassius’ shadows to go to Ravenstone Coven. I was standing in the small, grassy village center. I glanced at the stone in my hand and shoved it into my pocket before using illusion magic to create a fake one in my hand.

“Oh, thank the moon you’re here!” I turned and held out my dagger but lowered it when Genia was standing there. “Lyra has lost her fucking mind.”

“What do you mean?” I frowned.

“She was acting strange and saying that she was taking what was promised to her. Then she killed a few of the witches, but we restrained her in Yerma’s house.”

Della shrugged her shoulders at me as we hurried to the house. When I walked in, a dozen witches surrounded a woman bound in a chair. I recognized Lyra as the blonde witch I met here last time. She was gagged and crying profusely. Wisp appeared next to her, her flames flashing red and black. Wisp was extremely distraught.

The other witches stared at me, but they wouldn’t make eye contact with me. Lyra was the only one who was meeting my eyes. She shook her head no.

“Why did you possess Flora and go after Cassius?” I glared, but it was all for show. Tell me what she is thinking, I demanded from my magic.

Please. It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me; don’t kill me.

I could hear her thoughts. Genia said it wouldn’t work on them the last time I was here. But maybe she made it so it wouldn’t. My eyes found Della, and I tried to communicate with her that something was wrong. I went to take the woman’s gag out of her mouth, but Genia stopped me.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “I want to ask her why she did what she did.”

“She will say anything to get out of this,” Genia sighed. Her purple eyes were narrowing on me. When I tried toread her thoughts, it felt as though there was a wall up in her mind. Something in this room was keeping her thoughts from me. “We shall punish her for her rebellion against you, queen.”

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