Page 73 of Dragon's Code

She’s the Opal Clan witch. She’s been under Grey’s influence. She’s been helping him with a lot of magical things.

Towns jerks around to eye me again. “You know her?”

“I do,” I say without hesitating. “She’s the Opal Clan’s witch.”

Towns glances back at her. “You’re a witch?”

Tabitha’s smile is so sharp I wonder if she could cut something with it. “Aw, Cap, that doesn’t change your feelings for me, does it?”

“What the fuck?” Towns barks.

Tabitha jumps down and presses her fingers to Towns’s forehead before she can lift a hand to do anything. I hear her mutter a few words. I’ve heard Syrena do enough spells to know that’s what she’s doing.

“Grey set all of this up. Months ago. He’s been waiting for the right time, and when he heard that a bunch of dragons were going to be in Vegas at the same time, he knew exactly when to pull the proverbial trigger.”

Towns stands there like she’s in another world and not seeing anything in front of her.

“Why even bother with being patient?”

Tabitha shrugs. “The longer we look patient, when you inevitably come at us as full blown dragons, we’ll look like the good guys.”

I sigh. “Do any of the rest of them know that you’re a witch?”

“Most of them are under the influence of Dragon’s Fire. The rest of them are vampires,” she says. “Towns hates dragons. Her grandfather was murdered by a dragon. She thought her father was crazy, but when she saw the news and the videos she learned the truth. Grey just liked her. She’ll forget this conversation and go right back to being militaryBarbie.”

“You do realize that you’re under the influence of Dragon’s Fire, right?” I ask.

Her brow furrows. “What are you talking about?”

I study her for a moment. The entirety of her body stops, like she’s never considered this. Like there’s never been a reason for her to think about her actions.

“I’m talking about the fact that Grey kidnapped you, drugged you, and you’ve been doing his bidding ever since.”

She shakes her head like she’s fighting something internally.

I glance around and see there are still plenty of guns pointed at us.

Tabitha freezes in place and then her entire body melts into action. “Boys, boys, boys. Stop messing with my witch.” Tabitha’s mouth is moving, but the words are so clearly Grey.

I haven’t seen this before, but I know that Grey took over my sister-in-law’s body at one point. Ash said it was awful, and I can see why. It’s Tabitha, but it’s so clearly someone else in her head. Even the way her mouth moves, forming his words, looks wrong. It’s eerie as fuck.

“We’re not messing with your witch. We were just wondering if she knew that you’ve been messing with her,” Jerrick says in a dark voice.

Tabitha-Grey glances at him. “She’s mine. She’s going to stay mine.”

I get into Tabitha’s face, making sure to lock eyes with the man inside. “We’re going to get her back. This is my promise to you.”

“No, you’re not. Even if you manage to, I’m going to take all of you down, so she’ll just end up dead one way or another.” Grey keeps a smirk on Tabitha’s face, like he’s got all the confidence in the world.

“Why don’t you fight your own fights, asshole?” I yell.

Tabitha laughs, Grey’s creepiness coming through it. “Why would I do that when I can send others in my place and get the work done I need to do in order to ensure my plan comes to fruition? I will see every dragon turned to ash, every shifter either kneel or burn. Every witch will do my bidding. Every vampire allowed to live in my kingdom, my paradise will give tribute. The world will be mine.”

“It will never be yours. We will find a way to stop you.”

An explosion erupts just down the street calling everyone’s attention. I keep my focus on Tabitha. I hold onto her chin and close my eyes.

Athena, my goddess, can you hear me?

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