Page 48 of Owned

“What thefuckare you going to do about it?”

Avril’s voice echoed in the room as she stormed through the doors.

I leaned with careful disdain against a scarred wooden table, and my hand grazed over tomes marked with arcane symbols of power.

“You’re not really in a position to be making demands,” I said.

Avril glared back at me.

“Aren’t I?”

Mud spattered her bare legs, and she had ruined her satin slippers. There was a cut on her ankle and the blood had dried into a dark smear that disappeared into her shoe.

The cashmere sweater dress covered far less than she thought it did. It would have been easy to bend her over and take what I wanted.

“She looks like she’s been running around in the woods,” Bastian said.

Avril flinched but only a little, and her gaze didn’t falter.

She was different—our little bird—the grimoire had changed her.

But it wasn’t just that.

The blood she’d spilled and the magic she’d taken in the catacombs beneath the cemetery had changed her.

Good.

Finally.

“You have to do something,” she said. “Youpromisedto protect me. You swore an oath—”

I was getting tired of this.

“We did,” I said.

“An oath you can’t break—”

Her voice was desperate.

Music to my ears.

She’d agreed to so many things when she was desperate.

Debased herself so many times… and she’d gotten nothing in return but our promises.

But since she’d laid this curse on us—since she’d drawn our blood vow—she’d become more irritating.

More demanding.

And she knew we couldn’t refuse.

Valen wouldn’t have needed the blood bond. He would have done anything she said.

Bastian wasn’t far behind.

The pull of the spell was strong—stronger than it should have been.

“What do you want us to do?” Bastian asked. “Tell us.”

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