Page 49 of Owned

She spun around to look at him, her auburn hair flying as she turned. “I want you to keep Lucian away from me,” she hissed. “And help me escape this place—”

Bastian laughed. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am,” she insisted. “You can’t— You can’t just stand by and watch this happen—”

“Use the grimoire,” I interrupted. “You haven’t unlocked all of its power yet… you’re holding back. You could have so much more power if you just…”

Her hands clenched into fists. “Andhowwould I do that?” she snarled. “Would you bring me a sacrifice? Would you bring me some poor witch from the streets of Messana and let me kill her and drain her power?”

Bastian’s smile was sharp. “That’s not a half-bad idea…”

Rage twisted across her features, striking in its intensity. “You said the words— You swore!”

I watched Bastian, feline in his movements, pacing at the room’s edge. The dagger in his hand tapped rhythmically against the wall as he walked, and Avril flinched with every scrape of the metal against stone.

“Or,” he said, drawing the word out with tantalizing delay, “we can use what you’ve learned to turn Lucian’s magic against him.” His grin was a slash of white in the dimness.

She looked horrified at the prospect. “He’ll kill me and you know it.”

“He’ll kill us all,” I snapped as I glared across the room at my brother.

Bastian shrugged. “Maybe. But maybe not— If all of us—”

“Shut your mouth,” I growled.

We couldn’t talk about that here.

I didn’t even want to think it.

Our father had grown more paranoid, more volatile— more dangerous. And I wasn’t as certain that he was unaware of our plans.

His magic had only grown in the last weeks, and the purges had brought him a different sort of power.

Fear.

Obedience.

The devotion of the most zealous of his followers.

Soon, he would be unstoppable.

And there was no way to predict what he would do to reach his dark goals.

Or who he would sacrifice.

My eyes raked over Avril’s form and met her wide hazel eyes.

No.

That was a lie.

I knew who would be sacrificed.

I’d always known.

The only difference was—I didn’t want to let it happen.

And thanks to her damned blood bond, Icouldn’tlet it happen.

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