Page 45 of Break Her Heart
I wrapped my fingers around his forearm, sharp and sudden.
His laughter faltered. “What are you—”
I pulled. Magic rushed into my hand, drawn straight from the vampire’s body. He screamed. It echoed over the music.
Everything stopped.
Eyes turned. Music died. Conversations ceased mid-word.
A crackling orb of fire bloomed above my palm, pulsing and alive, like it had a will of its own. It cast flickering shadows across my face, painting the great room in shades of terror and awe.
Someone screamed, “Witch!”
The word sliced through the air like a blade. Chairs scraped against the floor. Cloaks whipped. Fangs flashed. Movement swelled at the edges of the room like a tide preparing to crash.
But I didn’t run.
My breath was slow, controlled. My body was still, defiant. I turned my head with precision, ignoring the chaos unraveling around me. I sought only one face.
August.
He hadn’t moved. He sat sprawled across the throne like a god watching a play, chin resting against his knuckles, elbow propped casually against the armrest. He looked so calm. Too calm.
And then, slowly, deliberately, he smiled.
My stomach turned to lead.
He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t horrified. He wasn’t even surprised.
He was fuckingentertained.
Like this was exactly what he wanted to see.
My fury rose like a second flame, consuming every thought I had. The magic surged again, wilder this time, clawing through my veins with a hunger I couldn’t restrain. I let it feed. I let it consume.
The vampire in my grasp choked, his scream faltering into a rasp. Color leeched from his skin like water draining from cloth. His cheeks sank. His veins turned black beneath his flesh. Bones pressed against skin.
Gasps rang out like cracks of thunder. One vampire clutched the arm of her date. Another fell back into a chair, eyes wide with frozen fear.
The room pulsed with light and heat. For one moment, I felt as if I were floating, as if the power inside me had lifted me above it all. Around me, vampires dropped to their knees. Their skin dulled to a sickly gray, veins standing out like blackened roots. They clutched at their throats, mouths gaping open, gasping for air that wouldn’t come, their bodies beginning to wilt under the pressure of my magic.
It felt as though invisible threads had tethered them to me, their strength siphoned without a single touch. I had never managed that before.
Still, I held on.
Then—
I let go.
The fire erupted from my hand in a violent surge, a wave of heat and fury that ignited the vampire’s chest. Flames bloomed like twisted roses, engulfing him in seconds. He dropped to his knees, clawing at the fire as it consumed him, but there was no escape. In near unison, the graying vampires around me burst alight, flames spearing through their chests as if their bodies themselves had betrayed them.
Gasps and shrieks tore through the great room. A few vampires backed away in horror, but others stumbled, fangs bared, their instincts slipping free of control. Sparks arced from the magic still crackling in my hand, and where they landed—skin ignited. One vampire yelped as his sleeve caught fire. Another clawed at her throat, flames licking up her collarbone before she vanished in a blur, smoke trailing behind.
Others snarled and surged forward, ready to strike.
I stood my ground, fire still dancing in my palm. I looked up at the throne to see August leaning forward with a wicked grin. As if he was urging me to go further. As if I had done exactly what he was hoping I’d do.
I dropped my hand, letting the fire burn out. Vampires launched forward, but before they made it to me, August’s voice boomed through the room.
