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Oh, fuck, I overdid it!

The coffin cracked further; the dirt poured in faster, and I had to remove my finger to shield my face.

Panic rose in my throat. What had I done?

I felt a jolt but kept my hands hovering over my eyes. As I peeked through my fingers, the coffin rattled, and the lid blasted high in the air in a violent explosion. I moved my hands to see the earth and wooden coffin parts swirling around the hole I had been in, as if I were in the eye of a tornado. I drew in a deep breath of fresh air and briefly shut my eyes while still in the center of the dust devil. When I opened my eyes again, I saw my coven standing around the whirlwind, with Ezra’s arms spread wide. His eyes now shone a glowing, ashy brown color. As I reached for the top of the hole, Ezra lowered his arms, releasing the earth.

“Oh, thank God,” Caleb cried out as he reached for me, pulling me out of the hole, then into his arms for a tight squeeze.

I finally released all the anxiety I had during the ordeal. “It didn’t matter how much I tried to muster my powers; it wasn’t enough. They shot me up with some kind of tranquilizer, and it knocked me out completely,” I admitted. “For a moment there, I was beginning to think you’d not show up to my rescue.”

Caleb flashed me a toothy grin and said, “Oh, come on, Mercy. You’ll feed Ezra’s ego if you comment like that.”

Ezra brushed off the dirt from his arm and looked up to meet my eyes. Only his tiny smile told me that helping me out of a bind was the best thing to happen to him all week.

The lightheadedness dissipated as my powers healed the trauma my body had experienced while buried alive. Being immortal didn’t make me invincible. I still felt pain like any mortal would. I also felt fear and anger, sadness, and hopelessness. Right now, I mostly felt anger. A fiery heat flushed through my body as I looked around to see if the vampires were nearby.

I’m going to fucking kill them.

The rest of the coven rushed my way and pulled me into a group hug.

“They’re probably long gone by now,” Simon said as he released our embrace. “Unless they’rethatstupid.”

My attention left Simon when I heard a rustling noise, and I spotted the two vampires who had stuck me inside the coffin hurrying from the cottage next to us. “They’re that stupid,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Seriously, they buried you in their front yard?” Leah asked, pointing to the front of the cottage and then to the hole. She shook her head as the two blood-sucking shitbags made a run for the forest.

I frowned at that observation. Those idiots had been here the entire time, knowing I was suffering right outside their own door. They wanted to stick around and admire their handiwork.

Caleb gestured in their direction. “They’re all yours, Mercy.”

A slow smirk replaced my frown as I raised my hands, and an electrifying energy flowed through my fingertips. I threw down my arms, blasting my force in their direction. The strength of my magic slammed into their backsides, sending them airborne. It only took a moment for the pair to stand on their feet again, facing us with their fangs out and fire burning in their eyes. Caleb tossed me my stake as I ran toward the vampires. Once I reached them, though, they fell to their knees, pleading.

Oh, come on.

“Please don’t kill me. I don’t want to die,” cried the one who had mocked me earlier as he grabbed my throat to toss me into the coffin. “Just turn us human.”

I chuckled at his words. That was what I had offered them as they shoveled dirt over me for thirty minutes. I had given them an out, warning them that my coven would find me and that they’d be hunted down until I stuck a stake through their cold hearts.

They hadn’t listened.

The second vampire, with blond tips and a stupid grin, held up his hands in defeat. “Please, I have a wife and—”

Poof! The simpering asshole was now dust.

Caleb stood there, holding his own stake while weaving flames between his fingers. The remaining vampire closed his eyes as if defeated, but when he opened them again, they were blood red.

“You’ll pay for that, you fucking bitch! I’ll make you all suffer,” he threatened, flashing his sharp, deadly fangs.

I bent my knee, so we were at eye level, then placed the stake on his chest, right where his heart would be. He tried to snap at my throat, but Caleb had him frozen by a spell.

The vampire shook his head frantically from side to side before I said, “Have fun in Hell, you pathetic asshole.”

My stake impaled his chest with a quick thrust, and I watched him turn to dust. He would now join his friend in whatever afterlife those creeps went to.

“Well, I’m ready to eat,” I stated, but my voice cracked. “Actually, I could really use some water.” After crying out for the last few hours in the scorching heat inside that box, I hadn’t realized how dry my throat had become.

“Water, yes,” Caleb said, “but food will have to wait.”

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