Page 61 of The Soulless Witch

“You know why we are killing male witches even before they are born, don’t you?” Regina continued even as I narrowed my eyes at her. “Because they are not like us, born with a flicker of power that needs to be cultivated and grown over time. They come into this world with a vast ocean of magic at their fingertips, and they are dangerous and unstable. But male witches are not the only creatures like that.”

Her eyes darted to the corridor behind me just as Roman stepped from the shadows, hands in his pockets as if he had been on a leisurely walk.

“That was a pretty good speech, Regina. You almost hadmeconvinced,” he said as he stopped beside me.

Regina gritted her teeth, unable to hide her annoyance any longer. I let the last of my magic flow through me, sliding through the cracks of Regina’s composure.

“Are you working with the hunters?” I asked, and her head snapped toward me, eyes widening for a single heartbeat.

“Working with the hunters?” she repeated. “I’d rather work with the vampires than have anything to do with the hunters.” She sent a pointed look at Roman, but he just smiled like she had given him a compliment.

She flinched when my magic probed deeper and her defenses snapped into place, pushing the last of my presence out of her mind. Her eyes flooded with anger, and she took a step back.

“I take it your answer is no,” she said while I tried to stay on my feet. Roman’s hand slid to my back, steadying me as I raised my chin. “You will regret turning your back on your kind again, Celeste.”

She took a step back before pivoting on her heel and walking away. I watched her go when a sharp pain pierced my chest, another one digging into my back. Sucking in a breath, I reached for the source, expecting to find an open wound, but there was nothing.

“Celeste?” Roman asked, panic ringing in his voice. In an instant, he was in front of me, cupping my face. “What is wrong?” Another phantom stab spread through my shoulder and I hissed. “What is it? Did she do something?”

“I think…” The realization finally crept into my mind and my heart dropped as I looked up with fear I hadn’t felt in years. “We need to get to the Martens. Right now!”

“Why?” he demanded, but we were already moving down the corridor, his hand wrapped around my waist as if to make sure I wouldn’t fall. “What did you feel? Are they—”

“They are alive,” I said, licking my lips. “But Nym is hurt. Badly.”

Chapter 32

Isaac

Itwaspastmidnightand most of the windows on the street were dark, the only sounds coming from a dog barking near the house where we parked our cars. Moving quietly through the empty street, I tried to rein in my impatience.

I should have done this right after Roman’s call. I should have confronted Celeste the moment we found out where she was staying. The only problem was nobody had seen her in the last four days. Her humans were still at the house, so we came here with the idea of asking them to contact her. Roman wasn’t picking up his damn phone and I couldn’t wait anymore. Whatever she knew about my pack and about what was happening now, I needed to hear it. Even if it meant sharing the same breathing space as her.

A low growl came from behind me and I looked at Peter as he bristled.

“What is it?” I demanded, glancing up and down the street. There was no one outside and I couldn’t hear anything out of the ordinary, but even as the words left my mouth, I could sense a strange shift in the air, like the one just before a storm was about to hit.

“Magic.” Peter grimaced. “The likes of which I’ve never felt before. It’s coming from down the street.”

I turned to follow his gaze, noting that he was looking in the direction of the house Celeste lived in. We had purposely parked two streets away from the witch’s place so we could approach slowly. I had never felt any overwhelming power from her, not since that night she killed my pack, but Peter was more sensitive to magic since he had a witch ancestor in his bloodline. I’d trust his senses over my own any day.

“She must be home. We go slowly and in…” I started, giving them a sign to follow when, without a warning, the night turned into day. For a second, I thought the world ended and the blinding light was us traveling to the Moon Goddess’ embrace, but then the recoil of whatever exploded hit us. The smell of fire and dirt filled the air while my ears rang so loudly that I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts. It wasn’t until a piece of dirt hit the ground at my feet that I snapped out of it.

My ears popped, the sounds of alarms blaring and people shouting replacing the silence. The bright light that shot to the sky vanished, darkness swooping in with only a pillar of smoke rising from the house we were coming to visit. Or what was left of it.

My body moved before my mind could stop it. Allison shouted for me to wait, but I was sprinting at full speed, not caring about the lights of the houses blinking to life or the people spilling outside. I slowed down only after I got to the next street, watching with horror at the heap of fire and rubble that used to be a normal, unassuming home. The damage from the explosion somehow got contained to just that one house, and as the wards around the place disintegrated like melted glass, I figured it was the magic that had made that happen.

There was barely anything left of the building. Part of it had sunk into a crater in the ground, while several of the supporting beams and the concrete foundation were still sticking out of the burning earth. There was no way a human could have survived that. Maybe not even a witch.

“No, no, no,” I muttered, taking a step toward the remnants of the front room when a hand grabbed my elbow.

“We need to go!” Allison shouted, looking around frantically. “There are too many people watching! The police must be on their way! Nothing could have survived that blast! If she was in that house, she is dust!”

I opened my mouth to say she couldn’t have died so stupidly when another portion of the house caved in. At first, I thought it was the flames and the unsteady ground that had caused it to tumble, but then I noticed something trying to crawl from underneath the rubble. Allison and the others must have seen it too, because a few of them cursed. I yanked my hand free from my Beta, rushing toward the house.

Jumping over the blasted door, I stumbled toward the section of the floor that was rising in a heap of earth and stone. Grabbing a piece of crumbling concrete, I tossed it aside with a grunt, reaching for another. The hot dirt parted, and I paused, looking down in expectation to see a frail, battered woman crawl from underneath the rubble. What I didn’t expect was a pair of glowing red eyes glaring at me.

The creature lunged, and I instinctively swung with the concrete boulder, catching it in the head. The monster flew back, slamming into the only remaining wall of the house and toppling the whole thing over. Getting to its feet, the beast turned to face me again. The two seconds it took to steady itself were enough for me to take in the patches of smooth midnight skin, and short black fur that covered it, the unnaturally long arms, and crooked fingers that ended with curved nails as long as my palm.

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