Page 63 of The Soulless Witch

Without thinking, I took a step forward. “Taken them how?”

No presence, no scent, no trace. This was exactly like the kidnappings that were happening all over the city. Whoever abducted those humans had to be the same person who took my people, too. If we could find that…

The monster narrowed its eyes at me, but there was no hatred in them now, just pain and annoyance. Nym looked at Celeste, lowering its eyes. “I’m sorry I failed to protect them.”

Celeste swallowed hard, caressing its long head with trembling fingers.

“It’s alright, Nym, you did your best. Now shift so I can carry you. I’ll fix you and then we’ll find the Martens.” The monster nodded, and I watched with bewilderment as its body contorted, turning smaller, shorter, and furrier. In two heartbeats, the giant nightmare was gone, and in its place lay a big, black cat.

Celeste gathered the animal in her arms, cradling it like a baby. When she got up on wobbly feet, I finally snapped back to reality. Neither she nor Roman looked at me, as if they planned to disappear again and leave me with even more questions than before. I’d be damned if I let that happen.

“Wait a damn minute!” I shouted as I rushed to block their way. Roman’s hand tightened on her waist, but his face was back to its usual mask of indifference. Celeste looked like she might collapse and I realized that I had seen that look before. She looked just as pale and unsteady as she did that night after the attack in the club. And just now, the vampire had tried to stop her from using her powers. Was she…spent?

“Get out of the way, wolf,” Roman said quietly, but the threat in his voice was unmistakable. “You’ve caused enough damage.”

“You are not going anywhere until you two tell me what is going on!” I said, preparing myself for the attack Roman’s eyes promised. I could take him, I was sure of that. Maybe not with ease, but I was strong enough to face him. Especially tonight, while he was so unsettled. If I was right and Celeste indeed had exhausted her magic, she would be unable to help him. “What that thing said about the witch…it’s related to the disappearance of my people, isn’t it? You said this has happened before, so you know what is going on! You want us to work together? Fine! But enough with the secrets! I need to know how you are involved with that witch and why she’s stealing my people! Neither of you is leaving before that!”

Roman took a step forward as if he planned to attack, but Celeste raised her hand and the vampire stopped.He stopped. Just what did that witch have on him that made him so goddamn obedient? He could snap her in half with two fingers!

Celeste strode toward me, and Roman made a warning sound, but she ignored him. Pressing the cat to her chest, she stopped so close that I could smell the fire, blood, and magic on her.

“I’m sick and tired of you pinning all of your misfortunes on me,” she said in a voice trembling with so much frustration that I was sure that if she was a shifter, she would have transformed by now. She didn’t reach for her magic, but her eyes remained clear of fear even as she stood in my range, fully aware that I could end her if I wanted to. “Not every horrible thing in your life is my doing! In fact, if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have a life to begin with!”

Anger swirled inside of me and I leaned closer, but she didn’t back away.

“Why? Because you took pity and spared my life?”

“I saved your life, you ungrateful brat!” she snarled, her eyes burning with the same fire I had seen that night when I lost everything. “I saved your life long before I came into your goddamn pack! I saved you the moment I gave my vow to your sister!”

I sucked in a sharp breath, my anger vanishing in an instant while a single thought remained.

She knew my sister.

“What…How did you…” Before I could form a coherent sentence, her eyes rolled backward and her feet buckled. I moved by instinct, catching her before she hit the ground.

Her skin was warm, too warm, and her heartbeat was so weak, I could barely feel it even with her body pressed against mine. Blood trailed down her nostrils and the edge of her mouth, and all I could think was,‘No! She cannot die! She must not die!’

I might have said that out loud—or it might have been the way I shook her shoulders to wake her up—but before I knew it, she was snatched away from me. Roman adjusted her in his arms, stepping away with a sneer that only grew when I tried to follow him.

“Give her back!” I snapped, balling my hands into fists while he backed away. “Don’t make me fight you, vampire. All I want is answers! I won’t kill her!” Roman continued to watch me, moving toward the car parked parallel to the road, with its front doors hanging open as if they had both run out in a hurry.

“Oh, won’t you now?” he scoffed, his voice as threatening as the forbidding look in his eyes. “You won’t kill the person who saved you? How noble of you. Your sister would be so proud.”

I gritted my teeth. My sister again. He knew. He knew something about her, about what happened. Maybe I didn’t need Celeste. If he could tell me what I wanted to know…I could do this. I could swallow my pride and my hate if it meant getting the answers I needed.

“Roman, please,” I said, the words tasting bitter in my mouth. “I just want the truth.”

The vampire stopped, one of his dark eyebrows arching as if he was actually surprised. And he probably was—not once had I used his name or uttered the wordplease. I hated him. I hated his entire kind almost as much as I hated Celeste…but my resentment was irrelevant.

“Please,” I said again, lowering my head in submission. It hurt to do it and part of me rebelled, but I swallowed my pride and waited.

“Fine, I’ll give you some answers,” Roman said, and I looked up. The malice in his eyes squished any hope in an instant, but I dared not move. “The truth is that the only reason you are alive right now is because Celeste made me promise not to kill you. Although, after hurting her familiar, she might change her mind.” My eyes lowered to the cat in her arms, slacked and matted with blood. “The truth is that everyone thinks she killed all those people, including your pack, out of wickedness and thirst for blood, but nobody paused to consider she could have done it out of mercy. That she could have done itprotectingherself and others.” I frowned, and his wicked smile widened. “Even now, you don’t believe it. Figure it out, wolf. You have all the pieces already. If you let go of your thirst for revenge for a moment, you might actually see what is right in front of you.”

Roman set the woman in the passenger seat before circling the car. I managed to reach him just as he was sliding into the driver’s spot. Blocking the path of the vehicle, I put my hands on the hood. Roman closed the door like he wasn’t in a hurry at all, turning on the engine.

“Here’s one last truth for you, wolf,” he said, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel while the car purred, ready to go at his command. “Your sister was alive when Celeste came into your village. If you hadn’t been so focused on the wrong thing, you could have gotten your family back. But I guess that’s not your style, is it? Even now, you are still focused on the wrong things.”

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. My sister was alive? When she disappeared, the Elders pronounced her dead after not finding her body for several weeks. I never believed she was, but no matter how much time passed, she never returned, so I assumed…

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