Page 72 of The Soulless Witch

Had he seen me depleting myself? Could he feel the lack of magic singing in my veins? Some witches believed humans born to witch bloodlines had an affinity to magic even if they couldn’t wield it, but they were extremely rare, even rarer than male witches.

“At last we meet,” he said, a gleeful smile sharpening the harsh angles of his face.

Taking a step back so he wouldn’t corner me at the cells, I watched his eyes follow, even though he didn’t move. A quick look sideways told me more hunters had come along, pushing the others toward the walls as if…as if they were winning.

No, this couldn’t be. Not after we came this far.

Where was Roman? Where were the Fae? If they had realized that their target wasn’t at the other headquarters, they should have come here. Unless… Unless they were all dead.

“Who are you?” I narrowed my eyes at the hunter, hoping he’d play along while I stalled for more time. “What do you want with these children?”

He looked lazily at the cells as if the people there didn’t matter at all. His long black hair fell in heavy curls around his face, making his gray eyes look even more sinister.

“I was made for you, Ancient one. To destroy you once and for all.”

He lunged. Throwing myself to the side, I instinctively reached for my magic, but it was like dipping my hand into a shallow puddle—barely anything stuck to the fingertips as I raised them toward him. A weak tendril of air shot for his neck, but before it even reached it, it disintegrated like smoke blown by the faintest of winds.

His smile widened, and he lunged again, slashing toward my chest. I avoided him, barely, slamming into the cells as a jolt of pain surged through my shoulder. He raised the long knife when two hands shot through the bars and grabbed his forearm, pinning it against the metal. He looked sideways in surprise and I watched Lily dangle from his muscled arm, trying to pry the knife from his fingers.

“Lily, no!” I shouted, but he was already swinging to punch her. His fist stopped an inch from her face, almost like he couldn’t bring it any closer. The rune on her neck flared and a surge of energy ripped from her body, hitting the hunter with full force. He staggered back a step, but Lily held onto him with surprising strength, even pried the weapon away. She was just releasing him when he thrust his hand between the bars, catching her by the shirt and pulling. Just before her face connected with the bars, the magic protecting her rebounded. The hunter let her go, and she flew backward, slamming into the sturdy wall and collapsing on the ground. Her parents screamed, rushing to her side when she didn’t get up, but I was already lunging for the weapon she had dropped.

I thrust with the blade, aiming at his stomach, but the knife was forced to a stop a couple of inches away from his body. I searched for a protective rune glowing on his skin, but all of his tattoos remained dark and unmoving. I stepped forward again, expecting him to dodge my attack, but to my dismay, he opened his arms invitingly, exposing all of his vital organs. My hesitation lasted only a second before I went for his heart.

The weapon stopped at the same invisible wall as before. The hilt heated up, burning through the thoughts of hurting him. I dropped the knife when the pain became too great, stepping back while I shook my steaming hand. Still, no rune gleamed on him.

Just what exactly was protecting him?

“It really works. You can’t touch me,” he laughed, slipping another knife from his belt. I dared not look away from his face. “I was born to kill you, Ancient one. I will have your fear.”

“You will have nothing!”

He just smiled, satisfaction beaming in his eyes as if he had already won.

The next time he moved, it made me realize he had been toying with me all along. Letting me get his weapon and attack him, even dropping his guard to test his protection, had all been a ruse. Because when he attacked this time, it was so swift that I had no time to defend myself.

Something scorching hot sunk into my stomach, setting my world aflame. It burned my insides like a blazing fire, spreading through my veins and eating at my tiny reserves of magic like they were paper. All of my instincts told me to run, but I couldn’t remember how to move. Instead, I looked down at where the blade was sheathed in my body when something purple caught my eye. Dripping from the hilt, I watched the potion mix with my blood, devouring the red even before it hit the ground.

The hunter thrust the weapon deeper, giving it a vicious twist until I was screaming. Then he yanked it free, sending blood gushing from the wound while he wiped the blade on his pants.

“I hope you had a good life, witch, because you will not be healing from this. And once you are dead, your corpse will rot, never to soil this earth again!”

Hands pressing on my stomach, I dropped to my knees. I forced my eyes up, locking them on the medallion as I willed my hand to move. Praying I still had just enough magic to snatch it from him, I reached for my magic.

It was gone. All of it. My strength was gone. And now, my mind was slipping too.

“Die, witch,” I heard him say as I toppled forward. Heaving from the pain, I wondered when was the last time I feared death. Certainly not when they cut me to pieces in the forest, or when they cornered me in that city square, shooting me through the heart. Not when they burned me in my own home, or when they tortured me to death in one of their headquarters. Not even when monsters tore me apart, or witches siphoned my magic before burning me to ashes.

No, the last time I was this afraid was…the first time I died. Alone, betrayed, and desperate. It was strange that I would think of that time when I had tried so hard to forget it. As the past replayed in front of my eyes, the same fear gripped my chest.

I wasn’t ready to go. I had so much to do, so much to say, so much to change…

The sounds of battle died down, or maybe my hearing was just getting duller along with the rest of my senses. I couldn’t even feel pain anymore. That’s when somebody called my name, or I thought they did. Maybe it was my imagination’s last attempt at convincing me I wasn’t going to die alone this time.

I couldn’t reply. I couldn’t even look up to make certain. All I could do was die.

So I surrendered like I had done hundreds of times before, to the darkness that awaited and the silence that greeted me home.

Chapter 38

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