Always power with these people. When I didn’t speak, Helene stalked forward.
“You’re now part of us,” she said coldly, her arms crossed. “You already know too much. If you don’t keep in line, you’ll be dealt with accordingly.”
My back bristled as they came closer and I could feel June beginning to form in my hand, but before they could touch me, Heath grabbed my arm and dragged me up the stairs.
“I’ve got her!” he exclaimed.
“What are you doing?” Harold demanded.
“Just going to have a little talk with my wife.”
Confusion and fear warred within me, but Heath’s eyes begged me to trust him.
As soon as we stepped into the hall, a portal appeared before me, and I hesitated. But in my head, I heard ancient whispers. “Trust him.”
I took a deep breath and slipped through the swirling light with Heath.
HEATH
I stumbled into Torin’s bedroom in a daze, barely processing where I was going. All I could see was Sierra’s face, her look of horror at what she’d just seen. And my gut churned as I wondered what else she might have seen or heard. I pressed a finger to my lips to let her know to keep quiet as I shot off a privacy spell then an emergency message to the guys to meet us there. I hoped like hell Tor’s parents didn’t realize their home had just been breached. Victoria was used to me and Riley portalling in and out of there, but it would be hard to explain why Sierra and I were there without her son.
My friends eyed us curiously, sensing something amiss. I avoided their gazes, afraid my anguish would show through. But soon I would have to share the bitter burden Harold had placed upon my shoulders.
Sierra was my light, my redemption. I couldn’t lose her to the sins of my father.
I clapped Torin on the back, forcing a grin. “Hey, can I talk to you guys for a minute?”
Torin’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded. I turned to Riley and Enzo. “You, too. Let’s take a walk.”
“Stop right there.” Sierra’s voice froze us all in her tracks when we’d turned to leave. The sound of her command echoed in the room and held a compulsion like nothing I’d ever felt before.
The four of us turned to her as one. Her eyes glowed fully white, no pupil or iris showing. The darkness within me began to squeal and churn like a rat caught in a trap.
She approached us slowly, a shining cleaver growing in her hand with each measured step.
“Tell the truth!” she yelled at me.
I choked out my parents’ claims - that Sierra was my father’s daughter, my half-sister. As the words left my lips, a wave of nausea hit me. Saying it aloud just made it more real, somehow.
Torin and Enzo swore violently. Riley looked like he might be sick.
“They’re playing you, Heath. I told you, it’s just another their fucked-up power plays and sick mind games,” Torin said.
“You don’t know that,” I said wretchedly. “What if it’s true?”
Riley and Enzo flinched as if they’d been slapped.
“Murphy knew? Enzo snarled.
“Just recently,” Tor snapped, “And what difference does it make? Nothing has been proven yet.”
“Even if it is, it’s not your fault,” Riley said in a strangled voice. He gripped my shoulder, though he still looked ill.
Enzo’s face darkened. “But you didn’t say anything. And you still fucking participated in everything, even after they told you.”
Sierra’s eyes speared me, and I fell to my knees, eyes locked on the floor. “I tried not to. Once they said it, I …” my voice trailed off.
No, technically I hadn’t fucked her. But I’d still given in to my darkest cravings in other ways. I had no excuses other than a desperate hope to cling to what I desired most.
Kill her and end your torment…take what is yours…what is ours…
I jerked back, fighting against the voices in my head. Against the seduction of trying to justify the unjustifiable just to quash my own guilt.
Tor and Riley stiffened beside me. Tremors of darkness started to flow their clenched fists in reaction to my own evil spirit trying to break free. Even Enzo moaned as he tried to fight it, but soon their eyes were as black as Sierra’s were white.
A keening cry from Sierra snapped my attention back to her face. The white light shining in her eyes was spreading across her entire body, and coalescing in the now-full-formed cleaver she held.
The panic and anger of the Dark Ones within my coven brothers and me grew frantic.
Kill her, now! Before it’s too late! NOW!
My body a puppet pulled by invisible strings, rose, ready to obey even though inwardly I was screaming. The guy’s were swaying as they also tried to fight the compulsion that was growing stronger.
“NO!” Torin shouted, his voice deafening. “We will not!”
Love, anguish, and determination poured through the bond he shared with us, driving the Dark Ones back.
But it was too late.
Sierra lifted the cleaver and swung.
TORIN
The cleaver sliced through me like a scalpel made of ice, separating the Unconsecrated from my spirit with surgical precision. I felt it scream, felt my own scream, but nothing came from my lips as the blade passed through me then Riley, Enzo, and finally, Heath where it snagged.
Sierra worked quickly, as if her life depended on it, and I supposed it did. The Dark Ones tried to fight back, unwilling to leave their bodily hosts. She thrust a spectral hand through my chest and pulled.
“Do you repent?” she asked, and I didn’t know if she meant me, or the spirit. I said “Yes” at the same time the Unconsecrated said “Never” and sent another wave of crushing pain through my skull and chest.
Gasping, I tried to cling to the words my father had said. Focus on your love and devotion. If you are faithful to the girl, you will survive the Dark One’s possession until she can release you.
I tried to remember all that I admired about Sierra: her fighter’s spirit, her intelligence, her resilience, her kind heart that was willing to forgive so much pain. The joy she had brought all of us.
Agony grew as I fought against the Dark One with her, each nerve ending of my body on fire as she wrestled the spirit from my body. I began to accept that my release was coming in the form of my own death and dropped in a heap on the floor, the world going dark to the sounds of my coven brothers—my mates—echoing screams.
