AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Horror permeated every inch of my body. I opened my eyes to see the light glisten off a knife in Avery’s hand. It had to be the same one Gregory used to stab Corbin, because it was already covered in blood. Avery knelt on Nadine’s wrist and pressed the tip of the blade to the base of her pointer finger.
“No!” I screamed as I reached out, as if I could stop it.
Someone grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back so hard I felt it pop. Laughter came from above me, and I realized it was Declan, one of the Treacherous Tarantulas.
“Kill them already!” Finn shouted.
Pain radiated through my shoulder, and the breath left my lungs as I was met with blow after blow. Nadine screeched from beneath me, shattering my heart. I couldn’t save her.
“Fuck, it’s time to go,” I heard James snarl.
“I order you to stop!” Charlotte’s voice rang across the ballroom.
She was off the Imperium Council now. Miriam’s Chosen wouldn’t listen to her. But they did. By some miracle, they did.
The blows came to an immediate halt, and I experienced a moment of reprieve from the attack.
And then the voices came.
There had to be two dozen voices, at least. Angry voices shouted awful things in my head all at once. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but the rage made my skull feel as if it was splitting in two. I cried out in agony and clutched my skull as I rolled over and curled into a ball.
So many deaths all at once…
“Lucas!” Nadine shouted. Her voice sounded like it was coming from miles away. I thought she shook me, but I couldn’t be sure I felt anything past the pounding in my head. I wanted to hurl, but nothing came up. Voices filled the room, but I couldn’t be sure what any of them were saying.
“Lucas, it’s all right,” Nadine’s soft voice came in my ear. “They’re gone.”
Gone. She said it like it should reassure me, but I heard the hollowness in her tone. They were gone—dead. How was that possible?
Soon, the pounding in my head eased enough that I opened my eyes to see Nadine kneeling above me. Nearby, Grant curled Talia in his arms. Oliver ran over and licked my face. Nadine trembled as she gazed around us, and I finally lifted my head to see bodies strewn everywhere. Their lifeless eyes stared toward the ceiling, but I didn’t see any wounds.
Declan lay with his arm twisted beneath him. Three of the other Tarantulas sprawled out beside him. Finn, Corbin, and Nolan shared the same empty stare. Avery Mitchel’s blonde curls splayed around her in all directions, her jaw hung open. The knife she’d been using to carve Nadine’s flesh lay beside her.
I gasped and looked down at Nadine’s hand, expecting to find a finger missing. Her hand was covered in blood, and there was a deep gash at the base of her finger. It was still attached, thank the Goddess!
“You’re hurt.” I tore off another piece of my shirt and wrapped it tightly around her finger. I could barely get it on, because my arm didn’t want to move.
Nadine helped with the makeshift bandage, then said, “Hold still.”
She grabbed my arm and twisted, and I screamed as my shoulder popped back into socket. Son of a bitch, that hurt.
The whole ballroom went silent as people took in the carnage. The only sound was the pad of feet across the carpet. Charlotte walked across the room. The sleeve of her dress pulled back just enough that I caught sight of the skull tattooed on her wrist. She was one of the most powerful Mortana in the coven. Her power was a lot like Leroy’s, but more extreme. She could kill hordes of people in an instant. I don’t know if she’d ever done it before, but the masses of bodies lying on the floor was a testament to her power.
“I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” Charlotte said in a broken voice.
Chloe and Miles followed behind her, along with their cats. It was a relief to see they were okay.
Samantha stood on shaky knees and regarded Charlotte. “You saved us all. You are a true priestess.”
“It wasn’t enough,” Charlotte said. “I didn’t get them all. Several of them fled, but they could be back at any moment.”
I glanced around the room, and I noticed Ryan and James were missing. Leroy was still out there with Death magic, too.
I looked down at the bodies, and I realized something I hadn’t noticed before. Each of the Executors wore a badge, and the badges had inscriptions that weren’t there at the beginning of the semester. “Leto’s possessing Executors through inscriptions on their badges!”
He must’ve been planning this for a while—creating contracts so that he could strike at an opportune time.
“If he’s created this many contracts, it’s made him stronger,” Charlotte said.
