Broken Bond - Callie Rose Page 0,77

me, forming a barrier between me and my uncle.

But Clint’s eyes widen as I come toward him out of the darkness.

“It’s you,” he croaks. Victory resonates in his tone despite the raspy quality of his voice. “It worked.”

28

Sable

For a long, interminable moment, my uncle and I stare at each other, neither of us moving.

Hell, I’m hardly even breathing while I try desperately not to fall into my old habits. I am not afraid of this man anymore. I will not bow to him or show him any weakness. I’m not hiding any longer. And right now, he looks like a coward, weak and incapable with his aged body crumpled and bloody beneath my shifters.

Suddenly, Clint laughs, a wild and maniacal sound that sends a shiver racing up my spine. I’ve never heard him sound so unhinged. His laugh echoes off the landscape around us, and the echo only makes him sound crazier. He turns his head and spits blood on the ground.

“They told me I was insane,” he says, almost as if to himself rather than to us. “Told me I couldn’t do it. And look at you. It worked.”

Dare and Archer step in closer to me as if to hide me from his sight, even as I’m trying to see around them.

“What worked?” I snap.

“Might as well let her pass, boys.” Clint leers gleefully to the two shifters barricading me from him. “No need for modesty. I’m not her uncle. And we have things to discuss.”

Dare and Archer exchange glances, but they step aside enough for me to better see Clint. There’s a sort of wild look in his eyes—wilder than his laugh indicated, as if seeing me shift back from wolf form was enough to set him off into insanity.

“What worked?” I repeat, proud of myself that I speak without the slightest tremor in my voice.

“You worked!” He cackles, his eyes rolling in his head and his feet stamping the ground like an animal in its death throes. Then his gaze shoots back to mine, and his mouth opens in a ferocious slash of a smile. “Your parents were a special experiment of mine. I wanted to prove it could be done, and I did. I can see the magic inside you. I can feel it. It sings to me.” Clint’s eyes glitter dangerously as he laughs again.

“Stop talking in circles!” I snarl, and my wolf shines through for just a second in that sound. “You’re clearly proud of yourself. Tell me what you did.”

Clint’s face twists into an even wider grin. “I successfully cross-bred a witch and wolf. It’s never been done before, you know. It’s taboo. Considered verboten. But I knew it was possible. And I knew that if it worked, it would give us a tool to use against the wolves. Now… look at you.”

It takes me a minute to wade through the depths of his insanity and process his words.

I successfully cross-bred a witch and a wolf.

So that means my parents were both.

One witch. One wolf.

Did they just… allow Clint to manipulate them? Or were they complicit?

I hate the feeling of his gaze on me. He isn’t leering at my body or acting like he wants to hurt me. For once, he looks fucking proud of me, and I despise the expression on his face with every atom in my body. It’s the face of a mad scientist whose experiment has worked. The face of Victor Frankenstein watching his unnatural creation come to life.

God. I’m Frankenstein’s monster.

“For the longest time, I didn’t think it had worked,” Clint goes on when I don’t respond. “No matter what torture I submitted you to, nothing happened. I thought I’d failed.”

Holy shit. He tortured me on purpose to trigger the transition.

“You did fail,” I bite out as fury floods through me. “I’ll never join the witches. I’ll never help you fight against the wolves.”

“Oh?” Clint gives me a knowing look, and another raspy laugh bubbles up his throat. The insane gleam in his eye sparkles dangerously. “The magic hasn’t already spoken to you?”

Horror turns my body cold and numb. I remember the darkness hovering over my bed during my transition.

It pushed me. Taunted me. Goaded me.

Kill them all.

But I fought it. I didn’t hurt any of my men during that transition. I told that voice no, and I fought it off.

Didn’t I?

Could he be right? Am I a ticking time bomb with no control over the magic?

No. It’s not true. It can’t be.

I refuse to let this man