Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,119

waiting for an opportunity, I was prepared to be patient, and then yesterday, when I overheard your conversation with Amber, it just fell into my lap. Perfect timing, with your mother away, no one expecting you at home… and by the time your boyfriend starts to wonder where you are, it’ll be much too late.

“But there’s no worry of me being suspected of anything. I drove you here in your car, and it will appear that you came out on your own. You see, it turns out that your end will come courtesy of a rather hungry alligator that lives in the lake here. I’m sure he’ll have help from the other things that live there, too, but I think the gator will be the one to really do the job.”

Nell leaned closer to me, and the hood fell off to pool around her hair. “Don’t be frightened. In reality, you’ll be long gone before they bother with you. I need a fairly large quantity of your blood—more than you can spare, as it turns out. But I know how to do it in such a way that my cuts won’t be at all visible by the time your body is found.”

I shook my head and then closed my eyes to breathe through the pain. “Doesn’t matter, Nell. They’ll still know.”

“Oh, your adoring boyfriend or that stupid Amber might suspect. But they’ll have no proof, and it won’t matter. Besides, if they make too much fuss, my father will shut them up. He might not be good for much, but he wouldn’t let anyone slander me.” Her laugh this time was short and harsh. “Wouldn’t want any harm coming to the precious Massler name. Or maybe I should say, any more harm. That’s really why he could never forgive my mother…” Her eyes clouded and she frowned. I could feel the hurt and fury coming from her, and the mutterings in her mind cried out in pain, too. Maybe this was my opportunity.

“I’m sorry about your mother, Nell,” I said as gently as I could manage. “It must have been very hard for you to lose her when you were so little.”

“She was brilliant,” Nell murmured. “Simply brilliant. No one was like her. And she loved me. She taught me…” Her voice faded and then she jerked her eyes back to me. “That doesn’t matter now. She’s put away because she wasn’t smart enough to manage things. She let a man ruin everything. I learned that lesson early. No man is worth giving up your power. No man is worth losing what’s really important. They can’t be trusted.” She smiled down at me again. “Not even your precious love. You’ll see. Or actually you won’t see. You won’t be around to see!” Nell giggled maniacally. “Maybe I’ll offer him some comfort while he’s grieving for you…”

A fierce rage shot through me at the idea of Nell anywhere near Michael. “He would never—” I began, but Nell cut me off.

“Oh, he might never—you may be right—but you know, there are spells for that, too. My power will be limitless after I perform this ritual. Doesn’t it make you feel a little better to know that your blood is going to such a good cause?”

I turned my face and refused to look at her, but she wouldn’t move away.

“Oh, come on now, Tasmyn. Let’s not be coy. It didn’t take me too long to figure out where your power lies. Marica could sense it from the beginning, you know. She just couldn’t isolate exactly what it was. But after the whole Amber debacle, I put the pieces together. I played you today, made you think I was on the wrong track. And now, if I’m right—which I nearly always am—your blood, with your special gifts, will make me the strongest witch of my generation. And in a way, you’ll be part of that. Even if you’re not around to see it!” She erupted into laughter again.

I knew I had to be calm. If I could keep her talking, keep her focused on something else, I could be buying precious time, and there was a chance that someone would find me. The thought of Nell with Michael sickened me, but I had to tamp down that anger and try to reach whatever part of Nell’s sanity that might be left.

She was standing again in front of the pile of rocks I had noticed earlier. Her mind was focused on them, and then I