You better be ready to do the spell because I’m betting that I’m not going to be able to hold her for very long.”
Adessa nods, opening up the bag of herbs she brought with us. “Be careful. And don’t hurt her.”
“I’m not going to, but I’m not going in unarmed, either. I need a weapon.”
Reluctantly, Adessa reaches into her pocket and draws out a pocketknife. “It’s all I have.”
I flip open the dull blade. “I guess it’ll have to do.”
“Please, don’t hurt her,” she begs again. “No staking her in the chest or anything like that.”
“I’ll try not to.” I start to close my eyes when she grasps onto my arm.
“Gemma, I love her,” she whispers, her eyes pleading with me.
I nod my head, my thoughts briefly drifting back to Iceland and how Alex’s mom—or who I thought was Alex’s mom—said Alex loves me. It terrifies me to my very soul, but in the craziest, most breathless, overwhelming way possible. I know there’s no way he could love me since I’m still alive. Or maybe he does, and I don’t feel the same way for him yet.
I shake the thought from my head.
“I promise I won’t hurt her.”
Adessa lets go of my hand. “You’ll have to be the one to puncture her mark. It’s on her left wrist.”
Nodding, I shut my eyes and picture the front door of the casino, and just like that, I’m standing in front of Tesha and the tall man with fiery red eyes.
“Well, what do we have here?” Tesha says, eyeing me over with hunger in her eyes.
“A treat,” the man says, lunging for me.
Slamming my hands against his chest, I shove him back with all my strength. He barely stumbles, but it gives me enough time to grab Tesha’s arm, shut my eyes, and whisk us back to the car where Adessa is waiting.
As soon as we land on the asphalt, I push Tesha down. Her fangs snap out, and she nicks my arm with one of them. Grabbing her wrist, I wrestle her down and make the incision across the triangular mark on her arm. She snarls, trying to bite me, but then, as if she can’t resist herself, sinks her teeth into her own arm where the blood is seeping out.
“Adessa!” I shout, trying to pin Tesha down. “Do it now!”
Adessa frantically kneels beside us, her hands trembling as she opens the bag of Vitis vinifera. She sticks some flakes into the open wound, mixing it with the blood. Tesha bites at my arm again, and pissed off as hell, I slap her.
She blinks, stunned, and then her eyes turn murderous. “I’m going to kill you for that,” she growls.
“No, you’re not,” Adessa’s says, raising her hands. He skin blazes with a flame so powerful I can feel the energy flowing through my own veins. “Liberare vos ligaveris!”
The flames roar and Tesha screams as the mark slithers off her skin and melts into the ground, liquefying into the asphalt.
I’m so relieved it worked. Now Aislin and Laylen can be saved, too. That is, if nothing has happened to them already.
I sit back on my heels and take a few measured breaths, trying to ease the wooziness that suddenly overcomes me.
“I’m so sorry.” Tears pour down Tesha’s cheeks as she crawls over to Adessa and wraps her arms around her
“It’s not your fault.” Adessa rubs her hand up and down Tesha’s back.
Nope. It’s mine. All mine.
Unable to stop myself, I crawl away from them and throw up in the grass. After I’ve emptied my stomach, I sit down on the curb and rest my head on my knees until Tesha and Adessa walk over.
“And who is she?” Tesha asks, looking down at me, and Adessa smiles at Tesha in a way that makes me grin.
After Adessa gives Tesha the details of who I am, I Foresee the three of us back to Adessa’s store. The moment we land in the living room, we’re faced with another huge problem.
Adessa sees Aislin standing in the shadows of the room, and she immediately elevates her hands into the air, ready to fire.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Aislin warns, straightening her stance. “Otherwise, we all die.”
“You did a Magic Binding Spell?” Adessa’s voice carries both horror and awe.
Aislin shrugs. “I’ve gotten way more powerful since the last time you saw me.”
Adessa eyes her over, her gaze lingering on the mark. “I can see that.”
Aislin’s lips curl into a grin as she emerges from the