Chapter 21 Julia
Julia
As Hannah’s fingers close around my wrists, Riley’s essence dissolves in my veins. In its place rushes Hannah’s familiar sweetness, flooding my system and filling the hollow spaces in my soul I didn’t know existed until she carved them out. The difference makes me suck in a sharp breath.
My magic roars, changing focus, demanding that I keep taking what’s mine until there’s nothing left.
I gulp down her essence, desperate for it.
“Julia,” she whispers, her voice distant and distorted through the haze. “Please stop.”
The magic pouring through me is far from controlled. The pentagram has turned it into a torrent. Hannah’s heartbeat stutters, her breath coming in short gasps, her life force draining much too fast.
A tiny, feeble thought forms at the back of my mind: I’m killing her.
With a gasp that feels like surfacing from drowning, I wrench backward to break contact from both her and Riley.
The loss is agonizing. My magic screams in protest, clawing at my insides, demanding I reach for her again. Dark tendrils creep up my arms, alive and writhing under my skin, and I clench my fists to smother it.
Riley crumples to the floor like a puppet with cut strings. The sound of her body hitting stone makes me flinch.
The pentagram scatters as if caught in a violent wind. The candles extinguish, plunging the sanctum back into the eerie green glow from the ceiling.
Someone is breathing in harsh, desperate gasps. It takes me a moment to realize it’s me.
“Dammit,” Elizabeth hisses, already at Riley’s side. Her composure has cracked, and there’s fear in her eyes as she drops to her knees and rolls Riley onto her back.
And through it all, the binding spell pulses as strong as ever. Still intact. Still unbreakable.
Another failed attempt.
Hannah scrambles across the floor to Riley, her hands shaking so badly she can barely check for a pulse. “Oh, God… Riley, can you hear me?”
My throat constricts. I turn away, sucking in deep breaths, trying to understand what I’m feeling.
I didn’t expect Riley’s taste to be so agonizingly familiar. I knew she was descended from Rebecca, but what I didn’t anticipate was Charlotte.
The blood connection between them was more than I was prepared for.
For one horrible, perfect moment, I had Charlotte back. And the hunger that rose up in response was something I couldn’t control, that inner monster who devours and never lets go.
I thought I could bring Riley to the brink of death to make Rebecca regret what her spell led us to, but I didn’t expect Charlotte’s taste to flood into my veins after all this time. I didn’t expect her ghost to reach up and drag me under.
I straighten up and smooth my hair, composing myself.
But seeing Hannah’s panic as she cups Riley’s face makes hot shame wash over me.
What was I thinking? God, if Hannah hadn’t…
My stomach churns.
I would have killed Riley to spite Rebecca, and I would have destroyed my only chance at freedom. Hannah would have watched me prove every terrible thing anyone has ever said about me, and I would be forever tethered to someone who despises me as much as Rebecca does.
If she doesn’t already.
Foolish. I nearly sacrificed everything.
Hannah’s fingers flit over Riley’s face and throat, searching for signs of life with that undying compassion she hasn’t stopped showing all night.
My chest squeezes.
She deserves so much better than to be bound to me.
“She’s alive, but barely,” Elizabeth says, her voice tight with anger. “Both of you stay here. I’ll take her to Rebecca.”
My heart skips a beat. “Rebecca?”
She shoots me a glare that could wither a tree. “She’ll find out what you did here sooner or later, and it might as well be now, when Riley can still survive this.”
As usual, the consequences of my actions occur to me far too late. The thought of Rebecca seeing what I did sends ice through my veins. This will certainly make her believe that a cursed sleep and a binding spell are merciful compared to what I deserve.
“So—so she will live?” Hannah asks from the floor, out of breath.
“She will. She’s in good hands.” Elizabeth murmurs an incantation, and Riley’s form lifts onto an invisible stretcher. She guides Riley from the sanctum, but not before shooting me one last glare.
Distantly, the bookcase rumbles aside, and the parlor doors open and slam, leaving Hannah and me alone in the suffocating silence.
Hannah stands, her fists clenched and her chest heaving. The fury in her eyes is so blazing hot that it hurts to look at.
“What—was—that?” she asks through her teeth.
“I was trying to break the binding spell. It’s not my fault the ritual involved me feeding on a Cooper.”
“Yeah, you clearly have a weak spot for them,” Hannah spits. The color rises in her cheeks, and she turns away, blinking fast.
I stare at her profile and her rigid shoulders. Is that what she thinks? That Riley meant something to me beyond the ritual? “Riley was your lover, last I checked.”
Hannah lets out a wild laugh. “I dated a Cooper, Julia, but I didn’t drain any of them dry. I didn’t leave any of them dead. God, you really are…”
I step closer. “I’m what?”
Hannah shuts her mouth and steps back, suddenly quiet.
“A monster?” I supply. “An abomination? Whatever word you have, I assure you, I’ve heard it before.”
“You left me unconscious in the woods,” she growls.
“With my cloak for warmth.”
She rolls her eyes. “Oh, well, that makes it fine then. A cloak. How thoughtful.”
“I also built you a fire.”
“Do you want a medal of honor for not murdering me?”
I ball my fists. “You know exactly who I am, Miss Schmidt. Don’t act surprised.”
“Do I?” Her voice is deadly quiet. “Tell me about Charlotte.”
My throat tightens. I don’t wish to relive that memory, especially not right now. “This isn’t the time—”
“Tell me.” Her hands curl into fists too. “I want to hear it from you.”
I could lie. Spin some tale that makes me look less awful. But the ice in her eyes tells me she already knows every excruciating detail. And she deserves the truth, after what she’s witnessed.
So, I step in, summoning my magic to let her see it for herself.
Drawing on the memory is physically painful. I grit my teeth against it, my eyes stinging and my throat tightening.
I have never shown anyone what happened. The moment has only lived in my nightmares.
Hannah’s gaze drops to my glowing palms. Recognition flashes across her eyes, and she sets her jaw before stepping in to meet me.
I press my hands to her temples and show her.