Rite & Fire by Jade Bones

Author:Jade Bones [Bones, Jade]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-04-30T05:00:00+00:00

NINE

BETH

Grief and fury washes over me, strangling me, overwhelming me, but I don’t even have time to process that because a familiar face takes his place.

“Tatiana,” I whisper, staring into the eyes of the girl who used to be my best friend.

Seriously, do I have her on the brain or something? Why the fuck is she even rating a position in this hell hole? She’s nothing. No one. She doesn’t matter. So what if she turns me in for having illegal power? I could die tonight.

My heart races in terror and agony; he’s taken Mikael. Mikael is gone.

Mikael chose to leave.

What did he say about tracking? How was he being tracked? Surely we could have worked out a better answer.

Steeling myself, I lock it all away so I can face this new threat and live.

“Hey, Bethy Boo.” Tatiana grins at me, her cheeks dimpling the way they did when she was a middle-schooler, because this isn’t a dream: it’s one of my nightmares.

I take a step backwards. “Just fuck off already, would you? I’m not in the mood.”

Her eyes widen in genuine shock and hurt. “Why not?” she protests, and it’s exactly like my memory of her, so viscerally linked to everything that happened that I can already feel my resolve faltering.

I just wanted to help her. She’d seemed so upset, and I had no way of knowing what she would do with it all.

“Because it’s a fucking blood pact!” I snap, harsher than I was at the time, but, like, it’s been a long day.

The rolling green of the fields behind our high school are dotted with students lazing in the sun, enjoying the break, but all I can see is the knife in Tatiana’s hand and the desperate sadness rolling off her. She’s never had any luck with spells—not that any of us really can yet, not until we’re initiated and summon our first demon—but she found, quite by accident, something that worked. An accidental cut, blood welling on my fingertips, an aura of power…

There’s something in my blood that helps people, gives them energy, and I suppose now I know what it is. Succubus power.

But I didn’t know that then, and I still let her take it. And then I watched when she turned that knowledge against me.

My left hand traces my right wrist absently, and I note as if from a distance that no mark has appeared on my skin. Yet.

The dream shimmers, rolling hills giving way to darkened walls and flickering candles. I escaped the ritual last week, but something tells me it won’t be so easy this time.

When Tatiana blinks at me, her teenage face shifting into the sharper lines of an adult, I understand why. This isn’t my dream; it’s hers. I can’t stop dreaming of her, but she’s dreaming of me, too.

“You selfish cow,” Tatiana snarls at me, advancing with her ceremonial knife tucked menacingly at her side. “It’s not like this will even hurt, and you know your blood is perfect for this.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.