Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 67614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“Sure.”
“What I saw in that place goes far beyond that.” He leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees. He looks scared.
I’ve never seen Xander afraid of anything. To say it’s unsettling is a vast understatement.
“And what was that, Xander?”
“It was absolute and utter destruction. It was our ruin and what happens after. I’ve understood from the beginning that this thing wants to kill witches. That it enjoys the hunt. And far too many of us have fallen to him. It’s frustrating to know that I haven’t been able to stop it.”
He pauses and licks his lips.
“But?”
“But I don’t know if I’m strong enough for what’s required of us.”
“You’re the strongest person I know. Mentally, physically, and with your abilities.”
“I’m not convinced it’ll be enough.” He shakes his head and stands to pace his living space, stopping by the windows. He stares outside, his hands in his pockets, and rocks back on his heels. “I watched it kill Lorelei. It was as plain as day. It showed me everything it has planned for her, and then it laughed with so much joy and glee it made me want to throw up.”
“It’s been taunting all of us for days, X. This is what it wants, for us to be afraid and unsure. To second-guess ourselves.”
“Of course, I’m fucking second-guessing myself.” He whirls to me, rage and fear radiating off him in waves. “I love her more than life itself. My survival depends on hers because if anything ever happened to her, I’d die of a broken heart on the spot.”
“But you won’t tell her that.”
“She doesn’t want to hear it. Besides, she already knows.” He waves that aside. “It doesn’t matter how she feels about it, it’s still the truth. And I know it’s going to try to kill her. The mere thought of that paralyzes me with so much fear, I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Shake it off.”
He stares at me with disgust. “What did you say?”
“Shake it the fuck off. It wants you scared. That’s why it showed you what it did. Do you think it doesn’t know what all our fears are? It’s not human, X. Of course, it knows. And it’s going to exploit them every chance it gets. It’s playing with you, and right now, it’s winning. You need to shrug off the fear and get damn pissed off instead because the fear is what that thing needs to win.”
Xander goes quiet for a moment and then lets out a long breath, his shoulders sagging.
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I let it get inside my head and gave it exactly what it wanted.”
“Because no matter how much you try to show us all otherwise, you are a human being. And you love her.”
“She’s everything.” His black eyes meet mine. “You know how that feels.”
I nod, thinking about Breena. “I do. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make sure Breena’s safe. And if it showed me what you saw, it would unnerve the hell out of me. Jesus, I saw a dead body sitting next to Lorelei in the back seat of my car on our way to Boston tonight, and I thought my soul was going to leave my body.”
“You what?”
I shake my head and wave him off. “Calm down. It wasn’t really there. It was in the mirror. This thing has decided that it’s fun to fuck with us through reflections. But Lorelei saw it, too, and it scared her. Then, Breena basically told it to go fuck itself, and it did.”
“Breena said that?”
“Yeah. She’s fed up with the games this thing’s been throwing around. So am I. The thing is, I don’t know how to stop it.”
“Maybe there’s a way through the mirrors,” he mutters as he paces the room. “A spell we can cast to trap it there and then destroy the mirror.”
“That actually sounds like a good idea. What’s the spell?”
“I don’t know, but I know some people we can call to ask for help.” He turns to me. “You’re absolutely right. I’m done being scared. It got what it wanted, and now it’s done. And it’s going to suffer for it.”
“You’ve never been a vindictive witch.”
“It’s fucking with Lorelei,” he says simply. “With all the girls. Hell yeah, I’m feeling particularly vindictive. We’re going to get rid of this son of a bitch once and for all.”
“Let’s start researching.”
“It’s late,” he replies.
“I’m here, and I have nowhere else to be. Let’s get started.”
“Okay.”
Chapter Fifteen
Breena
“I’m so glad you ladies were able to come early before everyone else arrives for dinner so we can work on Beltane preparations,” my mom says as we all gather around the kitchen table. She has dried flowers spread out so we can make wreaths, flower crowns, and maypoles. Lucy brought fresh flowers for some of the same things and also for flower cones.