Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
They think they’ve got us backed into a corner but they should know by now that if they push us, I’ll push back. You don’t bring guns and knives to a magic fight. I might not come out unscathed but I won’t stop until I get my boyfriend back.
I’ve been told that everyone has a dark side, an alternative version of themselves they keep locked up, knowing what would happen if it broke free. Some are ashamed of it, some embrace it.
And others encourage it, not caring the damage or carnage it leaves in its wake.
I used to pride myself on my morals, by knowing I’m not perfect by any means but there were lows I’d never sink to. But everyone has a breaking point, and it’s not until the people you hold most dear to you are threatened that you realize just how dark you’re willing to go…
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter
One
“There’s been a mistake,” I rush out, stepping onto the porch and putting myself between Ethan and the police officer. Because there has been a mistake. Ethan didn’t kill Patrick. A demon did.
But I can’t exactly explain that to the police.
“Anora,” Ethan says, voice steady. “It’s okay.” I feel him step close behind me and I turn my head, seeing him hold out his arms. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been arrested,” he reminds me quietly, but his words bring little comfort.
Instead, my heart skips a beat and I edge toward the first porch step, hardly aware I’m moving at all. My brain goes a million miles an hour, trying to think of how to handle this situation. Granted, all I have to go off of are the police interactions I’ve seen on TV.
Which is how I know that if the police have a warrant for Ethan’s arrest, then they already have evidence pointing toward him as being the murderer. I’m not going to be able to talk our way out of this. But I’m a witch, so why talk when I can cast spells?
Though again, standing here without my Book of Shadows or any magical items, there’s nothing I can do unless I want to summon fire and…and…probably end up getting shot.
“He didn’t kill anyone,” I say, trying to be careful in what I give away. There’s no reason we should know the details about Patrick’s death. After all, Ethan and I are just regular citizens as far as the police are concerned. They have no idea that I was the one who created a portal to take me to the prison dimension where the real murderer has been hiding for years.
Which is yet another thing I can’t say.
“That’s not for you to decide,” one of the officers says and reaches for his handcuffs. His eyes shift from me to Ethan, and then he stiffens when my German Shepherd, Hunter, calmly walks onto the porch. The officer next to him has his gun drawn and looks at Hunter as if he’s worried he’s going to get attacked. While a bullet won’t hurt my familiar, I’ll still be fucking pissed if a cop shoots my dog for just standing on the porch.
“I’m going to suggest we do this the easy way,” the officer holding the cuffs says and I want to roll my eyes at how cliché he sounds, but I don’t because I’m fucking terrified. Because this is bad. Really fucking bad.
Patrick died in a horrible way, found burned to death inside his apartment. The doors were locked, which I know can lead the police to believe he was killed by someone he knew who would have access to a key. And while Ethan and Patrick weren’t close, we had spoken to him recently…and I’d gotten into a heated argument with him.
Heated enough for Stephanie to accuse me of being the one who killed him with magic. As far as I know, no official report was made. Though if the police know Patrick and I had an unpleasant exchange, well, they could argue that's the motive for Ethan to kill him. But Ethan going over there, confronting Patrick, and then burning him to death? It’s a stretch, though it’s one they might be willing to make. The fire can’t be explained any other way.
There were no ashes. No accelerants used. They won’t be able to pinpoint the source of the fire because it was demonic and came out of a freaking crack in a prison dimension. And—fuck—this happened in Chicago. Ethan and I are here in Indiana. The Thorne Hill Police Department is here to carry out the arrest, but will Ethan be transferred to Illinois? Does this make the charges against him Federal or something? I have no idea how it works but crossing state lines can’t be a good thing.