Chapter 44

44

VIOLET

The world shifts for a moment as I stare back at Viktor. Words form in my mind but won't leave my mouth: I can't. But behind me, Holly's choking becomes pained whines, and I stare in horror as she rolls onto her side, holding the sides of her head.

The phone call.

Viktor's threat.

Holly's mind will break. Do as I ask, and we'll discuss how to ensure that unfortunate disability never happens.

"You want me to kill Dashiell to stop this from happening to Holly?" I ask hoarsely and point at her.

Dashiell's pupils dilate, and he freezes, one hand on Holly still. "You brought me here to kill me?"

"You could run, wolf?" suggests Viktor. "Though I doubt you'd get far if Violet chases you."

"No!" I shout at Viktor. "This wasn't the agreement. I bring you Dashiell, and you take the spell from Holly."

A huge gasp from Holly tears me away to look at her again. "Violet." She's breathing easier, her cries now softer, and I crouch beside the trembling girl. "Don't kill Dashiell."

She's only lucid briefly before the screaming starts again, and Viktor raises a brow at me. My stomach turns over and over, and I'm unable to meet Dashiell's eyes. Why isn't he running? If anything, his furious look suggests he's about to launch himself at Viktor.

"Stop this!" I shout.

"I want to see you kill, Violet," he says calmly.

I can't. Can I? I swallow hard when the tears in Holly's eyes spill blood onto her cheek, and I dip my head, taking calming breaths. How fast could I move from Dashiell to Viktor if I kill the shifter first? Killing Dashiell quickly would allow me a short window of time to murder Viktor before he can register my movements and retaliate.

"Why did you come, Holly?" I whisper to myself as much as to her as the scream rings painfully in my ears.

If Holly wasn't here, Viktor couldn't manipulate her to force me to back down. I would've torn him apart minutes ago—as soon as I saw his face, and before he had a chance to react.

"If I killed Dashiell, you wouldn't stop, Viktor," I say, eyes on Holly. "However many people you ask me to kill, you won't let go of Holly's mind."

"You'd take the risk?" He wrinkles his nose, and Holly's scream stops, but she continues to whimper.

I'd go to Holly, but don't want to move from my place between her and Viktor.

"You'll never let Holly go!" I yell. "Not until you die!"

He sighs. "All I want is for you to leave me alone, Violet. Misdirect your father and allow me to go underground again. Kill the shifter who has memories of me in his mind. Then I promise to leave Holly alone."

I stand. "Stop lying! I'm not the only person looking for you due to your crimes, and your intentions to commit more."

"No. But you can protect those you love by not helping against me."

Viktor stumbles against the stones as I dart forward into his face. "I can protect those I love by killing you."

"Violet, Violet, Violet." He smiles condescendingly then lifts his hands to create an exploding motion around his head. As if on cue, Holly's shouts out in pain again. "Kill the shifter, and you and Holly can walk away. Perhaps try to unpick the spell from Holly's mind, but, like Leif's, it's buried so deep the damage may be permanent."

"Holly and Leif can't live with you harming their minds," I snarl.

"I can't harm Leif in the same way. He's safe. Holly isn't unless you stay the fuck away from me." Viktor slants his head as he shifts his attention. "Dashiell, what do you think?"

"I think I'm dead either way," he says flatly. "If you don't stop doing this to Holly, I'll spend my final moments doing to you what Sam did to her."

Viktor clutches his chest. "How touching. I used a spell and wiped your memories, Dashiell, but I never expected this mutual infatuation with the girl."

"There's no spell holding them together?" I ask in confusion.

"No, Violet," says Holly weakly. "I keep telling you. We care about each other." She manages to push herself up on shaking arms, and Dashiell helps her to rest against a tree trunk.

"But this has to be a spell! Nobody would sacrifice themselves for a half-stranger!" I say to Dashiell.

"Listen, this is all taking longer than I'd like. Kill Dashiell, and Holly walks away with you. I've told you what will happen if you touch me—now or in the future." He waves a hand. "Please don't make me show you that I'm serious."

My fists clench, sharper nails digging into my palms. "And what if I kill you and don't care about the consequences for other people?"

"That's hardly likely. You're too much like your mother now."

I scoff. "You don't know my mother."

"Sweet Eloise, the woman who weakened your fathers? Who forces Dorian to hold back his natural-born instincts, all because she doesn't like people getting hurt?" he mocks. "The man had no chance of shaping you into his weapon."

"I am not his weapon!" I shout.

But what am I? Daughter of Dorian, the golden child created to be the Dominion's weapon years ago. Despite Eloise, Ethan, and Zeke's work on teaching me to stay calm and disconnected, Dorian would spend time doing the opposite.

He'd urge me to stay in touch with what lies within my heart and soul because rejecting that completely goes against my nature. I am Dorian Blackwood's daughter, and people should fear me. I've always been self-assured in my magical powers but never had the chance to practice the one thing central to Dorian's influence. Killing.

"You're Dorian Blackwood's last and best hope in creating a legacy," whispers Viktor. "Because his rule will be over soon, and so will all of you."

The fog across my vision from the encroaching hybrid becomes a red mist as I seize Viktor by the neck and slam him against the nearest tree. He grunts at the force, choking as I squeeze his throat. Image after image floods my mind—all the ways I could end his life—multiplied as the witch still smirks at me.

"You can't do it. That's why I didn't need to bring anybody to help."

My fingers press further into his windpipe, a nail close enough to his jugular that I could slash it open in a heartbeat. Viktor's face reddens, eyes bulging at the pressure, but unlike the last time, the guy shows no fear.

He's completely convinced that I'd place Holly's life above every loyalty I should have.

Holly's pleas echo at the edge of the hybrid awareness, where Dashiell shouts that I'm killing Holly. I stagger backwards, fighting against continuing, and Viktor steadies himself on the trunk.

Slash his throat. Eviscerate him. Tear his heart out.

But every second closer to his death would be one closer to Holly's.

"Dashiell," he says to me hoarsely. "Kill him. Then I'll leave you alone, if you leave me alone."

"As if you would," I spit. "Tell me who you work with."

He rasps a laugh and rubs his neck. "No."

"Your father?"

"Which father? I don't have one. Never knew him."

Air slams from Viktor's lungs as I shove him to the ground. "Is Cornelius Whitegrove involved? We know Josef is because he killed the witch Grant at the factory warehouse. The other witch who accompanied him said Josef had double-crossed them. They're necromancers. You're all connected somehow."

"Ah. Josef. How's Sarah?" He coughs. "And her son… Kai, isn't it?"

I pause, reeling at his subject change. "You do know her! How is Sarah involved?"

"Sarah screwed with my life; I'm screwing with hers." He gestures. "Kill the shifter, or I'll destroy Holly's mind."

"What is this? Throw information at me and hope it'll delay your death?" I snap. "How about you tell me where Madison's body is? Get everything off your chest before I smash my hand through it."

"Same place as Sarah's brother. Look." He lifts an arm and points behind me. "Holly really isn't feeling well. Kill the shifter and be done with this."

Has this witch deluded himself that he'll walk away from our meeting?

There's a solution. Somewhere. Unless I end that witch's presence in the world, nobody I love is safe. Holly's screams have weakened as her body has, and I'm transported back to the moment I found her in this clearing the first time.

That night changed me.

Everything I witnessed in this spot ran over me like a tidal wave, shattering the last part of the barrier I'd held against emotion and empathy for others. But that isn't all that changed the night I found Holly bleeding toward death. The melting permafrost around my soul that held back Dorian's influence finally evaporated in the heat of my fury.

I warned everybody what would happen—that the bond with Rowan opened Eloise's side but also freed my father's furious and impulsive death dealing. The two parts of who I am fully unleashed that night, and those sides don't balance.

Nothing can touch my mind when I'm him .

Dashiell didn't take Holly, but he kept her trapped. If he'd let her go, Holly might never have met Viktor. There'd be no spell. Sam wouldn't have chased and attacked Holly. The girl who should never have met me is snared by the supernatural forever, and it's partly Dashiell's fault.

The dark desire to kill shifts from Viktor, and I hurl myself at Dashiell, dragging him away from Holly. She screams again, but at me, rather than into the void that Viktor's spell sends her into. "Don't do this!"

"Don't kill, Violet. It'll change you." Leif's expression flashes through my mind. Doesn't he understand? I've already changed too much inside, and this will add balance.

"Violet Blackwood. Stop!" yells a voice from behind me.