Chapter 45

45

VIOLET

Necromancers carry a unique energy, one that engulfs this clearing with Viktor's and my presence. We've both been on alert for a different type of magic joining ours that would indicate another witch is near, but neither of us would sense a third necromancer's energy.

I whirl around, still gripping Dashiell. Eloise stands where I once did, between Viktor and Holly. Only, this time, Viktor can't move, his arms pinned to his sides, mouth moving but no words emerging. The spell holding him isn't the shadows; this is purely one of my mother's Trinity powers.

"Viktor Whitegrove. You count on the fact that my daughter's mind and magic is weaker than yours due to her hybrid status. I, however, do not have that issue," she says.

I tighten my hold on Dashiell, both of us too stunned to move. Eloise—her long brown hair cascading down her back, dressed in a black coat cinched by a belt, and formal shoes, looks like she was preparing for a night out and not a visit to the woods to capture a murderer.

"You know what I was before Dorian created what I am now , Viktor. Dorian didn't weaken the Trinity witch's magic the day he changed me," she says softly. "Quite the opposite." Eloise steps closer to Viktor. "I heard your comments earlier. I didn't appreciate you mocking me, and you don't appreciate that Dorian's blood moves through my veins. I am part of him."

"Eloise?" I ask hoarsely.

She leaves the paralyzed Viktor and walks over, looking down at me with her brow furrowed. "Grayson told me your plans for Viktor, and that really won't do at all."

"What?" I balk. Grayson spoke to Eloise . "Is Dorian here? Did Grayson tell him too?"

Her laugh echoes. "No. I kept my promise to Grayson, and Dorian knows nothing."

"What promise?"

"Sweetest girl. I perfectly understand your desire to kill Viktor, but this creates an untenable situation."

The clearing fills with an eerie silence, Eloise's presence choking away the screams and shouting from moments ago, Holly silenced by Eloise's appearance and not the spell.

"Grayson quite rightly worried for your safety." Eloise's displeasure etches her face. "You acted alone."

"No, the others were coming to help."

"You have no idea what you're dealing with, Violet!"

"Yes, I do!"

Eloise closes her eyes and takes a steady breath. "Violet. Sweetheart. You are not your father."

"I am ."

"Then why isn't Dashiell dead, and why did I have to do this?" Eloise gestures at Viktor.

I glance at Holly, immobile on the ground. "Can Viktor still harm Holly if he's trapped by your magic? His spell was killing her."

"No, but that's where we have a problem," she says. "The moment I end the spell holding Viktor, he'll end Holly."

"Then we kill him!" I urge.

"And then your father will explode with a rage you've never experienced and never want to, Violet. Viktor Whitegrove has too much value alive."

"But Holly's life," I protest. "Eloise. No!"

"I wouldn't have told you Violet's plan if I'd known this." Grayson blurs across the clearing towards us. "You can't risk Holly's life; we're supposed to help her. I wanted you to protect Violet!"

"Grayson." Tears prick at my eyes. "You all promised not to tell anybody."

"No. I wasn't prepared to risk you dying, or worse," he replies. "I believed Eloise would help end this."

I'd do anything, Violet.

"Grayson!" I say in despair.

Two other figures emerge from the trees, and my heart lodges in my mouth. Did Viktor have others nearby all along? No. Leif and Rowan. Leif has a firm grip on Rowan's arm as Rowan struggles against him.

I throw a thought to Rowan . Not the shadows . Eloise is here .

Rowan doesn't respond, locked in the altered state of mind I saw the night he protected me from shifters. I'm under threat, and my bonded witch will give everything to protect me.

Exactly the reason I never wanted Rowan here before Viktor died.

The snake-like gray wisps curl around Rowan's fingers, and I shake my head at Leif as they grow. He looks down then snatches Rowan's hand and holds tight, eyes closed in either concentration or pain. Leif stopped Rowan's magic the night he threatened to kill a shifter, but Rowan has grown more attuned to the shadows since then.

"Get the hell off me, Leif!" shouts Rowan.

"Eloise. Don't release Viktor. I'm begging you!" I say, grabbing her arm in desperation.

"I can't keep the witch here forever, Violet. You've done a very stupid thing, but at the very least the decision will assist us." She closes both hands over one of mine. "There's a serious threat to your father's government. To you. Us. What do you think will happen if this plot against him continues?"

"But an innocent human will die!"

"A lot of innocent people will die. That's the reality caused by these peoples' actions." She nods at Viktor. "But if we get enough information from him, there'll be fewer deaths, Violet."

My chest tightens, and I can't look at Holly. My mother never condoned killing innocents, and she's always worked to calm Dorian's reckless behavior. But at the end of the day, Eloise's loyalties are to him. To her family.

"Doesn't how I feel count?" I protest. "She's somebody that I love. I'm the reason this happened to her. Save Holly."

Eloise's eyes widen momentarily, and she drops my hand to seize Grayson who's edging away. He trips as Eloise yanks him to her. "Do not kill Viktor if you value your own life, Grayson."

"You'd kill Grayson, but not Viktor?" I shout.

"No. But Dorian would. If any of you end that witch's life, you'll face the full, violent force of Dorian's fury." Grayson winces at his grip on her. "As a Petrescu, that will be even less pleasant for you."

"Dorian will not touch any of the people I love," I shout. "Neither will you. Viktor dies." I manage two steps before I'm sprawled on the muddy ground, landing heavily on my front. My limbs feel like lead, and I can barely lift my head. No. No .

Fighting against Eloise's magic is useless, and I shout at her to stop and think as she takes slow steps towards Viktor. "I can only hold Viktor for so long without wasting spell energy, Violet. I need enough magic to keep Viktor subdued while I take him to Dorian."

As Eloise advances on the terrified witch, a scream pierces the air.

Mine. Not Holly's.

What would I do if I could move? Attack my mother? No. I lost control of this situation the moment she stepped into the clearing—the moment Grayson involved her.

"Take Holly!" I shout at him.

As I watch Eloise though blurring eyes, a gray figure streaks across the space, and the wolf snatches Viktor around the neck, claws ripping at his chest. Blood covers the wolf and splatters across the stony ground, some hitting Eloise as she darts forward.

Too late. Dashiell's ferocity ripped into the witch, bringing him close to death in seconds.

The wolf streaks into the trees. Eloise could pursue and catch Dashiell with ease and prepares to follow, but Leif runs in front of my mother, creating an obstacle for long enough to give Dashiell the head start he needs. Eloise stumbles and yells at Leif to move.

The magic holding me snaps, and I clamber up and launch myself towards Leif, knocking him to the ground to cover as much of his body with mine as I can before Eloise retaliates. At the edge of my vision, Grayson runs forwards to the dying witch, pauses in front of him for a second, and then vanishes into the woods.

Eloise has one option left but is she willing to take the risk? However potent she is, a necromancer attempting to reanimate another necromancer could fail. And even if Eloise takes Viktor's autonomy, there's a possibility that reanimating him wouldn't break the witch's powers. The spell on Leif and Holly could remain.

Eloise reaches Viktor and crouches where his blood stains the ground. "Grayson took Viktor's heart!" she yells.

Leif shifts beneath me, managing to stand, and seizes my arm to pull me up and backwards, toward Rowan who's kneeling beside Holly. He's shaking, the shadows clearer as they wrap around his arms, and I thank fate that Rowan held back from defending me when Eloise hit me with the spell.

My mother doesn't turn from Viktor's heartless body, standing as stiff and still as he was under her spell. Without his heart, Eloise can't bring Viktor back. Should I be relieved that she isn't pursuing the others in anger or terrified of what she'll do to those of us left? What choice will she make now?

Dashiell swore that he'd die defending Holly, and he made his move. Everybody underestimated him—nobody would expect the shifter to recklessly act against Eloise Thornbrook's wishes and power.

But he did.

Leif's arms encircle me, and he holds me close as Eloise spins towards us. I can't tear my eyes from the point where Grayson disappeared into the woods or meet her eyes, my heart thudding harder than ever in my life.

We'll likely survive my mother's fury, but will Grayson, Leif, and Rowan survive Dorian's?

Because Grayson's recent penchant for removing witches' internal organs saved Holly's life but may've cost him his.