Chapter seventeen

I struggle to rip my eyes from the dead raven on the ground. His shiny black feathers still, his chest not rising. Blood seeps over the ground around him, painting the leaves crimson.

Monique doesn't even glance down at him. Her chest rises and falls rapidly, a wildness latching onto her. She steps forward, her foot landing on his body, and she finally looks down at him as I flinch. Then, she laughs. Slow and breathless at first, a frantic cackle bubbles up from inside her, and something within me breaks, snaps with a quick release, every miserable moment with her flitting through my mind.

Living in constant fear of angering her or doing something to upset her, anything out of the picture perfect lines she'd drawn for me. I couldn't do anything right. I was the stain on her picture-perfect life. Magic too low for the coven to consider bothering with my education—all because that's what she told them. Because she suppressed everything about who I was. I couldn't even teach Jules magic in her eyes, though I taught her everything she needed to know to get into the academy.

I was worthless.

I was pathetic.

I was… nothing.

Because of her.

And now she's been coming after every single person I love. Kidnapping Jules in our own home. Tying me up in the basement. Torturing us. Killing Kaylus. Nothing will ever satisfy her grotesque need to make my life a living gods damn hell.

Ripping my wolf to the surface, I shift in the air as I lunge for her. Her hand snaps up, fist closing around my necklace—the black obsidian wolf shattering within her grasp. Her other palm slams into the side of my face, magic exploding from her touch. My ear drum almost bursts, the ringing in my ears piercing. A sharp crack against my spine slams me into the ground, and I roll toward her, refusing to stay down and take her blows.

Stomping my paw, my claws puncture straight through her foot, nailing her to the ground, and she screams, magic rippling out of her, but my teeth sink into her ankle before it hits me. Her leg gives out, and she fists the fur on the back of my neck to catch herself, nails digging into my skin.

"You stupid brat," she seethes, magic exploding over my skull. "Let's see how strong you think you are when you're no different than me."

I cry out as my fur gets shoved into my skin, my bones forced to morph back into my human form. My wolf whines as a spellbinding cage erects inside me, trapping her. Doubled over with my forehead on the ground, arms wrapped around my waist, I scream until my voice goes hoarse, my throat burning.

Monique fists my hair, yanking me straight up until I'm forced to look into her cold, green eyes. "Same weak, wretched disappointment you always have been. Take away that maddening wolf of yours, and look at you." Her palm cracks against my face as she slaps me. "Forever useless!"

Throwing my head at the ground, she straightens herself up, keeping all her weight on her uninjured leg. I catch myself with my hands, dry grass crunching beneath me. Turning my head to look at her, my eyes land on Kaylus, and a lump forms in my throat, tears burning as my vision swims. I couldn't save him. I barely saved Jules and Wren and only managed it because I had so much help. I can't even say I saved Jaz when she was practically thrown at me. Maybe Monique is right.

Maybe I am useless.

"Do you even know how to be a wolf, Adara? Honestly." She scoffs, glaring down at me.

"Stop it." Ruya's shakey whisper makes my breath catch in my throat. She stands where we first appeared, frozen still with fear.

Monique laughs, humorless and arrogant. "And what are you? Blind, that much is obvious."

"I… I…" Her whole body trembles, and I remember then how young she is. Still a student at the academy, not fully in touch with her sight, Ruya is like Jules. A child. And right now, she's bearing the full weight of Monique's aura—dark, threatening, and something even Gideon, with a streak of love and goodness buried in his core, isn't capable of. Something pure evil.

Shaking her head with a tsk, Monique steps toward the oracle slowly. She smirks as Ruya struggles to breathe through her fear, worse with every inch closer Monique gets.

Closing my eyes, I shove onto my knees, my legs buckling when I try to stand. I stumble forward, straight at the building before me, and catch myself with a hand on the bar's outer wall. I can't hear my wolf, and I hate how lonely and lost that makes me feel, like I'm untethered and drifting. But I can't sit here, waiting for someone to tell me what to do. I can't let Monique hurt someone else I care about while I do nothing. If I do nothing, I'm not worth anyone's love or loyalty or friendship. If I do nothing, I deserve no part of this new life I promised myself I'd fight for. If I do nothing, she's right about me, and she wins.

With a cry, I shove off the wall and bolt toward Monique, tackling her from behind. We land on the ground with a thud, and she instantly twists, her hand reaching for my face again, but I'm ready this time. My elbow slams down into her face, her nose breaking and blood gushing out as she screams.

"I hate you!" Forcing magic into my hands, I grip her head, fingertips scorching her skin, the smell of burnt hair and flesh filling my nose. Tears fall from my eyes, dripping onto her cheeks and mixing with the blood trailing over her skin. My scream competes with hers, swelling in the air, my voice cracking. "I hate you for everything you've done to me! To everyone!" I drag a gasping breath into my lungs and force more magic into my hands. "You've taken my father and my grandmother and… and Kaylus!"

"You think you matter that much?" she spits. "You're nothing to me. Nothing but a tool—a pawn. If you won't give me your power, I'll find another way to take it from you, and I'll take everything you love along with it!" Her hands latch onto my wrists, trying to pry me off her, but I won't let go.

I won't let her win this time. Ruya. Jules. Gideon. Everyone deserves to live in a world without her torturing us, hunting us. "You deserve to die," I cry, grief washing over me, wishing I could've had another mother. A mother who loved me. A mother I didn't have to kill just to survive.

Suddenly, she lets go of my wrists, and both hands claw over my stomach. My body tenses, everything inside my stomach twisting, blood so hot it feels like lava coursing through my veins. Two hands hit my hip, and I scream, pain ripping through me. She slams her palms against my chest, sending me flying through the air. I roll over and over until my back smacks into a tree trunk, all the air in my lungs escaping me in one breath.

My shaking hands graze over my stomach, and I cry out, lifting my head slightly to look. Black and indigo bruising covers every inch of pale skin from my ribs to my pelvis. The light brush of the wind is enough to make my heart rate spike as pain explodes through me. My temples throb, and my fingers ache with each movement, vision spinning until my head falls back against the dirt.

"You want this to end, Adara?" Monique calls, uneven steps closing in on me as she crushes dead leaves beneath her shoes. "Give me your blood and tell me where the well is. I want everything you have to give me!" She takes a few heaving breaths. "You deserve NOTHING," she shouts.

I stare up at the sky, unable to lift my head and glare at her without the world flying around my head in a cyclone. I could give up and let her take whatever she wanted, but I know that wouldn't guarantee anyone's safety. If anything, it would make her unstoppable. There's no promising that even the high priestesses would be strong enough to defeat her if she had access to my blood… let alone that and the well's power.

A tear drips down my temple as a lump forms in my throat. I never wanted to truly kill her, but I know it needs to be done. This has to end, and I have to be the one to do it, but I know I can't do it alone.

I need the power of a goddess on my side to defeat this level of evil.

For the first time in ages, I call out for Hecate—the goddess of witchcraft, of revenge. Because if I'm going to die here, then I can only pray to take Monique with me and save the rest of those I care about.