Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

By the time sunset arrived the following day, I almost wished that Fiona had glamoured me. It would have been better than spending the last eighteen hours imagining myself going up in flames over and over and over again.

No one but Lacey and Kylie had come to visit me. And even then, all they'd done was drop off food I hadn't had the stomach to eat. Neither of them had said a word or looked me in the eye. Clearly, Fiona had ordered them to ignore me, because no amount of pleading could get them to even talk, much less get them to consider opening my cell.

I felt like an epic failure.

No one had come, and I was starting to wonder if Fiona had somehow already managed to glamour the entire coven. Had she gotten to Brix, too? At that point, I was convinced we'd all go out at the hand of the grouchy neighbor who liked card tournaments and running a multi-million-dollar drug operation. I supposed there were worst ways to go, but I couldn't think of any.

"Ready?" Fiona asked from outside my cell.

I stared the hardened old woman in the eye and said, "Yes." Anywhere was better than in my cell.

She laughed. "I do like the feisty ones. That means it's going to be very entertaining."

A guard arrived, and I was hauled out of my cell, cuffed, and strapped with chains. Then he gave me a solid push on my back and said, "Move."

Hatred curled through every fiber of my being, but I ordered myself to keep it in check. If I was going to get out of this, I was going to need every bit of my wits to keep from becoming the evening's barbeque.

"Why so glum?" Fiona taunted me as we walked from my cell and up the stairs that led to the outdoors.

I ignored her completely.

"Don't worry, you won't be cold for long." At the top of the stairs, she swept off over to a large red-velvet throne and then perched on the edge like she was the goddamned Queen of England. There were bleachers behind her that were filled with haggard-looking men and women, all of them dressed in coveralls and looking as if they hadn't showered in days. To her right were the women who were dressed in white. Both Lacey and Kylie were there. And to her left were Stone, Wallis, Sharon Krass, and John Vincent. A wolf, whom I assumed was Jessa, strolled up and sat at Fiona's feet.

I shook my head, wondering if this was all just a terrible nightmare.

But when I spotted Jax and Kai being wheeled out in locked cages, I knew in my heart it was reality. They were both covered in dirt and blood and looked like they'd been beaten within an inch of their lives.

My heart felt as if it was breaking in two, and I couldn't help it when I called out, "Jax!"

His head jerked up, and those dark eyes I adored so much met mine. There was a world of emotion swimming in his gaze, and I supposed he must be seeing the same thing reflected back at him.

I love you , Jax mouthed to me.

Tears stung my eyes as I mouthed the same back to him.

"Oh, now isn't that sweet!" Fiona's voice boomed across the clearing. "The two lovebirds declaring their undying love for each other just before the wolf watches his witch go up in flames. Someone will be writing epic tragedies about this moment just like they did with Romeo and Juliet. If I had a heart, it'd be touched."

Jax snarled in her direction.

I just kept my focus on him, preferring to spend these last moments concentrating on someone I cared about.

"It's time to get this show started. Who's ready?" Fiona called.

No one responded until Stone stood up and started to clap with enthusiasm. And then it was as if a spell had been cast, and all of the zombie workers joined him along with Wallis, Sharon, and John.

My stomach roiled, and I prayed I didn't vomit in front of all those vile people.

"Bring her to the platform!" Fiona ordered the guard.

I planted my feet, making him all but drag me across the field. My shoes came off, and suddenly my bare feet were touching the earth. I sent all my magical concentration to the soles of my feet, trying to suck up as much of the earth's energy as I could. My magic wasn't strong without my dagger, but I had to try. I had to do something, anything, to keep from being burned to a crisp.

Tendrils of magic tingled in my feet, giving me a tiny bit of hope.

"Move," the guard ordered as he pushed me toward the wooden stairs of the structure.

I refused, instead making him carry me up as I went limp just to make his job harder. If there was one thing I was not going to do, it was willingly walking to my public burning.

As the guard and two of his buddies tied me to the thick wooden post, Fiona stepped behind a podium and pounded a gavel against it.

Everyone instantly went silent.

"Welcome to the public witch trial of one Marion Matched," Fiona crowed. "She is here on charges of… Well, it doesn't really matter what the charges are, now does it? This is what happens when a witch can't mind her own business. Now we're going to watch her go up in flames so we never have to deal with her brand of bullshit again." She turned to Stone and held out a torch that was already alive with fire. "Would you like to do the honors, Stone? I know how much trouble she gave you."

"I'd be honored, Fiona. Thank you." He took the torch and slowly walked toward me while the wolves behind me snarled and rattled their cages. I desperately wished I could see Jax's face at that moment. But since I couldn't, I stared Stone down and imagined boils forming on the bottoms of his feet.

Suddenly, the police officer let out a yelp and started hopping from foot to foot. "What are you doing to me, you fucking witch?!" He dropped to his knees, and I shifted my focus to his legs. He screamed and rolled over, dropping the torch as he writhed in agony. Intense satisfaction filled me, and I went for the jugular. With my gaze laser-focused on his crotch, I imagined his entire groin covered in pubic lice.

His hand instantly reached between his legs, and he started scratching aggressively.

I couldn't help the small bark of laughter that escaped my lips.

"You whore!" Sharon ran from her seat, picked up the still burning torch, and threw it into the pit below my platform.

There was a whoosh sound, and the boards beneath my feet instantly warmed.

"Fuck," I muttered.

"That's what you get for harassing me," Sharon said before she spit on me.

I glared at her, and this time when I stared at her crotch, I imagined genital herpes.

She let out a yelp and ran out of the clearing toward the house.

"That's enough, Marion. I think you've had plenty of fun for one day, though I admire your tenacity. It's too bad I didn't find you a good fit for this operation," Fiona said, and then she reached up and pinched her fingers together.

My magic fled, leaving me feeling completely defenseless. The heat below the platform was becoming almost unbearable, and sweat was pouring from my forehead, blinding my vision. I closed my eyes and silently prayed for it all to end sooner rather than later. But then I heard Jax calling my name, and I jerked my head up just in time to see a rush of people suddenly appear inside the clearing.

My sister Charlotte was there in front of me, the dagger in her hand as tears ran down her face. She called, "Don't give up on me now, Marion!"

Then the dagger I'd carried around with me for months was suddenly in one of my hands. A rush of power flowed into my hand and filled my entire system until I was vibrating with it. I had the dagger, and in theory, I should have been able to cut the ropes binding me to the pole, but the angle was too awkward and would take too long. If I tried to manually cut them, I'd be burning before I even got through the first strand.

I needed a new plan.

One that involved all the supercharged magic churning inside of me. Closing my eyes while trying to ignore the lick of flames starting to claim my feet and ankles, I pictured the gorgeous blue lagoon that Jax and I had found on a hike earlier that summer. It had been surrounded by rock outcroppings, and a waterfall spilled from the far side, giving it a magical quality. With that image firmly in my mind's eye, I imagined that in place of the fire below the platform. And then I remembered the rain shower that had drenched us just as we were thinking about hiking back to the trailhead.

The memory of our laughter filled my senses, and suddenly I cried, "Goddess of the clouds, make it rain!"

Magic shot into the sky from the dagger I still held in my hand. And just like that, the sky opened up and rain came down in sheets, dousing the last of the flames that clung to the rickety platform.

I blinked through the rain and smiled when I realized the area right in front of my platform had turned into the gorgeous blue lagoon that would be forever seared into my memory.

"Marion?" my sister Charlotte said into my ear.

I jerked my head to the side and spotted her frantically trying to cut through my ropes with the dagger.

"I've got this," I said, my voice scratchy and weak. "Let me have the dagger again."

She didn't question me as she pressed it back into my hand.

All it took was one clear thought of the ropes coming undone for them to fall from my body, freeing me.

"Oh my gods," Charlotte sobbed as she wrapped her arms around me. "I thought for sure you were a goner."

I let out a humorless laugh and said, "Me too."

When she pulled away, I looked around at the complete chaos that surrounded us and stared opened-mouthed at the cavalry she had brought along with her. Brix was there, fighting Fiona, each of them trading magical barb to magical barb. Two wolves were mauling each other. Jax had Stone on the ground as he threw blow after blow at the cop's face. Trish was ushering Lacey and Kylie away from the mayhem while snarling in the direction of Fiona. And then there was the coven. They had formed a circle around the area Fiona had constructed for my witch burning, and they were doing a neutralization spell to weaken the magic that Fiona seemed to be wielding. It was working too, because Brix finally had her in a headlock and the magic streaming off her started to sputter.

"Come on," Charlotte said. "Let's get you out of here."

"Not without Jax," I said.

She let out a sigh but didn't stop me when I hurried over to him.

"I think—" I started but was knocked over by Officer Wallis.

Jax shouted at him but then fielded a blow from Stone and went back to beating the crap out of him.

I got to my feet, grabbed Wallis's arm, and then twisted. There was still an overload of magic in my system, so when I yanked his arm to the right, the man flipped all the way over and landed with his face in the dirt. I immediately pounced and was surprised when someone passed me a couple of magical zip ties. I glanced to see Charlotte shaking her head at me. "Thank you," I told her and then finished securing Wallis.

"Nice job," Jax said as I climbed off the man.

I turned, noting that Stone was also tied up, and then threw myself into Jax's arms.

"I thought we both might be done for there for a minute," he said into my ear.

"You and me both." There was a sob in my voice, but I swallowed it and hung on for dear life.

"It's over now, Marion. You're safe," Jax said.

"And so are you." I held him tighter and vowed to never let go.