29. Twenty-Nine

My skin had gone gray. Dull and lifeless.

Rumors throughout the world mentioned that my kind was already dead. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Yes, blood fed our immortality, but we were not dead. Yet, I was sure I was dying. I’d never had a tether on for this long. Hours and hours of pure torture. What was the goal here? To make me so bloody weak that I’d do whatever this demon demanded?

I just might.

The pain was too much. My willpower was dust. Before long, my memories would cease to exist.Something had to give. I wasn”t strong enough to withstand this level of torture.

“Please,” I groaned.

Through heavy lids, I peered up. Aryn sat across from me, reclined on his couch at complete ease. “Are you ready to cooperate?”

“Yes.” The word was strangled and contorted.

He snapped his fingers, and footsteps approached, followed by a muffled cry. The tether tightened briefly before it dropped to the floor between my bound ankles.

I sucked in the deepest breath as a single tear fell down my cheek. The screams told me all I needed to know. They had one of my kin. Perhaps not from my coven, but my kin nonetheless.It didn”t stop me from savoring the sweet relief coursing through me.

I was raised to respect my kind and protect each other. We were rare in this world, forgotten by most due to our isolated domain. I couldn”t find it in me to care about the Vampyr who”d unwillingly taken on my suffering. That was how far I”d fallen into the depths of my cowardice.

My kin already loathed me, but if anyone discovered how callous I”d become, how little I cared about that poor soul”s fate…

“We are going to test this ability of yours. This power.” Aryn leaned forward, propping his thick elbows on his spread knees and tearing me from my thoughts.

“Alright,” I whispered. My strength had not returned. The pain was still there.What magic was embued into that tether?

“Two individuals need to be snuffed out. I am told you can make it so. Is this accurate?”

My throat clenched, and my stomach twisted. No. “You cannot will a soul off the physical plane. The repercussions are—”

“Typically, one cannot. But you can,” he cut me off and pointed his hooked black claw at me.

“They will not vanish. They will remain. Undead. Unnatural,” I warned.

Straightening, he examined his claws. “This matters not. You will do it, or I’ll return the tether.”

Just saying the word made me flinch. Gods, I was weak. Pathetic—just as he said. “Who?” I dared to ask.

He grinned, revealing his tusks and fangs. “Two shifters. Ariel Blackclaw and Christopher Renfeer.”

“What!” I jerked my face up.

“My informant told me you’ve met them and assured me you can only do this on those you’ve laid eyes on.”

That was partially true, but who was telling him this? Was it Phillipe? Had my brother truly gone so insane that he’d hand over his own flesh and blood to a demon? I felt physically ill knowing betrayal kept finding me.

“What quarrel do you have with two shifters? Seems beneath you?”

“Do it.” His face hardened, and he dug his fingers into the fabric of the couch.

“I’m too weak,” I lied.

Narrowing his eyes, he clicked his tongue. “You have an hour.” Then he stood.

One hour.

That was all the time Ariel and Chris had to live.

No—I wouldn’t do it. I’d have to let the tether kill me.

How many innocents had I slain in one of my frenzies? If I tapped into my powers on that scale again… The screams of the raider camp still haunted me. The gore of what followed was ingrained into my mind. The raiders were beyond ghouls, beyond fiends. I”d never seen creatures so mindless, so full of wrath and bloodlust.

If Phillipe were behind this, if he”d told Aryn about my power, surely he would have warned him.

As Aryn left the living room, I slumped in the chair. Those were Atreyis’ friends. They cared for him. I’d seen with my own eyes how deep their love went for him. Atreyis pretended not to care, but I knew deep down that if anything happened to that odd couple, he”d never be the same. His attachments to people were strange, but there. I couldn”t do this. I wouldn”t.

Testing the leathers that wrapped around my arms and ankles, I could tear through them at some point.

But was I willing to fight a demon to be free? When I couldn’t fight off Damian?

Another tear streamed down my cheek.