The Elf Witch |Book 1|

Chapter 29

Kiran's eyes were unfocused for a moment, but he stayed silent. Blood from his nose or mouth covered his shirt. Somehow he managed to right himself and stare up at his brother, but it had to hurt. How could it not?

If she was honest, it impressed her that Kiran remained conscious after taking two punches to the face from someone like Saevel.

A crack in the spell shook her limbs.

She looked down in horror as the magic started flowing down the veins in her hands.

Tiny streams of smokey magic began escaping her fingertips. Finally, the magic covered the top of her hands entirely. Imani wiggled her fingers, feeling the structure starting to collapse. Nothing would stop the mist when it did. Indeed, her binding spell was even more tenuous than she thought when her fear was this high.

The elf prince's eyes flicked to hers as a sense of doom started to set in. Then, barely noticeable, a flare of worry sparked inside them at the inky magic escaping her. While most people didn't see her magic unless she allowed them to, for some reason she wondered if he could.

Kiran opened his mouth but decided against speaking his thoughts, giving her an almost imperceptible firm nod. His gaze slid back to his brother with a look of resignation on his face. A wave of relief fell over her.

But for one second before he knelt, it felt like the room froze as a chill shuddered through her.

The mask lifted.

Like a lightning strike illuminating what's always hidden for just one moment, she glimpsed at part of the madness inside Kiran.

And it had a face. It took over his face. An unbridled raw hatred churned beneath Kiran's skin. The magic was so dark and destructive that it took her breath away.

Its eyes snapped to her. For a few moments, she stopped breathing, feeling the look of a nightmare permeate her mind—some being who shouldn't exist here.

Or anywhere.

A penetrating sense of terror seeped into her body, and something menacing and evil reached out and grabbed her soul, shaking it. Never in her life had she felt something so disturbing as that sensation. It terrified her as nothing had before.

A scream like nails on a chalkboard that no one else could hear but her emanated from it and filled the room. She wanted to crouch down and cover her ears at such a sound.

Then it stopped. The being disappeared so fast that Imani wondered if she had imagined it. She hoped she did. A creature like that with Kiran's deep well of magic at its disposal? The thought made her physically sick.

And he bowed. His jaw tensed as he did so, the only hint of his obstinance.

With another subtle flex of his hand, she felt Kiran's magic lift from her, and she could move again, although she remained silent and invisible. She rubbed her hands as the darkness receded, leaving her skin unharmed and perfect again.

Kiran jumped up, straightening his shirt and trying to fix his disheveled hair, but oddly not bothering to clean up his blood. Her heart slowed as he moved to stand close to her again, and his voice cut through the tension, irritated but calm as if nothing had happened. "Are you done thinking with your cock?"

Scraping his hands down his face, Saevel took a deep breath, trying to focus. "This is inconvenient."

"Yes, but her being an elf couldn't have worked out better for our needs—no one can resist wanting her." He pointed at his brother's chest. "I told you this was important, and I meant it. I need to remove the illusion; her magic will control you again when I do."