Two girls. Two secrets.
Only one can survive.
Years before Nelle Wychthorn plans her escape, Tabitha Catt may unearth something in a Horned God's lair that is the key to freedom.
Desperate to save her beloved aunt from a dark curse, Tabitha is out t...
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Chaos surrounded us. Screams rent the air, as well as bellows and thudding bolts, caws and frenzied barking.
Screaming, gods, the screaming, and shrieks of terror and anguish.
Panic twisted in my guts, and I shoved hard at it, shoving it away as I staggered toward Freddie, right into the moist air, as if swirling clouds hovered just above the ground. Particles collided and cracked and sparked. Static electricity and blustery wind whipped my wet hair.
Adrenaline surged through my veins with the need to get to him. "Freddie..." I cried as I watched an imminent electrical storm begin to form with the boy right at the very center. All his dark hair stood on end, the white-streaked locks tinged red from the bonfire blazing behind him. Slowly, ever so slowly, his eyes slid my way. I could see a storm in his irises, the flecks flaring like staccato lightning, a tempest brewing in his gaze. His lips moved and I read my name he silently spoke—Batha.
I lunged forward and latched my hand around his, intertwining our fingers, and unleashed the bloodhound. It surged out, hungry for whatever was in Freddie's blood. Pain, that's what it wanted.
I yielded to the power that strummed along Freddie's bones.
Freddie's lightning-striker ability was still in its infancy and had only started to show itself a few months ago. But this power that raked against my body and made my blood fizz...this felt as if he could tear the world apart.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I focused on what I could feel coming from him. Pure untainted emotions. Fear and terror. I didn't want to draw out the pain. I wanted to see if I could soothe his terror and calm him so that his other powers weren't triggered in mindless panic.
I willed that strange ability that lived inside me to wrap around him like a comforting blanket. You can trust me—I whispered silently. I pushed harder and dug deeper, trying to reach Freddie's emotions. I whispered sweet nothings to him like my Aunt used to do when I was young and afraid. The bloodhound tugged and wrestled, trying to tussle something out.
Not pain, I realized in shock.
It had latched its fangs onto what coursed through Freddie's veins. What made him other.
Such raw, unfettered power, flowed from Freddie's body into my own. It raged within me, chattering my teeth, whipping my blood into a frenzied fury. It crackled and fizzed against my bones and sang to me in a wild, savage melody as lightning forked and beaded and wanted out. Beneath my outer skin, my body felt like skittered stones on a vibrating drum skin, the skin pulled tight across metal and bolted taut.
The bloodhound howled in delight.
And I wanted it.
I craved it.
I wanted more.
What I could do if it were mine... My mind fell into gluttonous chaos.
My eyes snapped open as I suddenly felt Freddie jerk back, tearing his hand from mine. "NO!" he cried. The bonfire roared higher. Sparks shot skyward. Heavy logs exploded into spitting embers and chunks of burning debris.
