Page 17 of The Powerless Witch
“Come on, Samara, you know better than to test me. I have been out all day, doing Regina’s bidding, and I don’t need this from you,” he said quietly, almost gently, as he slid his hand up until his fingers were squeezing my cheeks. “I would have forgivenyou for snooping around my room, but threatening me? You know I don’t like that. And you know even better that your puny power cannot hurt me.”
His nails dug into my skin until it broke. I grabbed his wrist, trying to push his hand off me, but it wouldn’t budge. He was probably using his magic, the coldness I felt seeping into my bones and the strange, phantom presence that made the air in the room so heavy were the only indications of it when he didn’t want his power known.
“Just tell me, damn it!” I snarled, trying to throw him off me. I buckled my hips, making him bounce up just enough for me to sneak my leg in between us. I tried to kick him in the chest, but he caught my calf with his other hand and pinned it to the bed with no effort. I screamed in frustration, thrashing against him as he leaned closer, his body pressing against mine in a way that made me shudder.
“Now, now, if you want me to spread your legs, that’s not the way to do it. Last I remember, you didn’t like it rough, or has that changed?” he asked, a hint of a smirk pulling on his lips as he pressed between my thighs. I gulped when I realized he was hard. “It has been a while since you fucked someone, hasn’t it? I’m a little hurt, you know. Ever since you let me take your virginity, you haven’t sought me out. It wasn’t because you didn’t like it, you definitely did, so what was it? You do know we are not really brother and sister, right? Besides, you were brought here for me, so…”
Using his distraction while his eyes lingered on my lips, I finally slipped my hand free. My fist connected with his jaw just when he was moving closer, and I felt my knuckles land true. He pulled back with a hiss, raising his hand to his mouth where his lip had split.
His magic slammed into me, pinning my arms by my head while he glared.
“I didn’t let you! I wasn’t in a state to say no!” I snarled, glaring back just as hard. “And why would I ever come to you, you pathetic weirdo? Even if you were the last man on earth, I’d rather lose my magic than fuck you! You are a monster! Worse than that! Even Regina has more humanity than you! That will never change, not for me, not for anyone else! Because you have no idea how to love another person, all you care about is yourself!”
“Shut up!” he snapped, raising his hand. I thought he’d strike me, but his long fingers wrapped around my throat again, squeezing until my airflow was cut off. “You know nothing! You will do as you are told because you have even less choice than me!At least I have the power to destroy you all! You can’t even beat Regina after all this time! Who is the pathetic one?”
I sneered back, fighting against my restraints, even though I knew it was pointless.
“You have no power at all. Not unless your mother allows you to use it.You. Are. Weak.”
I knew I had made a mistake the moment the words left my mouth, but I just wanted to hurt him, make him angry, make him mad. I wanted him to feel the same helplessness I did and realize that we were the same. But unlike him, I used to have more. I used to have everything. And now he was keeping it from me.
A vibration shook the bed, then the entire floor swayed. The world roared while things fell from their places on the shelves and the windows rattled like the universe was about to rupture. Black swept over Mathias’ eyes, covering the white and spreading onto his fair skin like a sickness that was eating him from within. The monster hidden inside, the power that could break the world.
Just when I thought the house would collapse under the strain of his magic, the skin around his neck started to glow. A line of runes burned through his flesh until the smell of sizzling meat and scorched hair filled my nostrils. He screamed, letting go of me as more runes appeared around his wrists, glowing brighter and brighter. The pain in his eyes was real, chasing the blackness while he stared at me with a bright blue gaze full of desperation and regret. The last of Regina’s spell appeared in the middle of his forehead, a single rune that started to bleed almost like an invisible hand was carving it in front of my eyes.
Obey.
He fell back, writhing and screaming as the curse that bound his power cut him off from the source. I crawled off the bed with shaky legs, staggering toward the door while his screams turned into sobs and whimpers. I threw myself at the door, only stopping to glance back once.
Mathias lay sprawled on the edge of the bed, his fingers twitching as he stared at the ceiling with unblinking eyes. The runes were slowly fading, although the burn marks were probably going to linger for a day or two.
Shame and regret pulsed through me, but I stifled them down. I probably shouldn’t have pushed him that far, but he held the secret to my past and there wasnothing, absolutely nothing, that was going to stop me from finding the truth. Not even a male witch with the power to destroy the world.
Chapter 7
Celeste
“There is nothing wrong with you.”
I sank deeper into the chair facing the Head Witch Morena of the Coven of Eternal Light, keeping my tongue behind my teeth before I could say something that would get me kicked out of their sanctuary.
Everythingwas wrong with me—from the fact that I was now bound not to one, but two assholes, to the fact that I couldn’t even touch my magic anymore. The place of power I could always access before, even when it was depleted, was now out of reach, like the ceiling had collapsed, cutting me off the source.
And that felt wrong, so terribly wrong.
“Physically and mentally, you are perfectly healthy,” Morena continued, as if she could sense my struggle. “Your magic is still inside you, whatever reserves you amassed while you were unconscious. With time, it will keep growing, just like before. The only problem is that your access to it was cut off.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, inhaling a deep breath again. I could feel their gazes on me, studying, calculating. It unnerved me almost as much as trying and failing to get through the wall that separated me from my magic.
“I’d say not having access to my magicissomething wrong,” I said in a clipped tone. The Second pursed her lips, but Morena gave me a look full ofunderstanding. From the day I met her more than two hundred years ago, I had liked the woman. She had always been kind and lacking judgment and I was yet to be betrayed by her—or those who followed her. The oldest of the Head Witches in all covens, as far as I was aware, she looked like she was a breath away from turning to dust. Her hair was all silver, her eyes white, and her skin so pale that even the spots on it were barely noticeable.
She let her frail hands rest on the desk in front of her as if it cost too much effort to keep them up.
“This is not a wrong our magic can fix,” she said softly, her weak, raspy tone squashing my anger that was so eager to erupt. “Had it been a normal blade or one spelled by witch magic, there would have been many things we could try. But the wound that almost killed you was made by a Fae weapon and their magic does not mix with ours, does not act like ours, and the damage it does…cannot be undone by ours.”
I nodded, pushing down the anger and disappointment and sitting straighter.
“So you know what’s wrong with me?” I asked, holding her milky gaze, even though I wasn’t sure if she could see me or not. My eyes darted to the second woman—a witch with almost as much gray in her hair as the one she served. An old one, and powerful too, if she had stayed as Second when the Head Witch was so vulnerable. But the one thing that set the sisters of the Eternal Light apart from others was that so many of them reached such an old age. Staying out of conflicts—and often away from people—allowed them to live their lives in peace and harmony with their magic, without the danger that lurked out there.