Page 17 of Speak No Evil

“Where are we going?”

I do not know.

“Then how do you know when we’ve arrived?”

I’ll know.

“I will too,” the big one adds.

People are watching. Stop talking to a cat.

“I doubt very much they’re watching because we’re talking to you, Chonk.”

“Yeah, it’s likely more because there’s a naked red demon stomping down the street.”

Can you run? We need to hurry,I say, ignoring their useless comments.

I break into a sprint. The ground is hard on my paws. The man-things stay on my tail, and I hope it’s enough.

I hope we’re not too late.

Chapter 5

JADE

She can’t take it. She can’t. She can only block it.

Sweat pastes my hair to my face as I repeat the mantra over and over. It’s the only thing keeping me from screaming.

Performing magic on the unwilling is uncomfortable at best.

At worst—and having one’s magic permanently bound without consent is the epitome of a worst-case scenario—it’s on par with skin-rending portals.

Only this isn’t an external sensation. I don’t register this pain in any particular place.

It’s everywhere, viscerally. As if the magic my former coven is trying to bind is somehow ribboned through my entire being. Winding around each cell, each atom.

They’re bindingme.

And there’s nothing I can do about it.

I gave up sitting straight and staring each of them in the eye as they ripped at something so essential to who I am over an hour ago. If it weren’t for my hands bound around the back of the chair, I’d be slumped in half. Or on the floor.

I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

But the image of Kayla’s wild gaze as she began the binding spell. The arcs of magic from each coven member converging on her like the spokes of a wheel before she turned the spell on me...

I’ll never forget it.

The glee. The manic smile as her coven fed her more power than she’s ever accessed.

That’s the moment I realized what this is truly about.

Kayla might sincerely care about our declining birth rates. But not as much as she enjoys wielding the power of a full coven.

“Savor it while you can,” I whisper low, so she can’t hear the pain in my voice. “You’ll never have this much power again.” I manage to lift my head high enough to catch the witches sharing sidelong glances. One of them meets my gaze, and I give her a manic grin through the curtain of my matted hair.

The witch winces and steps back enough that, for the briefest moment, her magic falters.