Part of me was tempted to break it in half. To end the long line of wreckage it had caused. I stopped myself. If a wand such as this could be used for great evil, I was going to make sure it did a little good before I destroyed it. It already helped me defeat Margaux. I would make sure it did more long before I watched it burn in the raging embers of my magical fire.
Jake walked out of the grand hall with Margaux dangling over his shoulder.
Alina followed him out, doing her best to dodge the damage done to the floor.
I stood atop the stairs watching as Lothar joined me, standing to my side. I raised a hand to hush him before he could speak. I knew someone else was still listening.
“Dirk,” I said quietly. “Grandmaster, whoever the hell you are. If you can hear me, listen closely. I won’t stop until you’re dead. And I don’t mean dead as in waiting for another body to possess. I’m going to make sure you die a true death. That you can never take hold of an innocent person’s body and wield them as your personal weapon. I’m going to slaughter everyone you try converting to your inner circle. No matter who you capture, no matter who you try to convert, or who you kill, I’m going to make it my life’s mission to see you fail. The line ends with my brother. That’s a promise.”
A faint tingle slithered through the back of my mind. He heard me. Even through my brother’s deafness he understood every word I said. And I’m pretty sure he was laughing. He doubted me. Perhaps he even thought me young and naive. I might have been. But I was far stronger now than I was only months ago.
The faint sensation in my mind dissipated. I was alone with Lothar in the grand hall. He heard every word I said. And when I peered up at him, he smiled down at me.
“Chin up, Riley,” he said. His eyes glinted in from the moonlight seeping in through the shards of broken window glass. “A Vontex lowers her eyes to no one.”
“I’m not a Vontex yet,” I said.
He edged closer to me. I could feel the heat from his body and smell the forest as he leaned down toward me.
“When I’m done with you, you’ll be more than ready. You’ll be the best.”
“I only defeated Margaux because of the vixra magic Adeline spelled inside my bracelet.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” he said, looking back at all the damage Margaux and I caused inside what was once one of the most beautiful estates in all of England. “You didn’t back down. A Vontex never backs down. You saved my life. Now, I’m going to make damn sure you make the most of yours. Dirk better be prepared. Because I’m going to make you the most valuable weapon in all of Europe.”
“How?”
“Rodrick isn’t the only one with secret training or special access to our world’s hidden treasures. Being a Vontex has its privileges. I think you just earned a preview of what you can do once you become one.”
“You sound so sure.”
“Oh, I am,” he said, closing what little space there was between us.
“And once you are, you’re going to have to choose,” he whispered, taking his hand and brushing back my hair from the electrical static making it frizz at the sides.
‘Does he mean choosing to go live in Hungary or choosing between him and Rodrick?’
Either way, I knew one thing for certain. He might believe that I should be free to make my own choices but he wasn’t going to make either choice easy for me.
THE END OF BOOK FOUR
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About the Author
Before Shawn was a writer, she was a history teacher who spent all her spare time reading historical novels and tales of fantastical worlds, past and present.
After years of classrooms and countless hours in university libraries, she decided to pen down her own imaginary worlds in novels.
She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance books. She lives in Georgia with her husband and pet Yorkshire terrier.
Also by Shawn Knightley
WITCHLING WARS
Kruxa Echelon Series
Blood Marked
Grim Defeat
Peril Unbound
Death Hunt
Vampire Echelon Series
Cursed Relic
Fated Realms
Hostile Rival
Rescind: (Lycan Academy of Shapeshifting: Operation Shift, Book 4) Page 16
