“He. Will. Not. Die.”
The witch laughs. “Two hours. He’ll be dead in two hours time. Tonight isn’t a full moon. You have no power to break his curse. You can’t stop it from happening.”
She glares at the witch. “But you can, can’t you?”
The witch’s lips curl up in a wicked grin as if the woman played right into her hand. As if she planned for the woman to fall out of the sky and land on top of me. Maybe even used her own magic to plop her here.
Except I know she didn’t. The witch didn’t use her magic. I don’t know how I know that. Some new fact buried deep inside me tells me that I know exactly how the woman landed on top of me when I know this place is spelled to keep everyone out and me in. But that fact will stay buried with me.
“Yes,” the witch answers simply and then holds up the vial.
“I won’t drink it,” I say before the woman has a chance to speak up.
The woman turns her head to me. “We made a blood deal—a promise that you wouldn’t try to kill yourself. You don’t get to die when there is a cure.”
I scoff. “A blood deal with a man who wishes to die is pointless, love. When the consequences for breaking a blood deal is death.”
Her entire face lights up. I don’t know why when I said I wouldn’t honor her deal and would rather die. But something I said meant something to her.
She holds out her hand to the witch who hands her the vial.
“Drink, Nightfall.”
I shake my head. I won’t drink it, not even for her.
“If you don’t drink, I’ll die.”
I frown. “You won’t. You’re far too strong and stubborn to die from a broken heart.”
She leans in, invading my space, taunting me to kill her.
I freeze, my muscles tightening up. Realizing that her hand is still in mine and I’m going to crush it.
She doesn’t flinch away. Doesn’t react. She just stares me down like she knows how this is going to go, that she’s going to win.
And then her lips brush over mine so softly that I don’t realize what she’s doing until her tongue pushes between the seam of my lips. Her kiss devours me—consuming, insistent, challenging.
It doesn’t ask, it demands everything from me.
I know she can taste the blood on my tongue, but she doesn’t care. Doesn’t faulter. She keeps kissing me.
Despite who I am.
What I’ve done.
Who’s watching.
She doesn’t care.
Slowly, she pulls away and her name floats into my head
“Lumi,” I whisper, testing it out loud.
She smiles at me gently.
Without another thought, I take the vial from her hand and down it.
Chapter 29