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CIARA’S GAZE FLEW TO Liam. He was on his knees, but Jesse had shoved him on his knees, so he hadn’t kneeled.
Liam looked around, eyes wide, and then his gaze landed on Ciara. Neither of them knew what was going on.
Ciara turned back to Elliott, whose eyes grew round, gaze fixed on her. His forehead creased, and he gritted his teeth together. “How?” He scanned the crowd, spinning around in rage, until his eyes landed on Ciara’s mother.
Just then Ciara’s mother grunted as if she was in pain.
“Mum!” Ciara’s hands shook from anxiety, but she didn’t dare to rush forward. She didn’t know what Elliott had planned, but she knew he wouldn’t let her get to her mother. Not without consequences.
Her mother cried out, and her hair changed. The caramel brown shade took a cooler tone at first, and then little by little it darkened a shade at a time. Her body morphed until there was no longer anything feminine in her figure.
Ciara wanted to cry the moment he looked up. The weight of worry lifted only for new worry to crash down on her. Theo.
Theo had used a transformation potion.
But that didn’t explain what had happened to Ciara’s mother. The witch hunters had kidnapped her, not Theo. So where was she? And how had Theo taken her place?
Elliott laughed at first, and then he clapped his hands together three times. “What a surprise, Theo!”
Theo looked up, but he didn’t say a word even when he took off the fabric blocking his mouth. His eyes moved from Elliott to Ciara and back.
“Come here.”
Theo stood up like a dog obeying its master and walked up to Elliott. He didn’t even glance at Ciara.
Elliott grabbed Theo by his shirt and ripped the fabric. Theo stayed still as a statue.
“You’re going to die for this,” Elliott snarled at Theo.
Theo couldn’t die. Ciara’s mind filled with fiery rage, and she grabbed her wand, clinging to it.
Then she saw the mark near Theo’s shoulder. It hadn’t been there before, and it looked exactly like the one Ciara had had. A burnt witch hunter mark.
Had they marked him too?
Ciara hurried to glance at her mark. But it was gone.
Theo had taken her mark. She tried to figure out when that had happened and how she hadn’t even noticed.
And she remembered the kiss in the hidden basement. Theo had squeezed her shoulder. Had it been then?
Ciara’s gaze snapped back to where Elliott was. His eyes were now on Ciara. He had seen that she didn’t have the mark anymore. And for some reason, he smirked.
Ciara was ready to rush forward to save Theo, but she stayed in her spot when she heard the next words coming from Elliott’s mouth.
“Kill her.” Elliott looked at Theo but pointed at Ciara. Clearly, he didn’t realise that Ciara wouldn’t kill Theo.
Theo’s eyes widened, and blood rushed off his face. “No,” he grunted, as if saying anything would have physically hurt him.
“Jesse, grab the other guy.”
Jesse jumped up from his kneeling position and grabbed Liam before he could get up from the ground. Liam struggled against Jesse’s grip. “Ciara!” Liam yelled. He had managed to get the gag off.
Theo pulled out a wand from his pocket and faced Ciara. Panic painted over his face as he took the first step.
Ciara didn’t know what to do, nor what to say. Would Theo really kill her?
It had to be the mark. Ciara had always assumed the witch hunters had their mark tattooed on their skin because of some cult thing. But it was more than that. Elliott could control everyone with the wretched mark on their skin. It didn’t matter whether it was a tattoo or a scar.
Ciara’s breaths came out shaky. Even her hands shook. “Theo.”
“Ciara, go.” He struggled to say those two words, and they came out as a mix of a cry and a groan. Speaking hurt Theo.
Resisting Elliott’s power hurt him.
“I can’t.” Ciara couldn’t leave Theo and Liam. Elliott would kill them both if she did.
“Now.” Theo’s eyes begged as he stepped in front of Ciara.
She didn’t move. Not until his hand shot up with a knife. She jumped aside, and Theo followed her movements with ease.
Despite his pained expression, he made calculated and swift moves. His expression was truly his, but his actions were Elliott’s doing.
“I forgot to say I love you, too, Theo,” Ciara whispered when Theo got close enough again.
Theo’s eyes watered. But his hand—the one holding the knife—cut through the air. Ciara moved aside just in time. But then Theo moved his other hand—the one holding his wand—and she flew onto her back.
She jumped up. Barely in time, she turned to see the knife flying towards her. She raised her wand and made the knife fly in another direction. It cut through air, landing on a kneeled witch hunter’s chest.
Ciara’s eyes moved rapidly between Elliott and Theo. Elliott didn’t even twitch from one of his followers collapsing dead onto the ground. And Theo sent a spell at Ciara.
She blocked it and then glanced at the bleeding body. Horror seeped through her.
Another death that was on her. Another ruthless kill.
“Theo, how about you use your fists?” Elliott said, a pleased tone ringing in his voice.
Ciara wanted to crush that man. She wished the knife had hit him instead of his follower.
Theo slipped his wand back into its pocket. He gritted his teeth as if trying to fight against Elliott’s commands. But it didn’t matter. He still charged at Ciara. This time with more force.
Ciara jumped aside again, but Theo was quick to follow. He was doing everything to hurt her. To kill her.
But she couldn’t hurt him.
Theo’s fist hit Ciara’s cheek. She stumbled a step back. Right then, someone pulled at her feet, tripping her over. Theo jumped on top of her, and his fist landed on her again. This time he hit her ribs, and they both heard a crack.
“Fuck,” she mumbled as the pain shot through her.
A drop fell on her face, and her focus came back. “You have to kill me,” Theo said. She looked up at him. He was crying in panic. “If you want to get yourself and Liam out of here alive, kill me.”
Ciara shook her head. “No.”
She had tried to kill him once. She had never regretted anything as much in her life. Theo’s life was worth more than hers.
“Fuck, Ciara,” Theo cried through gritted teeth as he punched Ciara in the face again. “Grab your wand or knife!”
Elliott was laughing in the background. His followers, however, remained silent as if they were in a trance. They were like robots that only worked with commands.
“Theo, it’s okay,” Ciara said, reaching her hand up to caress his face.
“Don’t you dare give up,” Theo hissed, more of his tears falling on Ciara.
“Not yet.” Ciara pushed Theo off her and onto his back. She warmed her palm with fire, reaching for Theo’s shoulder. But he kicked her off him before she could burn the mark off his shoulder.
Ciara rolled onto her stomach, but she couldn’t stay like that. She jumped up, and the movement shot a surge of pain through her. It was enough to have her knees buckle.
Her ribcage hurt.
“Ciara, watch out!” It wasn’t Theo who was talking to her; it was Liam.
Ciara turned around and dodged the knife, barely in time. Theo tried to stab her again. She grabbed his wrists, holding the knife away from her. But even that hurt.
She cried out from the pain, and out of nowhere, a surge of energy sent Theo to the ground. He dropped the knife.
Ciara was losing control. She glanced at Elliott to prove her predictions correct. He wanted her to lose control.
That was his plan.
Less than an hour before, Ciara had lost control, and she had killed a man. She couldn’t live with herself if she let that happen with Theo—if she killed Theo.
Ciara tasted iron in her mouth and realised her lip was bleeding. She wasn’t sure how bad it looked, but Liam’s expression was more worried than she had ever seen. And he always worried.
There was no way out of the situation. Not one Ciara knew of. Not one where she, Liam, and Theo would all live.
Theo was standing again, and he grabbed his wand. Before he could cast a spell, Ciara cast one. The wand flew off his hands.
“No,” Theo breathed out, with his voice barely audible.
Ciara realised Elliott hadn’t allowed Theo to take the wand. He had fought against the mark’s control.
Theo had been planning to kill himself to save Ciara.
“Theo, use your fists,” Elliott growled. He had also noticed his control slipping.
From the corner of her eye, Ciara saw Elliott flick his wand. Next, she was on the ground. She tried to get up, but it was as if she was bound down. Invisible ties held her down from her wrists and ankles.
Theo dashed for her.
“Ciara, get up!” Liam screamed.
But even if Ciara could have, it would have been too late. Theo jumped at her, and his fist connected with her face again.
She didn’t mean it to happen, but a whimper escaped past her lips. “Theo—”
He punched her again, cutting her off. His expression was wavering, and the tears had begun to dry. Elliott’s grip on him had to be strengthening.
Theo wouldn’t forgive himself. Ciara knew it too. She couldn’t let Theo live with guilt like that.
“This isn’t you, Theo. It’s okay,” she whispered. Her head throbbed with pain, and so did her ribcage.
Theo cried out, slamming his fist into her stomach. An involuntary cry left Ciara’s mouth, and she had to bite her teeth together. Her ribs were in flames—or so it felt.
“Theo—”
He hit her stomach again. Ciara wasn’t sure how much more she could handle. Her vision was blurring. She could barely make out Theo’s stormy grey eyes. The eyes she had once tried to tattoo in her mind.
She couldn’t kill him. She refused to even hurt him. And either way, she was tied to the ground with nothing left to do.
Ciara heard Liam trashing against Jesse’s hold. Jesse laughed along with Elliott. Liam was screaming. Ciara could make out her name, but not much else.
She tried to turn her head to see Liam, but her body refused to move at her will. The pain was wearing her off.
She was close to giving in when, out of nowhere, Elliott’s and Jesse’s laughs stopped and so did Liam’s screams. For a moment, Ciara pondered if she was that close to dying.
It wasn’t that.
A spell blasted Theo off her. She tried to move, but the earlier spell still held her down.
“Fight!” Elliott roared, and the witch hunters obeyed him, hands already reaching for their wands.
Had River got himself free?