A shudder rippled through me when Pierce sent his aura wider, strengthening his circle, protecting us and melting it with Ceri’s aura so her magic could pass through. I couldn’t have shifted my aura like that. It was beyond my skill, sophisticated magic, and Ceri smiled in devilish delight, thrilled to find another matching her ability. She looked like a fertility goddess with her bulging middle and the power leaking from her.Beside her, Pierce was dark, masculine, strong, his thoughts here and in his past simultaneously. And I was between them, frantic. I was going to twist a black curse to save Jenks’s life.

Ceri paused in her chanting, and upon feeling the weight of her stare, I swallowed hard and released the tight grip on my energies, letting them flow between us, balancing.

Pierce’s breath hissed in, his fingers in mine clenching for a moment. Neither I nor Ceri said anything, but we waited until he nodded, accepting the level of power. It was a joined spell, and I could taste the three of us mixing, the bite of metal and ash, the powdery residue of sun and pollen, and the cold edge of wild, windswept water in winter. That was me—windswept water in winter. I was going to kill someone with magic. There had to be another choice!

“Stop,” I whispered, and Pierce’s thoughts wound into my own, holding me to the task.

“Stay the course,” he said, eyes fixed on mine with an eerie intensity. “Hold.”

“Everyone kills to live,” Ivy whispered, vampire incense pulling through me to then vanish.

Not me, I thought, my fingers hurting where Ceri gripped them, refusing to let me go.

“Accendere!” she shouted victoriously, finishing the curse.

I stumbled as I jerked from them, but it was too late. Stunned, I felt the black curse tear through my brain like a heated knife, searing the knowledge into my memory. Ceri gasped, her head thrown back as the curse escaped Pierce’s bubble. As if in slow motion, I followed it with a ribbon of thought, the first tendrils of silver heat darting to find the edges of the confines of my circle, widening to fill the space, crawling over the inside of the dome, snaking up the tree to crisp the leaves. The ground smoked, the wet earth steamed to show the expanding curse.

I was going to burn everything aboveground. Everyone kills to live, echoed in my mind.

Not me. Panicked, I threw myself from Pierce and Ceri, hitting the interior shell of Pierce’s bubble and staring at them in horror. Not me!

“No!” I shouted, reaching out for the curse. I had seen its creation. I could call it back.

“Rachel?” Ceri called, eyes wide as she felt something shift.

Pierce stared at me. “Rachel, no!” he cried as if knowing what I was going to do.