With her concentration broken, the heat evaporated from her body. Her lips peeled back, but no air was getting in or out. Not with my fingers digging into her windpipe. I needed to let up, or she was going to asphyxiate, but my hand stayed there. Rage consumed me, causing the fine hairs on my body to rise. It was like the night with the Ravers. The need to split skin and tissue was replaced with the desire to crush the fragile bones of her throat. I could do it. Easily.

Faye’s eyes bulged, her skin turning a violent shade of red as she opened her mouth, gulping for air that wasn’t coming.

Stop, I told myself. You need to stop or Bambi will die.

I forced my fingers to loosen and watched her drag in lungfuls of air. A tremor rolled through me. Cursing under my breath, I glanced at Roth and saw him holding a man several feet off the floor. There was no one else left. Nothing but piles of ash and piles of...

Oh, man.

Stomach churning, I quickly looked back to Faye. My gaze met hers, and as close as we were, I saw the panic behind the brimstone. It made her eyes look like orbs of fragile glass.

My fingers twitched, loosening even more. Faye had betrayed us—betrayed me. She needed me dead to be able to use parts of me for spells or whatever. She’d just tried to turn me into a great ball of fire. I’d known she had to die the moment I showed her what I was. Maybe I’d known that when Roth came to collect on his favor. Hell, I could’ve already known that deep down when we’d realized she’d betrayed us.

But she was afraid.

I could see it in her eyes. Fear and panic. Had Ryker’s eyes been like that? Everything had happened so fast then, but even if I had seen fear in his eyes, it wouldn’t have stopped me. Not after he’d killed my mother.

The shock I’d seen in Misha’s eyes hadn’t stopped me, either.

It wouldn’t stop me now.

Faye reared up, breaking my hold. She swung at me, her fist catching me in the jaw. It was a weak punch, but it got my attention.

Catching her flailing arms with one hand, I got her back where I’d had her before, arms pinned and hand around her throat.

“Release Bambi now,” I ordered, digging my fingers into her throat, putting just the right amount of pressure on her windpipe. “Say the words. Do it.”

Faye gagged as her eyes bulged. “If I do, you’ll kill me. You won’t with her on me.”