Read Online Black Beast by Nenia Campbell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Nenia Campbell
Tags: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Witches, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teen & Young Adult, Paranormal & Urban, witch, shape shifter, witch clan, shapechanger, witches and magic, shapechange, shiftershaper, shapeshifter paranormal, shape change, shape changers, witches and vampires, shape changing, shape shift, witch council, shape changer
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charm is wasted on me, however.” He reached into his jeans pocket and she stiffened, expecting another weapon. The
coup de grâce
.
“There is one way to tell.”
He's going to kill me.
Nobody would ever find her body. Not here.
Catherine watched him with her heart in her throat as he produced a necklace. There was no time for relief. As soon as she glimpsed the crystal dangling from the thin gold chain she knew it was no ordinary charm. It had the same dark aura as the spell book. Black magic.
Shaking her head, she began to edge away, but the witch was on her in an instant. She bucked, twisting, trying to throw off his grip, but his fingers dug tightly into her skin. “If you break this, you'll kill us both.”
“I don't give a fuck about
you
.”
She stopped struggling, though. The instincts for self-preservation were strong.
Catherine stared at the crystal, watching the aura pulse and swirl in time to her breathing in a way that seemed vaguely obscene. The witch's eyes never left her face, and that felt obscene, too. He seemed to be searching for a reaction of some kind, and his focus was so intense that she was finally forced to turn away.
The crystal was only a little less intimidating. It wasn't actually black, as she had first thought, but filled with those strange particles. There were so many that they were all pressed up against the walls of the colorless mineral from within, struggling to get out it seemed.
They were attracted to her, to her aura. To her body.
What would happened if the crystal cracked and the particles broke free? The witch had said that they would kill her—and him. Would they consume her, devouring her like a ravenous beast incapable of satisfaction?
The witch was regarding her through narrowed eyes. With the dangling chain in hand, he looked like a hypnotist from the turn of the century.
“Your aura reacts to this crystal the same way a witch's would—why?”
“I don't know.” She couldn't look away from the necklace. “I haven't done anything. I don't know.”
“I think you know more than you're letting on.”
Catherine shook her head viciously. “
No
.”
It was obvious he didn't believe her.
He tucked the necklace back into his pocket and fiddled with his belt. She sucked in a breath, terrified anew, and the terror stayed with her as he pulled out a silver blade from a discreet leather sheath.
“Do you know what this is?”
Cuts inflicted by silver did not heal at a normal rate. Anything he did to her would last. She would wear the scars for the rest of her natural life.
“Last chance.” He waved the blade in front of her.
He was going to do it. He was going to cut her, for reasons of his own. Reasons that had something to do with the ice in his voice and the madness in his eyes.
Her body blurred into motion before she was even fully aware that she had made a decision. She tackled him, and the witch went down. Silver had no effect on her body's mass. She was small, but compact. Shape-shifters had low BMIs. Their metabolism was constantly going to feed their bodies with energy.
The witch was knocked supine, in an ungainly sprawl that left him spattered with mud. She found the keys to her cuffs on his belt and unsnapped them quickly, shackling his wrists together instead while doing her best to ignore the burn of the silver. He started to curse her, and she shoved the knife down his throat, handle-first. A last-minute mercy.
Predator chuckled in her head, pleased. She had been pacing in the cage of Catherine's body and now she was free. Free, and vengeful. Her aggressor was stretched out, prone, beneath her, and she was ready to ravage him with all the leisure accorded to her by time.
My kill
, she purred.
All mine, mine, mine.
The witch was choking. She pulled out the blade a little, holding it in place so he wouldn't spit it out.
We're not
coup de grâce
.
“There is one way to tell.”
He's going to kill me.
Nobody would ever find her body. Not here.
Catherine watched him with her heart in her throat as he produced a necklace. There was no time for relief. As soon as she glimpsed the crystal dangling from the thin gold chain she knew it was no ordinary charm. It had the same dark aura as the spell book. Black magic.
Shaking her head, she began to edge away, but the witch was on her in an instant. She bucked, twisting, trying to throw off his grip, but his fingers dug tightly into her skin. “If you break this, you'll kill us both.”
“I don't give a fuck about
you
.”
She stopped struggling, though. The instincts for self-preservation were strong.
Catherine stared at the crystal, watching the aura pulse and swirl in time to her breathing in a way that seemed vaguely obscene. The witch's eyes never left her face, and that felt obscene, too. He seemed to be searching for a reaction of some kind, and his focus was so intense that she was finally forced to turn away.
The crystal was only a little less intimidating. It wasn't actually black, as she had first thought, but filled with those strange particles. There were so many that they were all pressed up against the walls of the colorless mineral from within, struggling to get out it seemed.
They were attracted to her, to her aura. To her body.
What would happened if the crystal cracked and the particles broke free? The witch had said that they would kill her—and him. Would they consume her, devouring her like a ravenous beast incapable of satisfaction?
The witch was regarding her through narrowed eyes. With the dangling chain in hand, he looked like a hypnotist from the turn of the century.
“Your aura reacts to this crystal the same way a witch's would—why?”
“I don't know.” She couldn't look away from the necklace. “I haven't done anything. I don't know.”
“I think you know more than you're letting on.”
Catherine shook her head viciously. “
No
.”
It was obvious he didn't believe her.
He tucked the necklace back into his pocket and fiddled with his belt. She sucked in a breath, terrified anew, and the terror stayed with her as he pulled out a silver blade from a discreet leather sheath.
“Do you know what this is?”
Cuts inflicted by silver did not heal at a normal rate. Anything he did to her would last. She would wear the scars for the rest of her natural life.
“Last chance.” He waved the blade in front of her.
He was going to do it. He was going to cut her, for reasons of his own. Reasons that had something to do with the ice in his voice and the madness in his eyes.
Her body blurred into motion before she was even fully aware that she had made a decision. She tackled him, and the witch went down. Silver had no effect on her body's mass. She was small, but compact. Shape-shifters had low BMIs. Their metabolism was constantly going to feed their bodies with energy.
The witch was knocked supine, in an ungainly sprawl that left him spattered with mud. She found the keys to her cuffs on his belt and unsnapped them quickly, shackling his wrists together instead while doing her best to ignore the burn of the silver. He started to curse her, and she shoved the knife down his throat, handle-first. A last-minute mercy.
Predator chuckled in her head, pleased. She had been pacing in the cage of Catherine's body and now she was free. Free, and vengeful. Her aggressor was stretched out, prone, beneath her, and she was ready to ravage him with all the leisure accorded to her by time.
My kill
, she purred.
All mine, mine, mine.
The witch was choking. She pulled out the blade a little, holding it in place so he wouldn't spit it out.
We're not
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