“Don’t get any closer to them,” Holden warned, a hand on my arm.

I tried to shake him off, but he wasn’t having it.

Gentry nodded. “He’s right. Stay back. Stay as far away as you can. You shouldn’t have come.”

“No, no, she should have. I’m glad she’s here—her and her little pet,” Dominic sneered. “I can do what I wanted to do out in the street the other day. There are no witnesses here.”

“Don’t let him get to you,” I whispered.

It was bad enough he was close to getting to me. I couldn’t risk Holden losing control, as much as I would’ve loved to see him shred the bastard who laughed at us.

“Doesn’t it bother you, having to spend so much time with a creature who barely deserves your attention?” Dominic asked, shaking his head as though he pitied me. “You’re obviously a strong witch, or you wouldn’t have earned the position you now hold. Doesn’t your skin crawl when you stand as close to him as you do now?”

“Hold your tongue,” I ordered as Holden’s hand tightened enough for me to wince in pain.

“And you,” he continued, turning his attention to my vampire, “doesn’t it burn you up inside to know you’ll never be good enough for her? You’re not even fit to lick the soles of her shoes. You’ll never be anything more than a blood-sucking servant, a slave, someone to trail around in her shadow. She’ll never see you as anything more than a pathetic tool for her to use. And she’ll never love you.”

Holden shoved me aside then lunged at the sorcerer.

“No!” I screamed, throwing myself after him, but he was much too fast.

Not fast enough.

Dominic’s laugh was enough to freeze my blood as he held up his hand and fired a bolt of sizzling, white light into Holden’s chest. He seized up with an agonized shriek, his body freezing for a split second, before crumpling to the ground.

“No!” I screamed again as I landed beside him, rolling him over.

His eyes were wide open in unblinking, unseeing shock.

“No, no, no,” I whispered as I brushed his hair back and cradled his head in my lap. “Oh, Holden, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“See the way she kneels beside him in the dirt? See the way she debases herself for his sake even after I’ve ended his pathetic life? He’s lucky I didn’t prolong things as I wanted to.” Dominic laughed again.

I raised my head slowly, and the wind kicked up as I did. I got one foot under me, then another, and stood beside Holden’s body. My hands tingled and burned in anticipation of all I wanted to do to him.

Clouds rolled in from all sides, blocking the moon and stars. Thunder rumbled loud enough to shake the ground and lightning leaped from one cloud to the other, making the sky look as though it were on fire.

“Vanessa!” Gentry shouted over the storm. “Don’t do this! He wants you to do this!”

That wasn’t so. Gentry was right about a lot of things, but not about this.

His brother’s face was a mask of stone, but his eyes told another story. He was terrified. He had no idea what I was capable of.

I threw up a shield around myself in time to deflect one spell, then another, the bolts of white and blue light diverted easily before they could hit my body, shooting off in all directions.

I walked to him, one careful step after another, taking my time. Savoring the growing panic in the coward’s eyes the closer I moved.

He tried to put the marble sarcophagus between us.

I pointed one palm in its direction and cracked the monument in two.

“How dare you?” he shrieked. How could he look so much like Gentry but be so unlike him?

His features twisted in rage as he threw another spell, then another.

One of them hit the tree I’d hidden behind, and I could feel the heat from the flames.

The rest bounced off my shield.

He was growing more frantic with every passing second, dripping sweat as nothing he tried to do to me worked. Meanwhile, I wasn’t even breathing heavy.

“I’ll kill him!” he screamed, pointing his palms in Gentry’s direction. That stopped me in my tracks, even though the storm still raged around us.

Leaves twirled through the air in funnel clouds, and entire branches became projectiles as the wind tore them from the trees.

“And if I kill him, I’ll kill us all!”

I looked at Gentry. My love. He was willing to sacrifice his life to save mine. I would do the same for him if I had to. But it wouldn’t come to that. I wouldn’t allow it.

I lowered my shield and turned my powers in his direction.

Gentry didn’t feel the change—the storm had reached fever pitch, and he could barely keep his eyes open for the roaring wind and debris. He didn’t notice what I did when I did it.

“Fine,” I said, brushing hair out of my face. “You win. I won’t kill you tonight.”

“As if there was ever any doubt, witch.” Dominic threw back his head and laughed bitterly. “Oh, love. The stupid things it makes us do.”

“Yes. Very stupid.” I looked at Gentry again, and he shook his head.

“Don’t let him win! You can’t let him win!”

“That’s up to you!” I shouted. “It’s in your hands now!”

His hands.

Confusion touched his face, making him frown.

He looked down at the hand not holding the detonator and flexed his fingers.

A slow smile formed at the corners of his mouth and spread as understanding seeped in.

He raised his head, looking at his brother with loathing and pity and rage.

“This ends now,” he said as he slid the detonator inside his jacket pocket and pointed his palms in Dominic’s direction.

Dominic gaped at him in awe, then laughed louder than ever. “Are you that deluded? Don’t you remember I’ve already stripped you?”

Gentry’s answer came in the form of red bolts of light which blew the head off the marble angel just to Dominic’s right. He smiled wider than ever.

“What?” Dominic shrieked. “This is impossible!” He glared at me. “You! You did this! How could you do this? You’re just a witch!”

“Haven’t you heard?” I shouted back with a smile. “I’m The Chosen One.”

He turned back to his brother and raised his hands to attack, but Gentry was ready for him.

A single, blinding flash of light traveled from his palms straight to his brother’s chest.

Just as Holden had, Dominic threw his head back when the spell hit him. His body seized up in agony, limbs contorting, eyes bulging.

Then, it was over.

He fell on his back over the freshly-turned earth above his mother’s grave. His sightless eyes stared up at the stormy sky.

The wind died down, and the clouds parted, and it was just the two of us, standing on the hill. Gentry stared down at his brother’s body.

“You did what you had to do,” I whispered, approaching slowly. “We have to get this off you, now.” I helped him remove the explosives.

Only when they were off his body did I fry the wires connecting them, rendering the whole thing useless.

He pulled me against his chest and held me there. “I thought I was going to lose you. You shouldn’t have put yourself in harm’s way like that. I had it under control.”

I pulled back in surprise. “You mean the way you almost killed yourself for my sake? That’s not having things under control! That’s taking yourself away from me when I need you. I love you. I don’t think I could live without you now. I wouldn’t want to try.”

He smiled tenderly, brushing bits of leaves and dirt from my hair. “I love you, too, you know.”

“You’d better, damn it.” I pulled him down by the collar of his jacket and kissed him as hard as I could.