I stared at the open box, the red velvet lining marked by the heavy weight of something that wasn’t there anymore.

The heart. Where was the damn heart?

I continued my previous task, opening all the boxes I could and searching for the heart, even though I knew, I felt, the damn heart had been in that other box—not long ago.

By all sacred things. This couldn’t be happening. It was so, so close, and yet so far away. Where could the damn heart be?

Tears sprung to my eyes, but I pushed them down. I didn’t have time for despair. If I couldn’t find the heart, then I had to change tactics. Change objectives. Change quests. Damn my powers. I would have to save Drake with or without them.

I picked up Drake’s dagger and held it tight. I wasn’t the best fighter, but it was all I had.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to leave the room.

And froze.

Sarki walked into the room.

“Sarki?” I asked, taking a few steps toward her. “What happened? Where’s Drake?” Another thought came into my mind. “What are you doing here?”

She crept up to me, moving her hips more than necessary, a smile spreading over her red lips. “I’m here to take care of unfinished business.”

“What?” I gasped, sensing great power coming from her. How hadn’t I felt it before? I stared at her chest, stunned. “You have the heart.”

“Finally!” she spread her arms, as if present a big award. “Yes, the heart of your coven beats in my chest.”

I took a step back. “When did you figure it out?”

“That you came for the heart? I wasn’t sure at first, but after you healed Drake, I did some digging. It wasn’t easy.” She placed her hand over her heart. “But I’m powerful, you know.”

I frowned. “If you’re powerful, then why didn’t you heal Drake?”

“Why would I heal someone I was trying to get rid of?”

“You … you tried to kill Drake?” Realization downed on me. “Y-you killed Lord Reynard,” I whispered, more appalled by the second.

“And I can honestly say I enjoyed it. Shame it was so fast.”

“This doesn’t make sense.” I shook my head. “I thought you liked Drake.”

She tsked. “Drake was my favorite. I never wanted anything bad to happen to him. But he got in my way and started digging too deep. Soon, he would find out what I had done and I couldn’t let that happen, even if it pained me.”

I stared at her, disgusted. “You’re insane.”

She shrugged. “One does what one must.”

I didn’t care about Sarki’s reasons. I didn’t care she tried to kill Drake. I didn’t care about any of it. As long as she gave me the heart and I could rescue Drake, she could do whatever she wanted.

I pointed the dagger at her. “Give me the heart.”

She tilted her head. “I can’t do that.”

“I don’t care! Give me the damn heart!”

Sarki picked up the black box and turned it around her hands, as if examining the engravings along the sides. “You see, I’m the rare offspring of a witch and a vampire.” Very rare indeed. Ninety-nine percent of vampires were sterile and witches didn’t conceive easily. “Everyone thought Reynard was my lover, but that was a decoy. I was his daughter. The bastard stole me from my mother and then killed her just because. I hated the man with all my heart, but I was weak. There was nothing I could do against him. If he wanted, he could have kill me in less than a second. But he didn’t. He took care of me, even when I tried to rebel.”

“Stop!” I cried. I wasn’t going to sympathize with her, even if I did feel sorry for her. Like Drake, her family had been killed by Reynard and she had been taken by force.

She went on. “There aren’t many half-witches, half-vampires out there so not everyone knows we are weak. The two kinds of blood don’t mix well. They are practically incompatible, actually. With the passing of the years, we found out I was dying. Then, when Reynard came across your coven and stole the heart, he had the idea of giving it to me.” She pointed to her chest. “I had a hard adaptation period, let me tell you, but I made it. And, to my surprise, it worked. Suddenly, I was strong, well, and powerful. So, so powerful.” She raised her hand and a blue flame appeared in her palm. “Unfortunately, I can’t live without the heart, and I know you’re after the heart, so I’m afraid you’ll have to die.”

She threw the blue flame at me.

I ducked behind a pile of boxes. The flame exploded, breaking several of the boxes, and sending me to my butt.

Panting, I crawled back, hiding behind some low stone pillars. I needed a minute, a second, to come up with a plan. How would I fight against a witch with the power from my coven’s heart?

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she teased, her voice echoing throughout the room, making it impossible to know where she was, or how close she was.

Damn it.

She was a witch and a vampire. She could use her powers and her strength and speed on me. I was doomed.

But I couldn’t be doomed.

I was this close to getting my coven’s heart back, in succeeding in my suicide mission, and in saving Drake. I wouldn’t be doomed.

I remembered the other shelves in this room, filled with many things. I could—

A blue flame zipped past the pillar, its heat singeing my ear.

Shit.

“There you are!” Sarki said, jumping in front of me.

She raised her hand, showing off a new blue flame.

Fast, I scooted closer and, grunting, did a low sweeping kick. Not expecting such a move from me, Sarki tripped and fell.

I lifted the dagger high, ready to stab her.

A scream echoed through the room as Sarki summoned a huge blue flame and hurled it at me.

I took off running. The flame exploded on a pile of boxes, sending splinters flying everywhere. A thick splinter pricked my upper arm, and I groaned but didn’t stop.

Dodging boxes, pillars, and shelves for cover, I reached the shelf with the vials. As quickly as I could, I read the labels while ducking from incoming flames. I found a couple of poisons, but they all had to be administered by drinking a large quantity. Finally, I found something useful and—

A force surrounded me, and suddenly, I couldn’t move.

“I’m tired of this game,” Sarki said. The force—her power—turned me around. Grinning, Sarki flung her hand, and I rushed backward. My back hit the wall behind me, taking my breath away. “You’re going to die now, little pet, and I’ll enjoy every second of it.”

The force pressed me against the wall, as if she were trying to squash me like a bug. My muscles groaned, my arms stretched, my head burned, my lungs collapsed. I couldn’t breathe, my vision blurred, my arms went numb, and despair gripped inside me.

No, no, no, this couldn’t be the end.

It wouldn’t be the end.

Fighting against the force, I turned my hand, just a tiny bit, and then threw the vial at her. “Eat this, bitch,” I spat.

It exploded and a violent tornado-like wind escaped. Sarki was flung back, and I fell on the floor, released from her magic.

My knees screamed from hitting the floor, my lungs hurt from breathing too deep, my head spun, but I had to push through. I had to move.

Focusing on one thing only, I charged at Sarki.

I stepped into her space and plunged the dagger in her gut. Sarki’s eyes went wide, her mouth fell open, and she curled into me. She gasped for air as blood seeped from her wound.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, pulling the dagger out. The dust of witch’s bark on the blade was now covered with her blood. The herb, which I had snatched from the night we had healed Drake, acted fast. My coven used it primarily to relax a witch with deep wounds, so she would let us work on her without lashing out. But when used in greater quantities, it could numb a witch for a couple of hours.

I didn’t know the effects it would have on a half-witch, half-vampire, but judging by the way Sarki’s body went limp against mine, I would say it worked well enough.

I helped her to the floor, laying her flat against the cold stone. Even with the witch’s bark, she was able to move a little. She pressed a hand to her wound, but I had gone for the right place. Blood flowed from between her fingers and created a crimson pool around her shaking body.

Her eyes rolled back and she gasped, as if trying to say something.

Disgusted with myself, I placed a hand over her mouth and nose. I wished I could give her an honorable death, but I didn’t have time to waste. All the vampires were probably looking for me, and Drake needed help ASAP.

Sarki jerked against my hold, but the strength left her. Not long after, she went slack.

A sob ripped through my chest as I lifted the dagger again and aimed for her chest.

Thinking of the future of my coven and saving Drake, I opened up Sarki’s chest and carved out my coven’s heart. The moment I held it in my bloodied, trembling hands, power surged into me.

I gasped and tilted my head back as I took in the power, as I let it flood me, fill my veins and my own heart.

My mind revolved, my heart pounded, my veins, not used to this magnitude of power, thrummed.

When my body recovered, I tucked the heart into my little purse and shot to my feet.

Now I was ready to save a certain vampire.