Blood Craft: The Shadow Sorceress Book Two (17 page)

“
A
mber
!” A familiar voice called to me, pulling me out of the darkness.

I opened my eyes, but there was something wet and sticky in my lashes, making it hard to blink.

“Amber, what happened?” Nic said, panic bringing back my memories in a cold rush of reality.

“They jumped me…” I said, my voice hoarse and alien to my ears as I blinked and tried to focus on my surroundings.

Everything was red. The sidewalk I was kneeling on was bathed in what looked like red paint. Glancing down at my hands, I realised the paint extended up my arms as far as my elbows.

“Amber, what happened after that? Who did this?”

“Did what?” I said, my brain refusing to make sense of the scene in front of me.

It wasn’t paint.

The realisation washed over me and stole my breath. None of it was paint; it was blood, and I was bathed in it.

The urge to rip them all limb from limb washed through me and I scrambled backwards on the pavement. I’d done it all.

“Nic, it was me, I did this….” My brain continued to refuse to put together the pieces lying around me—and that’s all they were, pieces. I’d done exactly as I’d thought and ripped them all limb from limb. But how? How was this even possible? My body ached and I could only imagine what a lumpy, bruised mess I was. So how had I managed to get the upper hand and do so much destruction?

Grabbing the edge of my shirt, I pulled it open and stared down at the place where the demon mark sat; it, like the rest of me, was soaked in blood, but that wasn’t what bothered me. The black veins extending down and across towards my heart were far more worrisome.

“Nic, what’s happening to me?”

He shook his head and crouched down next to me. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure this out. We’ll figure it out together. I promise I won’t let you slip away, Amber, no matter what.”

His declaration gave me hope, or at least, I wanted to believe him, but as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, I couldn’t help but look around at the carnage surrounding us.

As much as I wanted to believe it, this wasn’t something you could just forget. And it wasn’t something you could just clean up and pretend never happened. No matter what happened now, things were irrevocably changed and there was no going back.

My only hope of getting out of it all with my soul still intact was to hope and pray I could get rid of the demon mark. If not, then it would be only a matter of time before I went completely dark side, and once that happened, there would be no redemption and no happy ending.

Tears started down my cheeks as I stared at the broken bodies on the sidewalk. Could there even be a happy ending for someone like me? And if there was, at what cost would it come, and would I be willing to pay it?

T
o learn more
about this series and upcoming books from Bilinda, visit her website, join her mailing list, and email her.

T
he Shadow Sorceress Series

A Grave Magic

Blood Craft

Grim Rites - Coming Soon

Wild Hunt - Coming Soon

B
ond of Blood
and Shadow Series

Violet Line - Book One

Violet Code - Coming 2016