Page 107 of Blood Match

“Understand?” I’m on my feet now, backing up against the wall.

“Please, Rowan…” Something in his expression tugs at me, but I won’t let him get to me.

“That’s my sister.” The words are torn from me. “You have my sister!” My voice pitches up.

He rises from the bed, coming toward me. “No. It’s not like that. I—”

“Stop!” I cut him off. I don’t need his explanations. I don’t need more fucking vampire charm. The cold horror inside me is beginning to be replaced by something warmer. Not just warmer. Hot rage starts to suffuse me.

I can’t listen to Darick’s words. They’re meaningless, a buzzing in my ears drowned out by the roaring of my own blood.

How could I have been so stupid? So blind?

The man I just gave myself to…he’s the one who took Mia. I should have known it from the start. He’s been in my head now. Maybe he was in my head then. Maybe I led him to her. And now he’s back for me. For the rest of us.

“Rowan, please, let me explain—” Darick starts, but I cut him off.

“Shut up!” I scream, my voice raw with pain and fury. “Just shut up!”

The rage inside me is building, a pressure that needs release. I feel it tingling in my fingertips, a sensation I’ve never experienced before. It’s like my magic has taken on a life of its own, fueled by my anger and betrayal.

Darick takes a step towards me, his hands raised in a soothing gesture. “Rowan, listen to me—”

But I’m beyond listening. The tingling in my hands intensifies, becoming a searing heat. I look down in shock to see my palms glowing with an inner fire. It doesn’t hurt; instead, it feels right, like an extension of my fury.

Without conscious thought, I raise my hands toward Darick in an abrupt swirling gesture. His eyes widen in alarm, but it’s too late. A burst of blinding sunlight erupts from my palms, engulfing him in its radiance.

“Rowan!” he gasps. If he says anything else, the sound is drowned out.

The last thing I see is Darick’s perfect form consumed by flames, his face a mask of shock and pain. Then the light becomes too intense, and I have to shield my eyes.

When I open them again, he’s not there. All that remains is a smoldering pile of ash where he’d been standing.

He’s gone.