Page 126 of The Order of the Bitter Hunt

A voice rings out. “Stop!”

Professor Connolly steps forward. Her black horns and wings are on display now, and she’s nearly as tall as Strode. Unlike me, she’s fearless.

“Virve,” Strode says, as if he’s greeting a colleague. “I haven’t seen you in centuries.”

“Then it has been a good few centuries,” she says. “But I’m not here for a small chat. I wish for you to take me. Accept me as your sacrifice and leave the mortal.”

Strode looks her up and down with a bored expression. “You have an immortal soul. You are no good to me.”

“But—” Professor Connolly says.

“Go back into your place.”

He has a voice people would not dare disobey. As strong as Professor Connolly is, she listens, stepping back into the crowd.

I’m alone. The end. I must do this myself.

While Strode is distracted by Professor Connolly, I take advantage. With the dagger in my hand, I charge.

He grows as soon as I move, no longer a foot taller—but three. Flames cover him, and screaming ghosts surround him.My bones go frigid. It’s an attempt at intimidation, but I won’t let him win, lunging at him with the dagger.

It’s no use. He tosses me to the side as if I’m nothing.

As I fall to the ground, I let out a sharp cry. The dagger slips from my hand and clatters to the floor.

“Foolish mortal,” Strode roars, with blood-red eyes. “Drink from the sacrifice now. This is your final warning.”

“Margaux.” My father looks at me with a plea in his eye, shaking his head. “Please.”

He’s begging—begging for my life, I realize, and perhaps for his own. I still have a mortal soul, and vampire or not, Strode may steal it.

I look wildly for the dagger—the witch weapon—and realize he must not know what it is. But it’s out of my line of sight, somewhere in the crowd, and if I make another wrong move…

It’s over.

With a blank face, I move to Tobey and lift their wrist. They meet my gaze with a wary expression, their head shaking. This wasn’t part of the plan. I know.

But they don’t pull away. Their wrist rests in my hands with no reluctance.

“I trust you,” Tobey whispers, though the trust doesn’t exactly show in their face.

I don’t know if they should trust me. I lift their wrist to my mouth, and without thinking, I bite in. Their blood fills my mouth, and the room goes silent.

Their fear takes me. I feel it through the connection of the feed, but it’s nothing compared to what I feel from Jun.

Hatred. Anger.

And then, under the cloud of fury, there’s a hint of what I’ve always known him to be. Ambitious and driven.

I lift my head, wiping the blood on the back of my hand—and in a smooth motion, I drag my fangs across my palm. Too fast,fast enough that no one else can act, I shove my bloody wrist to Tobey’s lips.

It takes only a moment to realize what I’ve done. Now that I have the gift of immortality, I can share it with Tobey.

Without a question, they drink, sipping my magic until they faint.

The room explodes in sounds of awe and terror.

“There will be no sacrifice today!” I yell, standing between Tobey and the rest. “Her mortal soul ismine.”