Chained_Brides of the Kindred

  She must have seen it too and known what his glowing red eyes meant but she didn’t run away. Instead, she held out a hand to him.

  “Please, Kor,” she said in a low, trembling voice. “Please…don’t you remember? You promised never to hurt me.”

  Kor didn’t want to hurt her—didn’t want any harm to come to her at all but somehow he couldn’t say so. He opened his mouth but nothing came out—no warning would emerge because his vocal chords were locked by someone else—by the dark voice, the demon inside him! He tried to turn away, to point his deadly gaze elsewhere but the rest of his body was frozen too—nothing was his own anymore.

  No, not all of him was frozen—the bond she had talked about was there. Suddenly Kor sensed it, like a thin, bright ribbon of golden light. It stretched between them, connecting the two of them with love and hope and the promise of a future together.

  “Maggie!” he sent, using the bond. “Maggie, run—hide! It’s too strong for me. I can’t control it!”

  “Cast it out!” she insisted, still not moving. “Cast it out, Kor! You can do it—I’ll help you.”

  “I’m not strong enough! It has me too tightly,” he sent desperately through their link. “Please, Maggie, run before I—”

  Just then he felt the shout of rage, the explosion of power leaving him and a brilliant red beam exited his eyes.

  A brilliant red beam of death aimed straight at Maggie.

  “No! No, Maggie—no!” At the last moment, Kor managed to wrest a small bit of control back from the demon inside. He jerked his head up, sending the red beams high above her head instead of directly at her.

  There was a scream of rage, both from the demon within and the witch who claimed to be his mother. The beams of burning energy shot high…and hit the g