Witch Queen Read Free Page A

it.
He reached out with his hand, and I recoiled at his rotten
fingernails and the black threads that pulsed under the skin of his
hand.
    “Come, Elena. We can be together again.
Nothing will ever come between us again, I promise.” He paused and
then added in a gentle voice. “I love you.”
    Silently, still beyond words, I stumbled
back, shaking my head like a stubborn child. I wasn’t sure what I’d
expected, but this wasn’t it. I knew it was some sort of trap, but
I never once imagined that Jon would be lost to me.
    Jon seemed to sense my reluctance to
recognize him, who he truly was.
    “It’s me, Elena. Jon.”
    “He’s not Jon,” hissed Will, and his
shoulders tensed. “Jon’s gone. Whatever this thing is…it isn’t him.
Not anymore.”
    Jon’s black eyes shifted in annoyance.
    “Lies. All lies. Don’t listen to him, Elena.
It’s me. Look at me. I’m the same man who saved you when everyone
else left you to die. Remember? That was me . I took you to
the witches. I took care of you.” He moved forward. “Let me take
care of you again.”
    I stumbled back into Leo. My sword was
heavier than I’d ever remembered, and it started to slip from my
trembling hand.
    “But…” I faltered, trying to find a glimpse
of the man I remembered inside this creature that stood before me.
Was he even in there? Was this just another version of him or had
his soul been corrupted by black magic? Was the man I loved lost
forever?
    “But you’re sick,” I said finally, for lack
of a better word. And I don’t know how to make you better , I
wanted to say. Tears fell freely down my face, and my throat
throbbed with the emotions that cascaded in me.
    “I’m not sick,” Jon said with a little
smirk. It was almost like he enjoyed torturing me like this. “I am
better.”
    “Than what?” Will shot back. “Better than
what?”
    “Everything.”
    Will and Leo exchanged a worried look. It
was strange to see this shift in Jon’s behavior. I’d never seen
this arrogance before. The real Jon was slipping away from me. It
was like I was staring at someone else completely, a stranger.
    “I am everything you’re not,” Jon continued.
He focused on me. “I’m stronger, faster, smarter. I’m stronger than
ever before. My body is resilient and fast. My senses are sharper,
and I can see in the dark.”
    “That explains the lack of light in here,” I
added, and his eyes narrowed. Something in me went still and cold
under his gaze, but I didn’t dare look away. I didn’t want him to
see or sense how terrified I was. While I was terrified of him, I
was more terrified of what I would be forced to do if he proved to
have become completely corrupted.
    “You’re frightened of me,” he said in a
disturbingly casual voice.
    My body started to shake.
    “Don’t be,” he soothed. “There’s nothing to
fear, my Elena.”
    I flinched at his intimate use of my
name.
    “I am the same man with all the same
experiences and memories. Nothing’s changed on those levels. The
only thing that’s changed is that I embraced shadow and darkness,
and it gave me real power. But it’s nothing to be frightened of.
You yourself know of what I speak…of having power of your own. The
power of darkness only wants to make you better, like me. What’s
wrong with improving oneself?”
    “My power is nothing like this,” I said.
“You’re changed. The darkness has consumed you. Corrupted you.” My
eyes burned as my stomach contracted into a painful ball.
    Jon’s smile became wild.
    “I have changed. I have the strength of five
men, and I can do things that I never dreamed I could. It’s amazing
really. Who wouldn’t want to taste this power? Anyone would be
foolish not to want it. And you can have it, too, if you’ll join
me. Think of what we could do together with our combined
strength.”
    I could swear there was a ghost of triumph
on his face. “Join me. Join us.”
    “I won’t.” I was surprised by my
self-control.