Chapter 49: Not My Wraith

The wraith screams and I'm thrown into the kitchen wall. My head is whirling. I can't stand up. Each time I try, my legs buckle.

I blink. The image in front of me doesn't make sense.

My aunt is suspended in the air between me and the wraith. She makes gurgling sounds.

"No," I cry, struggling to get to my feet.

"Stupid, witch," my uncle snarls.

"Run," she says so hoarsely that I can barely hear her. "Run, Brene."

I stumble upright, my chest heaving. Pain lancing through me. "No."

"Can't hold him."

There has to be something I can do. I hobble to the pantry and pull out a butcher knife. But the blade clatters to the floor.

"Mortal weapons can't harm me." He smirks.

I lift my hands, calling on my magic like I did before when I was a kid. Nothing happens. Has he drained me completely? My throat closes up.

"Enough of this." The wraith snaps my aunt's neck and the sound echoes through me.

Her body collapses onto the floor. He drifts over her dead body like she is nothing.