“He was supposed to be watching after you, not the other way around.” Sinister pushes his way through the dwindling crowd.
The men appear less murderous and more desperate now.
A demon spins on his heels as we pass. His fist strikes out at Sin so fast I barely see it. But my mate is ready.
Sinister’s hand doesn’t shake as he thrashes out pure power. He holds the man in place with ease. His jaw clenches, and he keeps his glaring gaze on the large demon he’s holding back with unseen magic. His other hand motions for us to pass. It’s a leisurely gesture, as if none of this is any trouble at all for him. I glance up at the demon with the sneering face, and he watches me, a growl shaking through him. His shoulders tremble oddly, and all at once a bursting sensation flies through the air, sending me falling back as he rushes forward with too much power.
They collide, the man’s fist pounding into the side of Sinister’s face just before the demon rears back with glowing crimson highlighting his hand. He sends it down on Sin in a blur of color, and it blooms across my mate’s jawline with so much power it slices deep into his skin like a knife itself.
Sin’s groan only lasts a second before he slams the man back with a wave of striking magic. Sinister gets to his feet with blood streaming down his throat, his body shaking with aggression
“Go,” he yells to us. “She’s straight ahead. Just near the side of the castle.”
I take a single step toward him, but a hand clutches my wrist. I stumble, and my mother drags me away, my gaze watching for him, even after too many people drift between us.
Even when he’s out of sight I still look back for him.
I have to focus. Love is dangerous. It’s deadly.
It’s…empowering.
Kain needs me.
I run, my feet slipping along the snow, but my legs never stop for a single second. I can do this.Wecan do this.
The brick walkway around the bend of the castle is slicker than the valley. My fur boots skim over the ice, and my shoulder slams right into the corner of the building when I turn.
What’s waiting for me on the other side isn’t at all what I expect.
Linden falls to his knees, his jaw tipped up so high it’s painful to see. Every muscle in the prince’s body trembles from the magic that’s pulsing through his frame.
His mother stands above him.
“Send your men home, dear.” Her fingers arch, and a choked noise gargles from Linden’s throat.
I take a step forward, but Kain stands farther back near the messy crowd, his head shaking at me, his eyes pleading with me not to make a move.
“You can stop all of this. You have the power. You don’t realize what you’re capable of, son. You have the ability to save lives. Right here. Right now. If you send your men home.”
Harder she tilts his neck back until I’m certain it’ll snap entirely.
Linden’s my friend. He’s helped me time and time again.
And I can’t stand here and watch him die.
It’s now or never.
I lower my palms, and all the magic I’ve saved in my entire life flies from my hands in blinding colors that I’ve never even seen before. She stumbles, and it only encourages my power ever more. Energy pools within me, cold and frosty but destructive and resilient.
More magic casts around me from the two mages at my side. A third mage drills powerful familiar magic into my stream of bright white magic, and it all feels overwhelmingly destructive even for me. All that destruction strikes down on Ellise. It pushes and pushes and pushes until her back hits the gray brick wall. I pin her in place there, spread out with a look of…manic amusement in her eyes.
“I knew you were special,” she whispers, barely getting the words out before her voice cuts away with a gasp of pain.
I hate staring her in her eyes. I trusted those deep-emerald eyes once.
I was naïve.
But I’m not anymore.
