Instead, I have to surge through her blood, isolating the bad stuff from the good and neutralising it. It would have reached her heart and brain if not for the quick work of the avian I’d just shoved aside. This is going to take hours. It would help if we knew exactly what it was, but all I know is that Tiberius said?—
I snarl in awareness and immediately shift my left finger into a sharp claw and prick my right index finger. Shoving up Stacey’s shirt, I write serpentine symbols in my own blood. My father taught me the attacking types, but he’d taught me the defensive ones too. And if there is one thing serpent magic has an affinity for, it’s blood and poison.
Once I’m satisfied, I get off my knees and search the dining hall. Hope, a nurse often in charge of the medical centre, is here in scrubs. I hobble over, sharply calling her name. She looks at me with widened eyes. “There’s a toxin in the water, likely serpentine. If you have anyone fluent in serpent magic, you’ll need them to do some blood magic on the patients. That’ll halt it long enough to get them to medical for proper assessment.” I cringe when two nurses start CPR on the patient they’re hovering over. “Give me room,” I say, holding out my bleeding finger.
Two hours later, the dining hall is cleared and everyone who could be saved is at the medical centre with most of the medical team. Three students couldn’t be revived, and I watch a young nurse, with tears in her eyes, trying to close the eyes of a second-year wolf. We broke his ribs during CPR, and my blood is smeared all over his abdomen. There are still IV lines in him.
Marduk, Yeti, and Beak are on their way back in a stolen car. They won’t be here for hours according to Minnie. As I stand and watch what remains of the day, it hits me with all the force of a sledgehammer.
I did this.
Horror winds its way up my spine, followed by something else. Something that charges through my blood with the fire of a raging volcano. My lungs fill with smoke. But my power comes up against someone else’s. I turn to find Minnie, her back turned, staring at another deceased student as Theresa covers his face with a sheet. Minnie also feels accountable for the actions of her once-mate.
I shake my head. Maybe Tiberius is right. Maybe Iamin over my head. Maybe I’m not cruel enough, or cunning enough to survive in a world of monsters.
But Iamsomething else. I am powerful enough.
Something critical cracks inside of me. Power spills in my belly, and it fills my bones. I take a deep breath and exhale black smoke, rolling my shoulders as my vision changes. Minnie’s power shifts in the air, like a current of wind gathering into a cyclone. Her breathing is heavy, not strained, but like a bellows under the weight of her power. When she turns around, Minnie’s eyes shine with a deathly light I’ve never seen before. Goosebumps erupt all over me at that look of utter rage.
She steps towards me, our eyes locked in an unspoken, sacred promise. “Take me back,” she hisses through clenched teeth. “Take me to Clawson House, Lia.”
The two of us, both reginas of broken packs, of broken hearts, of justice gone too long unserved, stride back into the night.
Chapter 11
Aurelia
Minnie and I don’t speak as we head outside. We don’t have to. We’ve always understood each other on a deep level. She is the sister of my soul and I of hers.
And now, we are sisters of blood.
The guards, feeling our powers, step back, and when I shift into my phoenix form, blue sparks shoot out of me from the force. Minnie hisses as one of them catches her, but she blots it out with a quick hand and nods at me, rising into the air, her arms out like an angel.
If she is the angel of death then I am her valiant steed.
Mighty illuminated red-feathered wings sweep through the darkness as I feel Minnie’s hands grasp my ankles again. Surrounding her with a shield, I gather my power. But this time, Minnie gathers hers too, like powerful wings of her own. A fierce cry erupts from both our mouths as we rocket across the land.
This time, I come to a supersonic halt just before we come up the hill to the property. It gives us time to survey the house and grounds. It gives us time to mark our prey. The guards shout as they see us, likely confused as to why they’re seeing a phoenix grace the sky. They’re gobsmacked as they see me up close,mouths hanging open as they come to see us. But this time, when we stride onto Clawson land, we are both visible, both our powers lashing outward in tendrils like the edge of a tornado.
As the tigers raise their guns, Minnie cuts through the air with her hand and they both fall to the ground, unconscious. We round on the house, and my tigress screams up its length. All her rage, all her fury out in full force. The windows shatter. Every last one becomes nothing but glittering dust. There are screams from the inside as the confusion begins, but Minnie doesn’t stop. I shift into human form, and she holds out her hand to me.
A dark smile touches my lips as I take it. I feel her heartbeat in her hand. It becomes a drum, the beat of which sings out to my own heart. Then I too reach out a hand, and we begin our destruction.
The house gives a low, agonised groan, and more screams sound from inside as it trembles on its foundations. Dust falls from the roof. The earth quivers. We start at the top, shifting the ceramic tiles and making them crumble, followed by the roof beams, snapping under our will.
People run out of the house, and after a surprised shout, they make a beeline for us. I let Minnie carry on as my shark teeth come out and I feel their electrical impulses. I squeeze their hearts rapidly, and they fall to the ground, clutching their chests until they pass out. Sometimes telekinesis hits my shield and I smirk up at a high window, knocking that tiger out too.
Minnie’s grip is tight around my hand as she makes the second level shake. White dust falls onto the bodies lying in the front yard. I let my power roll like an ocean wave through the house, catching each and every person left cowering inside and knocking them unconscious. I bring them outside, roughly dumping them on the lawn with the rest. The only people I can’t reach are those in the cells underground, but they’ll be safe for the moment.
There is only one person who fights me, and I allow it.
Titus stalks out of the house, brushing crumbling drywall off one massive shoulder. His steel jaw and teeth shine under the flickering lights of the house. “Piggy.” His voice is jeering. “Stop this.”
“Use my name,” Minnie hisses, her hand sweeping downwards, the palm now facing directly towards him. Titus takes a threatening step forward, but Minnie’s power halts him. The hulking tiger raises his own hand, but then his eyes widen, the whites showing all the way around.
Frozen in place by Minnie’s violent power, Titus seems to vibrate. His body goes stiff, and his eyes widen in horror as each second passes. Those mechanical jowls part in shock as the night seems to press on him.
“Use. My. Name.” Minnie grits out as her ex-mate’s nose begins to bleed, then the corners of his eyes, but he refuses to relent. Minnie lets go with an angry scream. Titus stumbles back and falls flat on his ass, staring at his once-regina in a sort of confused disbelief. Scrambling backwards, he finds his feet andrunsfor his life.
