Then I charge him without giving two shits about all of his friends.
This is between me and my brother.
A man I should have hunted and killed ages ago.
But he tainted my mind.
I’m about to return the fucking favor.
I hit him with a bolt of power from my palm—the bolt infused by a rune I created in my mind.
Because I don’t have to draw them. Iamthe creator of wards. They exist inside me. I think of them and they appear. And they do whatever the fuck I want them to do.
Like cast a web through my brother’s psyche, give him a dose of his own foggy chaos.
He coughs, then grabs his throat, trying to breathe.
I don’t let him. I tell the web to grow and expand and take over his mental space. Make him feelcollaredandunder my control.
He tries to hit me back via the link Cillian disabled—I feel it ringing in my head. But I swat it away, grateful to befree.
But then I hear a shriek from Ashlyn that nearly sends me to my knees.
Our connectionthrobs.
Her terror echoing through me and forcing me to relinquish my control of Spruce.
And then he’s on me again, slamming his fist into my jaw and Ashlyn’s cry disappears.
Fuck.
It wasn’t real.
He manufactured it somehow.
But it sounded so?—
Another hit to my face breaks my nose.
A hand collars my throat, metal kissing my skin, and I shadow once more, barely escaping my brother’s trick.
I craft a rune and throw it right at his heart before he even realizes I’ve materialized, then I throw another at his head, his throat, his fucking groin.
All of them send him to the ground in a fit of shocks that have him vibrating on the floor.
I’m done with whatever this is between us. A game. A brotherly bond. I don’t fucking care. Thatshriekis the last one he will ever put in my head.
I take two Alphas down on my way to reach him, both of their necks snapping with a pair of violent twists—one in each hand—as I give into myrage. It’s a violent side of me that I rarely allow the world to see. But Spruce has earned my wrath.
I throw more runes his way, ensuring he stays fucking down. Then I look for something sharp.
All I see is the glass cage holding our sister, though.
I run for it, not even caring that the thing is going to fucking shatter, and jump up to slam my body through the glass.
Nikiski must have seen me coming in a vision because she’s already flat on the ground, my body sailing over hers as shards spray all over the damn place. I land over her, taking the brunt ofthe damage. Then grab a particularly jagged piece from the base and yank it out with my bare hand.
It burns against my palm.
