“We have to get her somewhere safe,” Nix said.
“Where else can we go? Jade Mountain is almost inside,” Amador said. “How long will the barricades last?”
“Not long,” answered Lucas.
Their voices were quiet compared to the ringing in my skull, resonating like a bell. Another voice broke through.You will hurt them all…You want to…The manananggal laughed, and that laugh was mine. I shook my head, reeling.
“You all need to get away from me,” I told them.
Lucas, Nix, and Amador turned to me, their expressions equally shocked and appalled.
“We’re not leaving you!” Nix said.
There came another thunderous boom, and more fire crashed down on the palace.
I insisted, “Even with the iron, I could still hurt you. I don’t have much time left. The full moon is rising.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Lucas said. His eyes widened, and he threw himself on top of me just before the air exploded.
There came a crash behind us as the front-gate barricades blasted open. Soldiers flew back like rag dolls, and Jade Mountain’s soldiers emerged through the smoke.
“Move!” Lucas screamed.
My hunger was excruciating, but I let Lucas drag me down the hall.
“There she is! Monster!” The shouts of the Jade Mountain soldiers followed me.
The ringing in my ears faded, replaced by my rushing pulse. I hadn’t realized I’d stopped running until Lucas was tugging on my arms, yelling my name for me to keep going. But his voice sounded so distant. I saw his eyes, his fear, my name on his lips, but it was like I was watching something through a television screen. Like I was so far inside myself, I was a spectator in my own body.
I broke his hold on me and turned.
The soldiers raised their arms, their elemental magic burning in their fists, ready to strike. They must have seen the look in my eyes, because some of them paled with fear.
Let them fear me.
The iron cuffs on my wrists sizzled and steamed against my skin, but I didn’t care. I walked toward the army.
“MJ!” Lucas screamed, but I ignored him.
Rage burned through me. This was me, the true me, on full display. A horrible, terrible, unlovable creature.
It was over before it started. I rushed them, tearing my claws into flesh, biting necks. No fire could hurt me. No ice. Nothing at all could stop me. I didn’t feel a thing except for the way their skin broke so easily against my fangs and how delicious their blood tasted. Their screams were music to me. When the last scream faded, everything came back to me. I had control of my body again. But for how much longer, I didn’t know.
Blood dripped from my claws, down my throat, off my chains.Smoke curled up my arms from where the iron touched my skin, but it didn’t bother me. Everything I saw was red.
My friends stared at me, seeing me for what I truly was. And I hated it.
Pain ripped through my stomach, like my own claws had dug themselves into it and were threatening to rip me in two. Pretty soon, I really would.
“Lucas…” I said. But the pain was so intense, I couldn’t move. I dropped to my knees, and Lucas rushed to me in an instant.
“Come on!” He picked me up, lifting me under my back and under my knees, carrying me down the hall as he ran toward the throne room. I curled against him, my nose full of the smell of blood, and held on, though I wished he would leave me.
Everything hurt, not just my body. The pain was deeper than that. I was losing myself in it.
More shouting erupted behind us. More soldiers had come in. Nix and Amador hurried behind Lucas, terror stiffening their faces to look like masks.
Amador screamed and lurched forward, clutching her shoulder, when a fireball hit her. Her dress burned, but she didn’t stop running. Nix was the first to the throne room, throwing the door open for us and slamming it shut once we were inside.
