Dropping the weapon, Viola screamed into Maddy’s face. Not a scream of terror or horror—one of rage and hate. Maddy snapped her jaws and latched onto Viola’s arm, then jerked her head around. I heard Viola’s arm shatter, and a yelp of agony burst out of her as she hit the grass with a loud thud.
Almost at once, Viola stumbled to her feet, cradling her shattered arm. She was covered in dirt and grass but was still trying to hold herself up like the royalty she thought she was.
“This settles nothing,” she shouted. “I’ll be back with a bigger army. I’ll never stop. Not until every one of you filthy animals has been wiped off the planet. Do you hear me? You’ll never be safe. Your children will die. Your mothers and fathers will die. I. Will. Not. Stop.”
Max had stepped out onto the porch, gripping his siblings' hands as he watched the end of the battle. Viola saw him and held her good hand out toward him.
“Max. Come to Momma. Get us out of here,” she said. The bitch even had the gall to snap her fingers at him.
Max ignored her, turning his face like he hadn’t heard anything.
Viola knew we couldn’t let her get away. She was too insane and driven ever to stop. The nightmare would never end unless she was locked up—or dead.
“I am your mother! You will do as I say, you little fucking bastard.”
Max turned, ushering his brother and sister back inside, leaving Viola alone to face her fate. For the slightest of instants, I thought we could take pity on her, show her mercy and turn herover to the police. That option was removed for me in the blink of an eye.
With an audiblepop, Sinthy appeared behind Viola. When the other woman turned to see who was behind her, she jolted at seeing Sinthy. The young witch glared down at Viola with a rage that broke my heart.
“This is for my parents,” Sinthy hissed.
She slammed a palm into Viola’s chest. A light as bright as lightning flashed, and I had to squint against the glare. Viola flew backward nearly ten feet and rolled to a stop at my feet. I looked down and gazed into the open, lifeless eyes of Viola Monroe.
141
MADDY
It was over. It was finally over. I would have jumped for joy, but I was still stuck in my beastly body. I wanted to run and jump into Nico’s arms, but shifting out of this… whatever I was, was harder than usual shifting. Something about the body feltright. My wolf felt so at home in this body, she didn’t want to give it up. As calmly as I could manage, I spoke to her.
The power excited her, as did the knowledge of what her father had been like. I understood that and told her that. I pushed my thoughts toward her, showing her how much I loved Nico and my family and friends and that I needed to go back to my human form to be with them. We were notjustwolf, we were human and wolf bound in one body. We had to compromise.
A deep sense of understanding from her reached me, and her grip on the wolf loosened, allowing me to shift back. Even that was strange. It wasn’t as simple as usual. Instead of flowing freely and easily between two bodies, it was more like I had to drag myself out of a collapsed tent without knowing where the exit was.
Once I was back in my own body, I staggered toward Nico, lightheaded. I collapsed against him just as he closed his arms around me.
As tired as I was, I still remembered seeing him get shot. I ran my hands across his body, looking for wounds and blood.
“Maddy, it’s fine. I’m all right,” he said. “The bullet missed my vital organs. Sinthy nudged my healing along. It’s okay. Take it easy and rest.”
I sighed with relief and looked down at Viola’s body. Part of me wanted to be childish and petty and spit on her, but I was a better person than she’d been. Instead, Nico and I turned and limped to our house. The rest of our army had started to spread out, assisting the injured and gathering the dead.
Sinthy strode beside us. As we got to the door, she gestured for us to stop.
“I’m leaving. I’ll be back in a day or two.”
Nico looked baffled, and I could do nothing but stare at her.
“Where are you going?” Nico asked.
Sinthy glanced back at Viola’s body. “I need to take care of some stuff. Not all her laboratories have been found. That research can’t get out. I need to destroy every trace of what she and her scientists worked on.”
Although I saw her point, there was still so much to do here. So many injured and hurt people. When I mentioned that, she gave me a knowing grin.
“Maxwell will help. I’ve taught him how to use healing spells. He’ll do fine.” She put her hand on my shoulder. “A day or two tops. I’ll see you soon.”
Before we could protest, she was gone, leaving behind a swirl of air. Nico got me inside. As badly as I wanted to help with the cleanup, I was too exhausted to do more than lie on the couch. Gabriella, Mom, and Nico’s mother doted on me like I was an invalid.
The next several days were much busier than anticipated. The sheriff, while afraid to take part in the battle, hadn’t completely run off with his tail between his legs. He and his men had dropped back and managed to detain nearly all the fleeing attackers. An impressive feat when he’d only had a hundred and the anti-shifter activists numbered over two thousand.
