1
Halo
“Stay away from me!”
The words tore from my throat, spitting like venom. The air seemed to crackle with electricity as a chaotic storm of emotions hummed between us. A full moon hung low in the sky, stark and white like an unblinking eye, as if watching the scene unfold below.
I stepped back from him. He took a step closer.
He was trying to close the gap between us - both physical and emotional. But I wouldn’t let him. For what he’d done, there was no forgiveness.
“Halo, don’t do this,” he said in a warning tone.
“You can’t control me,” I snapped.
“You’re going to hurt yourself,” he said more urgently. “You’re going to hurther.”
My anger erupted. Flames manifested from my hands and flared up on either side of us, like a fiery corridor. I saw his eyes flicker with fear.
“Don’t you dare bring her into this,” I exclaimed. “You’re the one who did this. She would be safe and sound ifyouhadn’t interfered. You ruined everything, Kass!”
My former mate flinched, stung by my words.It felt good to hurt him back after the way he hurt me.
After how he hurt our family.
But unlike me, Kassius wasn’t alone. Out of the smoke stepped the rest of the Knights, all with their weapons brandished and ready to apprehend me. Their masked faces glinted as the fire’s reflection danced in the steel. They had reached their breaking point with me. They were unfeeling, and had no qualms hurting me - or my child.
The truth was, I wasn’t completely alone, either. In my arms, was our young daughter, trembling in fear. I clutched her closer, hiding her face so she couldn’t witness this horrible scene. I didn’t want her last memory of her alpha-father to be…this.
Now, on the precipice of death or worse, I had to decide our fate.
Would I fight off every single Knight, and the waves of them that followed? Would I kill them all, right in front of my daughter?
Including her own father?
In between the columns of flames, Kassius’s eyes were hard and somber. He was the only Knight who didn’t fear the lick of the fire - the fire I’d created with my own hands. But Kass had already decided his own fate. He had chosen to betray me.
Kass took another step closer, and so did the row of Knights.
He didn’t speak. But I could read the flash in his eyes that seemed to say,What will it be, Halo?
The weight of my decision choked me. All-consuming fire burned in my veins. The waves of Knights would go down easily with a single stroke of my hand. I could kill them all to save myself, and my daughter.
But what would that make me?The question echoed in my mind.If I kill them all with magic, I’ll become exactly what they fear. Exactly what they think I am.
I gritted my teeth. I wouldn’t do it. Despite the unimaginable situation facing me, I wouldn’t become a murderer.
There was only one way out of this, and it was something nobody else in history had ever attempted before.
But I’m not nobody,I thought with burning determination.I’m the most powerful mage of all time.
A shaky sigh escaped me. Slowly, I sat down with my legs crossed and my daughter huddled close in my lap. The protective flames inched closer. Smoke billowed around the Knights as if it were a living beast.
Kassius’s eyes widened. I heard the slip of panic in his voice when he asked, “What are you doing?”
The flames surrounding me suddenly leapt higher, flaring up like spires. The Knights leapt back in shock.
“Demon!” The Commander and highest-ranking Knight, Sterling, declared in horror. Her cry seemed to urge the others on, and they closed in hesitantly.
