“No!”
Zenon threw his fist. My scream ripped through the air.
A blinding flash of light engulfed us. I didn’t feel any pain.
Zenon’s fist didn’t connect with Angel. Still, she began to cry.
The light disappeared as quickly as it came. I blinked painfully, stunned and disoriented.
Suddenly an earth-shakingboomthundered overhead. Dark, heavy storm clouds gathered in the sky above, nearly blocking out the light of the sunset. The sky rumbled, low and deep.
The realization hit me.Lightning.
But that was no natural lightning.
As if my lungs were suddenly full of air, I gasped and scrambled to my feet. Zenon stood a few feet away, his posture stiff and awkward. His fingers were stuck in a claw-like position. Smoke rose from his body. A horrible scent filled the air, like burning meat.
The lightning had struck Zenon.
No,I thought with dread,this isn’t natural. I was the one who summoned the lightning. With my magic.
Zenon growled, a low sound that filled me with fear. Despite being charred by the lightning, he turned towards me with his awful claw-hands outstretched. “You…”
“How are you still moving?” I cried.
His voice croaked. “Halo…”
With a last-ditch surge of energy, Zenon lunged for me again. But this time, his movement was impaired by the electricity still erratically coursing through his skin. Before he could touch me again, I summoned a white-hot blast of fire and launched it directly at him.
Zenon screeched, throwing his head back. The horrible sound of his scream tore the stormy air louder than any thunder.
The fire caught this time. He fell, still screaming, into a dusky pile of thrashing limbs. I quickly ran to Angel and picked her up, then put distance between us and Zenon. After that, my body wouldn’t move. I could only watch in horror as Zenon shrieked inside the flames.
The stench of blood and smoke clung to me. I gasped at the horrible, ashy scent as it surrounded me, tainting the air and making me feel sick.
“Halo!”
The familiar voice of my mate. In any other circumstance, it might have calmed me, but the scene in front of me was too horrible.
Kass’s heavy panting was cut short at the sight before him. He gasped. For a moment, neither of us could speak.
Zenon’s cries grew weak. His body crumpled to the ground.
“Halo,” Kassius said slowly, “what the hell happened?”
I turned to Kass, my eyes wide. “Kass,” I whimpered, half in relief and half in terror. “I had to.”
I expected Kass to approach me, to hold me, to stroke my hair and promise that everything would be okay.
Instead, Kass backed away.
Zenon was silent. He no longer moved. I stepped back from the body that had been alive just moments earlier. It lay still and lifeless now, collapsed in an unnatural way on the ground.
“Kass?” I asked with a note of panic.
My mate’s face went cold. “Halo, did you do this?”
“What?” I murmured. I turned to Zenon’s body, smoking and still. The sight churned my stomach. “I…”
