The hound whined above him, skin and tendons stretching before they finally snapped, the jaw hanging loose. Blood splattered across Titus’s face, each drop burning as black vapour floated from its exposed ribs to try and repair the damage, the freezing mist leaving pins and needles everywhere it touched.
Rae’s face was like thunder, her words not carrying across the distance as she faced off against the large angel. His wings lifted, spread before he disappeared out the side door that led to the terrace. Rae returned to helping people over the fissure, screaming at them when they simply stood there, immobile.
The last person passed safely before there was another creak, electrical cords snapping, sizzling as the floor tilted further, the cliff collapsing beneath them. Rae slipped, sliding until she crashed against one of the windows overlooking the water with her entire weight. The glass spiderwebbed around her, blood dripping from her elbows from where they’d hit.
“Rae!”
Titus called his arcane, pulling the black magic that was slowly imbedding itself in his soul to his fist. There was no light left in his magic, the flames pure obsidian. He shoved the arcane through the partially exposed ribs at the hounds side, tearing through bone, muscle and flesh with ease. The hound stilled above him, allowing Titus to throw the fucker down into the crack, the edge crumbling.
He rushed to his feet, but the gap was far too large to jump.
“Don’t move!” he shouted, the window beside her cracking further as a table hit.
Rae remained where she was, stuck against the weakening glass. She let out a scream as the far side of the restaurant dropped, the angle so sharp it almost faced the raging waves below.
His heart stopped, knowing that even if he was already shifted, he wouldn’t make it, not before the window collapsed.
A white beast at his side, Xander’s claws sliced into the wood. Three of his seven tails tried to snap against the fissures edge, but even with his strength, he wouldn’t be able to stop the descent. The cliff was collapsing, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.
“Rae, look at me!” She couldn’t hear him above the whistle of the wind, the creaking of the building and the fierce sea below.
Black magic tore through his chi, a wrath so hot it scorched, acid burning through every vein as it tried to finally settle against his soul. He needed to stop thinking as if the black magic was a separate entity. His beast wasn’t just the one fighting it, he was too.
Riley called his name, shouting from somewhere behind. He’d used his Alpha voice, the one designed to make their beasts respond, but Titus couldn’t obey, couldn’t look away from his mate.
‘Give me a summoning name,’he shouted through his mind.‘Now!’
Riley’s response was instant.‘Are you sure? There’s no going back.’
‘Do it.’ Titus was no longer terrified of the power that had corrupted his ancestors.
‘Then Titus Lui Wood, by the Fates and those who watch above and below, I gift you your new name, Theltuz.’
Titus accepted every dark tendril of power, his entire body seizing under the influence, the rush.
Everything moved in slow motion as the glass finally shattered, little glistening shards a halo around Rae as she began to fall. Titus roared, his body pricking with sensation that pulled him from where he stood, his molecules moving space with a static pop. One second he was standing, watching, and then the next she was wrapped in his arms, both of them soaring towards the stormy sea. The cliff thundered as it began to slide down, half the restaurant separating from the edge to fall along with them.
An intense ache tore from his spine, skin splitting before two weights erupted from his back. Something black in his peripheral, slowing their decline. Gritting his teeth Titus tensed his back, trying to use muscles he didn’t have before.
There were no natural instincts, no instant knowledge about what to do. The ache deepened, muscles and tendons straining as he tried to angle their fall, attempting to control their descent. Something snapped at this back, causing them to both twist violently towards the ocean.
He gripped her harder, wrapping his body around hers before they could hit the water.
She was his darkest temptation, and if she was going to fall, he was going with her.
Chapter28
Rae
The ocean was silent, black.
Peaceful until something crashed into the water beside her, a chunk of concrete that sunk deeper as she kicked wildly, not knowing which way was up. Her head breached the surface, and then she was sucking in a great lungful of air.
“Titus?” she choked, a wave crashing against her back, forcing her under, draining her energy with every kick of her legs. “Titus?” she shouted when she resurfaced once more, the sun almost set in the horizon.
The salt burning her eyes, she saw a blurry figure in the distance, closer to the cobblestone beach. Rae used every last bit of strength as she swam towards Titus, his body lifeless despite the sea trying to churn him away. She reached him, the waves pushing them both towards the shore.
Her heels were long gone as she scrambled onto the beach, her dress barely enduring the plunge, never mind the water. She had no idea how she’d survived, the impact should have been like hitting concrete. And she was perfectly fine other than a few bruises, and scrapes. Titus had somehow reached her, protecting her from the fall.
