Enough to let me know that even like this, even with the power that I now yield, he’s fucking stronger.
I roar, my throat choked with dust and fury, sounding more animal than human. All I want is for him to die. I slam both fists into the ground; the ground splits open, a crater blooms around us, wide and deep, the shockwave flattening trees around us.
I look back to see if Sienna’s ok. She’s back on her feet, slowly coming closer, but I don’t have time to stop her as he is back on his feet.
The dust clears.
His coat is torn, but he simply wipes his bloody arm on it. “Impressive.”
Then he’s gone.
No flash, no blur, just there one moment and then directly in front of me the next. I raise my hands to block, but I’m too slow. His hand wraps around my throat and lifts me off the ground like I weigh nothing.
Lightning surges in me, reacting, trying to free me, but he squeezes, crushing something. I punch with everything I fuckinghave, and it lands with a sickening crunch.
His head jerks to the side, his mask doesn’t move. His grip eases, but before I can let go, he slams me into the ground, causing cracks, and my body screams.
Sienna’s scream fills the air, her magic rippling in thick black threads around her. “Jayce!” And then she strikes.
Shadows surge forward like a tidal wave towards him. He turns toward her, eyes narrowing.
She throws blast after blast as I try to move, but my body is fucking useless. I can see she’s using up her stored power, but he’s still stronger.
Sienna… stop protecting me!But I can’t even string two words together. He crosses the destroyed ground straight towards her, blocking her power with a barrier, and then he’s before her. He strikes – she blocks, but he’s far stronger. He disappears and appears behind her and strikes.
She’s thrown like a rag doll, rolling across the broken earth, coughing blood, but still conscious.
I force myself to rise.
Broken. Burning. Barely breathing.
He goes to move towards her. My every instinct is screaming to shield her, to fight with everything I have left.
The masked man advances, his movements swift and predatory, but then his gaze flicks to mine. I feel the air around us thicken, heavy with malice. He’s testing me. Trying to break me.
He raises his hand, pulling a red-bladed dagger from his belt. It buzzes with an unearthly energy; it glows slightly before he turns back to Sienna.
I move. With everything I fucking have, I move.
In slow motion, I see the blade move towards her as she tries to block. My heart is thumping loudly; each beat slow as I close the gap between us. I step between them, creating a shield before her with my body, knocking his arm away. The blade cuts through the air, and I feel its sharp edge slice through my nose and cheek.
Searing agony blinds me. The pain is excruciating. Blood pours from the cut, trickling down my face, and the world spins for a second.
He watches me, something flickering behind his dark eyes. He steps back for a moment, as though savouring the damage he’s done.
He flicks his hand, sending us both back. I will my wolf and powers forward, and that same crackling aura surrounds me, as I keep Sienna behind me.
And then I run at him, shoving him back. He stumbles, but he manages to spin, kicking me in the side of my head. I stagger and then I hit the ground, pain flooding me.
Fuck!
Before I can recover, he slams his foot into my chest, throwing me back to the ground, hard. My face hits the dirt, my blood mixing with the earth beneath me.
“Stay there or he dies.” He raises a finger warningly, and I hear Sienna still, then he slams his foot into my head, grinding the left side of my face into the jagged earth, and the words echo in my head as Sienna screams. He leans down, looking into my eyes. “Tell the Adonai,” he pauses as I try to move, but it’s fucking useless, “I have arrived.” With those words, he turns and begins to walk away. “Let it begin.”
I watch, still unable to move, as he disappears into the darkness. The storm still rages within me, but I can’t move.
The darkness shifts before it clears, but only one thing remains.
