“Come catch me, little Vampire,” she called, shooting away from me as she circled the others, trying to put them between us.
I snarled at her as Darcy cast a whip of shadows and Seth was forced to shield at the last moment, his grunt of effort giving away just how strong the strike had been. Max threw his power up to block Darcy too and she begged them to run as more shadows curled around her arms.
Clara continued to circle them, laughing like a little girl, trying to keep them between us so that I couldn’t get my hands on her. I growled in frustration, throwing my influence into the ground at her feet to slow her as she tried to shoot away from me again.
She stumbled into the pit, vines snaring her for just long enough to make my speed count.
By the time she was ripping her way free of them, I was on her.
I threw my weight into her as we slammed down into the pit I’d created and my hands locked around her throat as the dirt rose up around us, burying her beneath me.
Clara laughed manically as I squeezed harder, my palms burning with heat as I wielded my fire magic against her too.
Shadows licked along her arms as she reached out and wrapped her fingers around my wrists and I gasped as the icy power of them sent pain raking through my body.
I released her in an instant, shooting back up onto the bank of the pit as I urged my earth magic to bury her beneath the ground, piling more and more power into the attack as she fought to dig her way free.
I snarled as I tightened my grip on my power, choking her with earth and making the ground squeeze and squeeze, until-
Clara burst from the dirt, cackling wildly as she rode on a wave of shadows and leapt straight for me with her fangs bared.
I twisted aside, throwing fire into her face, but the flames were swallowed by the shadows as she directed them to protect her.
“You’ve grown into such a big boy, Caleb,” she giggled as she waited for my next move and I ignored her entirely. That thing wasn’t the girl I used to play with when I came over to Darius’s house as a kid. Whatever the fuck she was, it wasn’t Fae anymore.
I shot around the pit, but a tendril of her dark magic caught my ankle and flipped me off of my feet before I could escape it.
My chin slammed into the ground and I tasted blood as my fangs cut into my tongue.
Clara was on me before I could do any more than roll over.
A cape of black shadows writhed around her flesh as she straddled my hips, the shadows looming all around as she directed them towards me. Her ice cold hands pressed to my chest and I gasped as the darkness she owned bled into me, hunting for my heart with deadly precision.
Everywhere the shadows touched came alive with agony and made my skull echo with the memories of all the worst things I’d ever done.
“You look tasty, Caleb,” Clara moaned, licking her fangs as her gaze roamed over my throat.
I waited for her to lunge and caught her jaw in my hand with a flash of movement. My skin burned with fire magic and she howled in pain as I twisted her jaw with my enhanced strength until I heard it snap.
My other fist slammed into her side in the same movement and I gasped in relief as she was thrown off of me, taking her foul shadows with her.
I leapt to my feet with another snarl as I coated my arms in fire and caused the ground to tremble beneath her as she clambered upright again.
The shadows rose up all around her until she looked like nothing more than a blot of darkness beneath the trees. I’d learned my lesson. Those shadows weren’t getting close to me again and as she ran at me, I darted aside, throwing a torrent of flames at her and burning her dark magic back.
She howled with frustration as the ground bucked and collapsed beneath her and I chanced a look towards Seth and Max to find that Clara’s distraction was giving them an advantage.
Darcy was shouting at them to run as she was forced to hound after them with the shadows, but without Clara’s full attention guiding her, her attacks were sloppy.
That was all the encouragement I needed. I bared my fangs at Clara as I cast spears of wood into my hands and launched them at her one after the other.
She had to jump one and the next was consumed by the shadows, but I didn’t slow as I just cast more and more of them into existence.
If I wanted to save the others, I needed to release Darcy from Clara’s hold over her. And there was one sure way to do the job.
Clara Orion needed to die. And this time, she wouldn’t be coming back from it.
Seth launched Max over my head with a blast of air. He landed behind me, locking his muscular arm around my shoulders as he tried to restrain me.
My arm reached backwards over my head and I cast shadows around his face, suffocating him as he tried to get hold of the knife in my other hand. He cast a blade of ice into his palm and cut into my hand to try and make me drop the blade. I gasped as blood flowed, but my fingers wouldn’t unlatch from it even though I willed them to with all my might.
“Stop – don’t hurt her!” Seth demanded as he raced forward.
My free hand twisted towards Seth and smoke hurtled at him like a demon. He shielded against it and Max started to choke as the shadows wrapped around him and wrenched him off of me.
He froze my legs just as I was about to step forward, letting the ice travel further and further up my body to keep me in place.
“Run!” I insisted, but they shared a look that said they weren’t going to abandon me here just as Clara ran by again with Caleb hot on her heels. Shadows blasted out behind her as he threw spears of wood at her back with a frightening strength, but she dissolved them again and again.
Ice clamped my arms to my sides and the knife slipped from my grip, the blade driving into the soft soil by my feet.
Relief made my breathing even out, but it only lasted a single moment as a rattling, sucking sound reached me from the trees.
Every part of me rippled with terror as heavy footfalls thumped this way and a beastly form stepped out of the darkness, the Nymph towering above us with its probed fingers outstretched and the sound of its rattle carving deep into my soul. Its gnarled, tree-like body loomed over me, its red eyes locked on me as it approached.
Seth and Max ran forward, shoulder to shoulder in front of me and I despised that I couldn’t help, that I was bound by Clara’s will, by the shadows. They ate into my essence, trying to make me fall into their hungry call.
Give in, Darcy, Clara’s voice whispered in my head. Come into the dark. You can be free here.
Seth dove forward, bursting into his white Werewolf form and leaping for the throat of the Nymph with a savage snarl. Navy scales crawled across Max’s bare arms and up the back of his neck as his Siren form took over and the rattle in the air tried to douse his magic.
The ice around me began to give and my lungs laboured as I tried to hold back against the force which had me in its grip. But it was no use and the ice shattered around me as the shadows found their way free once more.
They poured from me, winding around Max just as the Nymph knocked Seth into a tree with a nasty cracking sound and my heart clenched in terror.
The Nymph closed in on Max as I was forced to hold him still for the monster, hating that I wasn’t able to break free of Clara’s command, that I couldn’t stop this creature of darkness. I called for my Phoenix and it rose its head, but the shadows kept pushing it down, deeper and deeper.
“Stop!” I screamed as the Nymph reached towards Max’s heart with the sharpened probes of its hand, the Heir struggling uselessly against the shadows.
He roared in rage and pain as the beast’s probes sliced into his chest and I screamed and begged for help, turning my gaze to the stars as they glittered unforgivingly down at us.
Another Nymph charged out of the trees, crashing into the one about to kill Max and sending it tumbling to the ground. The two of them started fighting, ripping up the dirt and knocking a tree over in the process, making the earth shudder beneath me.<
br />
Seth pounced on me out of nowhere and the shadows binding Max released him as his heavy paws crushed me to the ground. He bounded away a second later, diving at the Nymphs and tearing into their limbs as they fought. I’d never seen Nymphs act like that, but I guessed the prize of an Heir’s magic was worth more than your average Fae.
Max hurriedly got up, backing away from them as he regained hold of his magic. I was forced back to my feet too, my hands raised once more but this time, Max didn’t try to restrain me, he ran.
I thrashed against the table as the sickly warm trickle of blood slid over my skin from countless wounds and I cursed at Lionel as colourfully as I could manage while my body trembled from the pain.
Darius was fighting with a brutal savagery that made my heart pound and ache in equal measures. He was utterly fearless, entirely focused on ending the man before him as his father fought to keep him back. He threw everything he had into attacking, barely giving any time to defending himself aside from blocking the worst of his father’s strikes.
Lionel was furious, the Dragon in him plain to see and with each blow he struck against his son, I grew more and more afraid that he’d kill him.
Darius roared with all the power of his Dragon as he threw a torrent of flames arcing across the room at Lionel who shielded with air before they could eviscerate him.
Darius ran at him again, but as the smoke cleared, Lionel stepped forward to meet him with shadows coiling around his body and a manic gleam in his eyes.
His gaze slid to me where I remained bound to the table by his magical chains and I cried out as he threw a blast of the dark magic straight for me.
Darius leapt into its path, taking the hit to the chest with no chance of shielding against it so that he was knocked back against the table.
“Darius!” I gasped, yanking on my bonds as I ached to help him and he grunted as he fought to heal himself from the damage the shadows had caused.
He twisted away from his father, throwing shards of ice his way to occupy him as he glanced down at me with pain in his eyes.
He reached for the magical chain which bound my ankle in place, but I shook my head fiercely.
“Finish him first,” I snapped, not wanting him to waste a moment of time trying to free me in case it cost him this fight.
Lionel threw more shadows our way and Darius snarled as they burrowed into him, his hands writhing with darkness for a moment before he banished the shadows in favour of flames again.
I gritted my teeth against the agony of my wounds as I fought to break apart the air magic which immobilised my hands. The longer Lionel fought his son, the more I could feel his hold on the magic containing me slipping and the moment it cracked, I’d be ready.
Lionel threw shadows out from his body and I gasped as all of the light in the room was suddenly blotted out. A deep, pounding rhythm started up in my chest as the shadows within me rose up to the surface of my skin unbidden, aching to join with his and wreak havoc on the world.
I moaned, on the edge of ecstasy as they called to me, promising me freedom from the pain of my flesh and offering me all the power I could ever want and more.
But I didn’t want power. I never had. Not like that. What I craved was love. Family. The kinds of things you couldn’t just take and had to earn.
With a cry of effort, I drew on all of the strength in me and used it to force the shadows back. The dark energy in me had latched on to the shadows Lionel was commanding and as I banished mine, I stole his from him too, locking them down again and revealing the room once more.
Darius didn’t miss a beat, charging forward with a bellow of rage and his fists coated in gloves of ice as he tackled Lionel to the ground and started pounding on him with a terrifying ferocity as he roared in his face.
My heart thrashed frantically as I watched this wild creature who’d offered me his love after all the shit we’d put each other through taking down the man who’d ruined him.
Darius beat him with a brutality that wouldn’t be sated by anything less than death. Blood coated his hands, his arms, and even speckled his face, but he wouldn’t relent as Lionel struggled beneath him. His features were set in a determined mask of rage and everything about him spoke of violence and danger which sent a shiver running right through me.
There was no doubt in my mind that the rage which had driven him to this was fuelled by his feelings for me. And knowing that he would risk it all for me made the pain in my body fade away as I watched him.
Darius was savage, brutal, vicious, broken and mine. And in that moment, I had no desire for the darkness in him to ever let up. I wanted him. Every damaged, depraved, dirty piece of his soul was made to fit with all the twisted, ruined parts of my own. And if the stars didn’t like it then I’d happily climb up into the sky and tear them all down for him.
Right after I watched him kill his father.
I raced around the Nymphs, howling as two more joined the fight. They couldn’t touch my magic in my Wolf form, but that meant I had to rely on teeth and claws alone.
Max stood back as he shot ice blades at each one of the beasts, but Darcy was closing in on him from behind as Clara wielded her like a weapon.
I turned away from the Nymph I’d been charging down, racing towards Max instead as he was forced to shield himself from Darcy once more.
I barked to let him know I was coming and as shadows poured from her in waves, I leapt forward and he snatched hold of my fur in a move we’d practised a thousand times, his leg swinging over my back as I tore away into the trees.
“Fucking hell,” Max growled, one hand fisting in my fur, his breaths coming heavily as I curved back towards the fight, my mind daggering towards Caleb as I hunted for him and Clara.
They had to tire soon, they’d been fighting with the full force of their Orders for too long. Surely it couldn’t go on. One of them had to give in, I just prayed it was Clara.
I trusted that Caleb could bring that bitch to her knees, but I couldn’t ignore the pinch of fear I had over him facing her alone. But with her speed, we couldn’t easily help. So we had to focus on the Nymphs.
Max sat upright as I raced for a Nymph who was hunting us amongst the trees. He blasted ice at the beast and froze every inch of it solid, making it stumble blindly toward us.
I leapt off of the ground, my jaws outstretched, a snarl in my throat as my teeth clamped down on its head. I bit down with all my might, crunching through ice and bone until it died in my jaws, crashing to the ground beneath me.
I howled as it burst into ash and its blood ran hot and thick down my jaw, a tang of vile bitterness in my mouth.
“Seth – move!” Darcy yelled and I wheeled around just in time to avoid a tendril of shadow shooting towards us from her palms.
Max cast an ice shield and attached it to his arm, using it to deflect the shadows she sent after us.
I yelped as one caught my back leg and tumbled towards the ground, sending him flying from my back with fear rushing up my spine.
Max slammed into a tree and I rolled toward him, unable to stop from the speed I’d been running, my huge weight crushing him beneath me. He grunted in pain and I sprang onto my paws with a whine of concern, licking his face to check he was alright.
“Get out of here, idiot,” he snarled, but I wasn’t going anywhere.
He wheezed as he healed broken ribs and I turned my head to face Darcy as she ran toward us, a Nymph at her back with its blood red eyes set on me and Max.
“Both of you have to run!” Darcy begged, the pain in her eyes clear as she was forced to fight us once more. But I wasn’t going to budge an inch until Max was healed.
His fingers tangled in my fur just as a plume of shadow raced toward us from her outstretched hands and I sprinted away as Max hauled himself onto my back.
A shadow collided with a tree ahead of us and I yelped as it started to fall, ducking my head as I put on a burst of speed to try and make it under before it fell.
&nbs
p; I glanced over my shoulder as a Nymph chased after us and I skidded beneath the tree just before it crashed to the earth, the huge trunk taking the monstrous creature to the ground with a sickening crunch.
I turned back to face the fallen Nymph, kicking up dust on the ground and Max slammed a spear of ice into its skull with a violent blow. The Nymph shattered into dust with an echoing screech and I dashed away into the wood, turning my ears left and right as I hunted for Caleb.
Where are you Cal? Show me you’re alright.
A whoosh of air sounded before a Vampire collided with me at full speed, knocking Max from my back and taking his place instead. I kept running for several beats as Clara’s fingernails dug into my flesh, unable to slow down fast enough.
“Yah!” she cried excitedly, her knees driving into my shoulder blades so she could hold on.
I threw myself to the ground, rolling hard and slamming the weight of my head back against her face, making her scream in pain. I leapt back upright in a flash and she shot toward me, her fist slamming into my jaw. I snapped at her in retaliation, lunging and biting, but she moved at the speed of light, evading me as she threw punches that were almost hard enough to break bones.
“Silly puppy,” she taunted, pausing just long enough for me to lunge and sink my teeth into her arm.
I didn’t let go, digging my paws into the earth and tugging on her like a dog fighting for a bone. And this was a bone I was going to rip right from her fucking arm socket.
She screamed in pain, casting a huge blast of shadows at me that threw me away from her as I was forced to let go.
I landed heavily on the ground with pain splintering through me, my paw brushing something soft as I pushed myself upright. I spotted Max’s bag there and shifted fast, yanking out some sweatpants and tugging them on before tearing off into the trees. I needed to buy myself a few moments to heal, padding as silently as a wolf cub into the darkness as I fixed the aching wounds across my body.
Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts) Page 77