‘Yes, yes. Her wings have already sprouted. I’m hoping to get a good price for her. Maybe we’ll move with the money – make a life somewhere better, Jjse.’
‘I’m sorry, Heji. I never meant for this to happen. I thought someone would take her sooner.’
My eyes snapped to Linne, and a snarl built up in my throat. Her head flopped back, eyes wide as she stared in a daze at the sky. She petted Muss’ cold, stony form, and her lips moved aimlessly.
‘It’s okay, my love. We’ll get her out of the way, and we’ll never go through this again. It’s my fault for listening to that idiot.’
Indecision whirled like a maelstrom inside my chest, and I licked the sharp bottom edges of my teeth.
A sense of unease emerged from the turmoil, tingling down the pads of my paws, and I dug my claws hard into the dirt. Shifting back into my human form, I slowly strode over to my mate as tears built higher the longer she refused to blink.
‘Just a little longer. We only need to keep this lie up for a little longer.’
“Why would they sell her to Kaslni if they were already going to sell her to you?” Cracking open my voice, I forced the words past the gravelly lump clogging my throat, to pose the question.
I pursed my lips tightly. Suddenly, everything was starting to make sense.
Bareiijnr was a bad guy, but he wasn’t the bad guy.
Kaslni had manipulated everyone long before any of this had happened; she’d been planning this since she’d found out about Linne. Being banished here, finding me, integrating herself into the clan – it was all part of her plan.
Why would she need to get her hands dirty if she could just get everyone else to do it?
“Kaslni pressured them. Linne was to be her stepping stone to more power than she could ever dream of. She threatened to kill them and take her by force, but they valued their lives. They played their little theatre show in front of Linne. Had I had the chance to buy her, I do not believe you two would have ever met. She would not have lived the life she did. Kaslni – what is the word you humans use… brainwashed Linne. It is how she maintains loyalty and power over her slaves.”
Drawing my attention, Bareiijnr tucked his wings behind his back as he pointed to my mate. Tension made my shoulders stiffen, but the gravity in his face couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than what it was.
The truth.
“She sent Muss back through the Veil, telling him that Linne had attacked him because he’d failed. If he had better, more accurate information, you wouldn’t have had to suffer the way you did, and thus she would not suffer in the way that she had. I did not know his kind could cry.”
That hit me in the chest, and I choked slightly as my throat closed up completely.
I liked that fucking bird; after everything we’d been through, I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I liked him. And Muss loved Linne – he loved her so much he killed himself for her.
“I did not come here to fight. I just want Kaslni.”
“What do you think, Faro?” Coming up beside me, Jackson held Faro under his shoulder. The Unseelie’s wing dragged behind him, and I twisted to stare at the male I considered my brother. His skepticism played out all over his face, but I could see in his eyes, he was being convinced.
“I think it’s a possibility. Kaslni is not here, and I do not know where she is. I don’t believe we’d be having this conversation if she had joined us, and that is what’s bothering me. She would not take a risk like this. The personal stakes are too high,” Faro answered.
“Unless…she plans on sacrificing you and Jackson to get Linne and I back through the Veil once we kill Bareiijnr.” Anger and an ironic sense of betrayal seared my heart, permanently branding the muscle.
I continued. “Maybe she thinks she did a good enough job playing the fucking tune that she doesn’t need to be here. Muss has been missing since last week. If he went through the Veil immediately, that means only two hours or so on the other side. That’s long enough, and he’s still going through rigor – it hasn’t fully set in, yet.”
“…Were you going to butcher Linne when she matured?” Catching Bareiijnr’s eyes, my inner beast focused every ounce of energy in every cell to decipher his answer.
Slowly, he shook his head, and genuine regret shimmered in his eyes. I could smell it rolling off him.
“Linne is too powerful, and has always been too powerful, to consider for such a thing. I will not lie…I would have used her. But not like this. Muss showed me his memories of her and the dismal life she was condemned to – of the brutality forced on her to become the perfect weapon. Tell me this, though – do you believe she is even better now that balance has been restored?”
“Yes.” Faro’s gasp was instant, and he arched sharply with a noticeable wince, as he let out a loud hiss. Still, I never took my eyes off Bareiijnr as Faro shuffled in my peripheral vision.
“You need to decide what to do, Derek the Lion,” Faro said.
Clenching and releasing my fists by my sides, I took in heaving breaths through my nose. This situation was so fucked up that I couldn’t think straight.
Tearing my eyes off who I’d considered my enemy for so long, I stared down at my mate through burning retinas. Her face was completely blank, ghostly white, eyes opened so wide they nearly boggled out of their sockets. It almost looked like one of those Halloween prop busts of someone that had died of shock.
“Linne…baby…” I murmured. My mate didn’t react in any way at all at the sound, and I knelt down on the bloodstained grass to caress her mark.
Uncertainty tore through my mind, but I only licked my lips heavily before uttering the words that would set Linne off into a mindless berserk. “Kaslni killed Muss.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Linne
Kalsni killed Muss…
Kalsni sent Muss to his death.
Kaslni –
Kaslni –
“Kalsni…” My pupils blew into large glassy discs, as my throat let out the scratchy mumble. A tickle of something wedged itself between my lungs.
Soft feathers caressed my fingertips, and I heard the sound of my wings ruffling loudly, beyond the blood beating rhythmically against my brain.
Flopping my head forward, I fixed my blurry gaze on the dead creature in my lap, but I couldn’t make out Muss’ face.
The tension seeped from my muscles to coil in my chest, and it was as if I was stuck in slow motion, as I let go of Muss, and his lifeless body rolled to the ground, stopping a few feet away.
Blinking hard, I felt goosebumps rising, washing over my entire body as I sluggishly moved to stand. Big, familiar hands grabbed my biceps, and I stiffened at the warmth that speared my frosty skin.
Balancing on unstable feet, my gaze darted around listlessly as I noticed the people gathered around me.
Everything had been a lie – everything. Even Derek, to an extent, was a lie because Kalsni had orchestrated our meeting. Somehow, she knew about him. Somehow, she’d managed to taint even us.
The notion short-circuited my brain, and my eyes rolled back inside their sockets as magic poured into the void that ripped open my soul.
My wings shuddered, and even my feathers shriveled and fell out under the onslaught of power weaving through me. Beneath my soles, the very earth itself trembled to send shocks up my legs. Blood seeped from my ears, blocking out all other sounds as my human skin peeled away.
But I felt nothing – because I was nothing. I would continue to be nothing until Kaslni was dealt with.
“Wh-at’s happening!” Derek’s frantic shout barely broke through the wall sealing off my scope of comprehension.
I ignored him. My heart ached under the force of my own magic, and the stench of burning flesh clung to my nostrils. Holding my claw-tipped hands out, I let my head fall back even as my mate gripped my waist with bruising force.
“We need to g– ”
Bareiijnr… Jerking in the direction of his voice, I cut him of
f with a thick spear of magic through his mouth, and the sound of his subsequent gurgling was like a light caress, touching against what small part of me that registered it.
The scent of his blood wafted into my brain, and I giggled as memories of everything I’d gone through because of him flickered in my inner eye.
Hot, sticky laughter clung to my ribs like tar, and I spread my wings wide. The beautiful squelch of a body being impaled serenaded the still air, and my claws tinked as I flexed my fingers.
Bodies – bodies – bodies – I was going to orchestrate a symphony of the dead and dying. Kaslni would be the centerpiece – the prima ballerina – the one forever remembered. I just needed to find her.
My eyelid twitched in agitation at the notion, and I blinked hard to return my eyeballs back to their normal position. Casting my gaze on the two pathetic beings groveling on the floor, disgust curled my lips as my teeth sharpened.
Harsh pants ripped from my lungs, and the palms on my hips squeezed as my gaze settled on the pair huddling on the blood-soaked ground.
Fierce, violent desire surged through my veins, and I leaned back into my mate to groan lowly. Derek must’ve understood my reason to hesitate, but he didn’t offer me an answer as I cocked my head sharply.
Beyond my narrowed eyes, the two creatures resembling the parents who’d brought me into a world of suffering, glanced up at me. Hope blossomed in the male’s eyes, and my stomach roiled in disgust.
They thought that because I wasn’t using magic, I wouldn’t kill them.
It only made me want to kill them more.
My flesh buckled and rippled wildly, and my bones set on fire as pure horror swept across the man’s face. A vicious growl built in my chest, and the magic coursing through my veins sent me deep into the shift.
Sickening cracks muffled by my skin swelled my joints, and the membranes bulged to spew magic like a pustule under too much pressure.
The crystalline claws that tipped my fingers ripped apart my knuckles, and Derek left my waist to grip my axillar in both his hands. Bending against the malformation of my bones, as they twisted and bent at disturbing angles, I dug my claws into the soft, crackling earth and moaned at the wet sound of flesh morphing that caressed my ears.
Deeper, and deeper…
Immersing myself in the euphoria of darkness, I arched sharply as my spine popped and elongated. My tail swished, banging against Derek’s legs, but he never wavered. His hands only tightened their hold around my axillar, easing some of the tension that forced my vertebra apart. Like he knew it would. Because he loved me. And I loved him.
No one else was true; there must’ve been some parts of Bareiijnr’s speech that were real, but even he was a manipulator. He was no better than Kaslni.
Thick patches of fur prickled from my thickening hide, and a malicious snarl burst from my throat. My skull cracked as the shift grabbed me in tight, invisible fists, and I leaned back on powerful hind legs.
The tension that had been building up in my deformed muscles, shook the ground, and Derek tugged slightly on my wings before releasing them.
Springing forward, I lost myself in the animalistic need to obliterate the threat before me – those things I once called parents – and my jaw ached from the force of it.
Weak shrieks and groans erupted into the air, only serving to add to the music singing in my ears, and made them twitch wildly about.
Sinking my teeth into soft flesh, I jerked my head wildly to rip out thick chunks. Blood splattered across my face, and the metallic taste of the liquid sloshed along my tongue sweetly.
Need prickled down my spine in thick waves, and a growl built in my chest as horrified squeals pierced the air – like pigs. Shoving myself off one body to ram into the other, my claws slipped easily under already quivering flesh.
A heart beat furiously under my palms, and I reveled in the sound of petrified, thrashing wings.
It was over all too fast, and my magic surged through the ground to split the earth in great fissures.
Somewhere, Kaslni was waiting, and the urge to find her and tear her apart slammed into my heart. My feathers rustled as I stretched my wings wide, eyes darting around with a feral wildness that I embraced wholly.
Suddenly, the boom of a gunshot made my head snap back, and I leapt a few feet in the air on reflex. Barreling towards the sound, my muscles were engulfed in the fire of adrenaline, while a huge, hulking body raced next to me.
Derek came up to give a soft, low grunt, and we took to the empty streets leaving the bloody scene behind us. Consumed by darkness – around me, inside me, next to me – I strained to detect even the faintest vestige of Kaslni.
I sensed my former Master before I saw her, and I skidded around a corner to find her standing in the middle of a vacant street. Palms in front of her, wings spread, her runes glowing from her own magic as she pooled it into a spell.
She was a formidable sight.
The look on her face was disgusting; she was an aberration, watching my magical sign as I stampeded towards her.
Her muscles tensed, and her magic swirled in the sightless night to give me a perfect view of where it would go.
But I wanted her to find me, and she shoved everything she owned into one shot.
Kaslni’s magic burst past me as I heaved my entire body into my mate, and he tumbled and rolled even while my deformed paws held me steady. Crashing into her with all of my rage and betrayal, I sent us both tumbling across the ground as I struggled to get a firm hold on her.
Her wing cracked, and I jabbed my knee into her face, pulling a strangling grunt from her.
She knew – I knew she knew. Her manipulation had failed, and she’d prepared for it. Her planning had been extensive and to the minutiae, but her contingency plan was flawed.
My claws dug into the sides of Kaslni’s skull, and I ground her head into the concrete that ripped open under my legs. Her wings flapped frantically, but the only magic she could summon now was easily ignored.
Needle-like pain prickled my side, barely enough to pierce my thick skin and fur, and I jerked her head up with a grunt of my own.
Her struggling stopped as I twisted and twisted and kept twisting until her skin tore. And I twisted and twisted some more. And then, even as shredded flesh kept her head on, I twisted and yanked again and again.
Kaslni’s head was frozen in an expression of horror and pain, and I held it out as half her spine came with it. Glaring hotly at her expression, I spat into her open mouth with threatening growls and snarls.
For a long moment, I couldn’t take my eyes off her, searing the image of her into my brain while my rage cooled in my blood.
Another boom sounded in the distance, and my chest heaved as the melody of slaughter got softer and softer.
Hot breaths scorched my throat, and I tossed Klasni’s head away to slump back as I straddled her body.
Tears welled in my swollen eyes, and I stared at her body as a light slowly glowed brighter just under her skin. The circle wasn’t like the rest of her runes, and I flexed my stiff fingers before slicing open her sternum.
Her heart was still but glowing, and my hands trembled as I reached in to rip it out of her chest.
It was her magic, I realized, and my breath caught even while my brows knitted tight in confusion. Kaslni’s magic was so weak, and I cocked my head as I ducked to sniff the glowing, pulsing ball.
“What is that?” Derek’s rasping voice rolled down my spine, and my tail swished as he grabbed my shoulders.
Pulling me off Kaslni, he wrapped his arms around me to hold me in his lap.
“Magic – ” Curiosity thickened my already slurred, distorted voice, and I rolled my jaw absently. “It is her magic.”
“I thought magic was supposed to come from your wings…” Derek stiffened against my back, and my gaze flickered to him for a fraction of a second. “Why is it concentrated in her chest?”
Another boom.
Only shaking my he
ad, I licked my lips heavily before letting the dense ball roll to the ground. It made no noise on impact, and I leaned over to smash it under my palm.
The light inside my eyes flickered a little before dying out completely, and thousands of years of weight lifted from my shoulders.
Bareiijnr was dead.
Kaslni was dead.
Another bang.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Derek
“Jackson – ” I called out, trying to grab my brother’s attention. He was busily overseeing the members of our clan, who were currently occupied with cleaning up our mess.
I jostled my mate against my chest. She was heavy, weighed down with despair and pain, and Jackson shuffled over with a deep scowl dragging at his expression. In one day, we’d lost so much, and I gazed out over the complete devastation that Linne had caused.
The park was in complete ruins, the earth torn up, trees uprooted, and blood stained every inch for a hundred yards around. There were bodies piled up all round, but Bareiijnr’s corpse hung from the shadow that had impaled him.
Irritation clung to my ribs just looking at him, and I handed Jackson Kaslni’s severed head before training my eyes on him.
“I’m going to have such a serious vacation. Fuck – I might even move somewhere else…fuck this place, man.” Shaking my head at his complaining, I inhaled a deep, thick breath and held it. “How is she?”
“Where’s Muss?” I rasped the question, then cleared my throat harshly. Keeping my gaze steady on Jackson. He only shrugged, but his expression turned even more sour.
“Faro took him. He said he was going to the clan house to prepare him for his death ceremony. Apparently, it’s a big deal when one of Muss’ kind dies.”
I paused, silent for a moment, not feeling able to speak. “…Whatever,” I finally managed to breathe out.
My heart ached for Muss, and I shook my head wildly before exhaling a hard breath. “I didn’t think it would happen like this, Jackson. I don’t know what to do now.”
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