“So,” I said, glancing back at Camelia. “Are you ready to break through?”
“You bet I am.” She made her way to the front of the boat, and I moved aside to give her room.
It was amazing that her pregnancy wasn’t holding her back, besides an occasional pause when she’d rest a hand on her stomach.
She stared at the invisible wall, held out her palms, and started chanting in Latin. The yellow glow of her magic emanated from her palms and touched the surface of the boundary. It glowed brighter and brighter, until it was so bright that I had to shield my eyes. It burned even more intensely than before, thanks to my new supernatural senses. Noah shielded his eyes, too.
She stopped chanting, and the glow dimmed. The spell was done.
Figuring it was safe to look without getting blinded, I lowered my arm from my eyes.
Everything looked the same as before.
“Did it work?” I asked.
The tip of the boat hit the invisible boundary again, squashing my hopes.
“No.” She glared at the wall and backed away from it. “The Foster witches are too strong. I can’t break through.”
Noah bared his teeth at her. “Can you try again?” he asked, although it sounded more like an order than a question. “And put more magic into it this time.”
“Even with the boost from my pregnancy, my magic isn’t infinite.” Camelia sat down in the center of the boat and rested a hand on her stomach. “And I’ve used a lot of it today. I have to wait to recharge.”
“How long will that take?” he asked.
“I can try again in a few hours,” she said. “But I’ll need a full twenty-four hours if I want my magic working at full capacity.”
“We don’t have twenty-four hours.” I rushed to the front of the boat, pressed my hands against the boundary again, and pushed. Nothing happened. “We need to get out of here now.”
Panic coursed through my veins. My breaths came shorter and shallower—it was hard to get air into my lungs. I had to escape this island. I needed to get out. My mom, Sage, and the others… they needed me.
As I looked around like a trapped bird, the energy built and built inside of me, begging for release. If I didn’t release it, I feared I might explode from the intensity of it all.
And so, I pulled Excalibur out of my weapons belt, raised it high above my head, and crashed it down hard against the invisible wall.
The electricity from my body poured through the sword, straight into the wall.
Sparks flew where the blade hit the boundary, electricity expanding outward from the point of the sword. The boundary was shaped like a dome, and the entire thing lit up with spidery bolts that looked like lightning. It was so bright that the surrounding ocean and the island behind us glowed with the unnatural blue light. Wind rushed around me, but I kept Excalibur pressed against the boundary, energy buzzing from my body and out through the blade. The energy inside of me drew power from itself, endless and infinite.
I wasn’t just using magic. I was the magic.
The electricity lighting up the dome expanded outward until it was no longer shaped like bolts. Now, the entire dome glowed blue. It crackled and buzzed, getting brighter and brighter by the second. It got so bright that it burned, like it was the sun itself. But I kept my eyes open despite the pain, determined to see what was happening.
There was a giant popping sound, accompanied by the smell of something burning. Then the light shut off completely. It was like someone had turned off a switch.
Even though it was daytime, it looked dark in comparison to the bright glow from moments before. Water lapped against the sides of the boat as it bobbed in the ocean, but other than that, everything was eerily silent.
Suddenly, Excalibur slid through where the wall had been. I widened my eyes and reached forward with my other hand, needing to make sure this was really happening.
Nothing stopped it.
“I think I did it.” I let my sword hang to my side and turned to Noah and Camelia. They were both staring at me with equally shocked expressions. “I destroyed the boundary.”
28
Sage
I was sitting on my favorite swing off by the side of the compound, making designs in the dirt with my toes under the star filled nighttime sky, when the haze lifted.
One moment, my mind was hazy and muddled. It was like being surrounded by fog and blinded by it.
The next, all was clear again.
I blinked and gripped the chains of the swing. Some of my other pack members were in the yard, too. They’d also stopped what they’d been doing, and were now looking around, dazed and confused.
The last I remembered, I was standing in a circle with my pack in the center of the compound. Azazel had been there, along with the Foster witch. Lavinia.
Azazel had made us drink his blood from a goblet, and Lavinia had lit up the night with a spell.
Then it was like something had taken over my body. A will that wasn’t my own. I’d been a prisoner, trapped and watching myself do things through my own eyes, unable to stop myself.
As I sat there, my toes motionless in the dirt as I let the memories pour through me, I remembered it all. Every awful second of it.
Most of all, I remembered the anguished look in Thomas’s eyes when I’d told him to get lost. He’d come to rescue me, and I’d been apathetic and cruel to him.
I hated myself for it.
But I hated Azazel, Mara, and Lavinia even more.
I stood up from the swing, determined to find the Foster witch. I couldn’t kill a greater demon since I wasn’t Nephilim, and I didn’t have a holy weapon to kill Mara. But Lavinia was fair game. And she had it coming for her.
I focused on the guesthouse, since that was where Lavinia had been living. My wolf form ached to burst out, run into the house to find her, claw her skin to shreds, and wrangle her throat with my jaw and teeth. I’d make her death long and painful. She deserved every excruciating second of it.
But someone appeared next to me and placed a hand on my arm, stopping me in my tracks. A woman with deep brown skin and caring eyes, wearing white pants and a matching shirt. She looked like she’d popped in from a new age yoga retreat. She wore a cloaking ring, which was why she had no scent. I only knew she was a witch because she’d teleported here.
“Please don’t panic,” she whispered, so quietly that my pack mates across the yard wouldn’t hear her. “I’m here to help you.”
I stilled and remained on guard, ready to attack at any moment despite my instincts telling me to trust her. “Who are you?” I asked, keeping my voice equally as low.
“My name is Shivani,” she said. “I’m a witch from the Haven. Rosella, our trusted vampire seer, sent me here. She told me to give you this.”
She pulled her other hand out from around her back, producing a gleaming silver longsword with a black onyx handle.
I took the sword from her and examined it. “What’s so special about this sword?” I asked, since it had to be special, for a Haven witch to come all the way here to give it to me.
“This is the holy weapon the Earth Angel used to slay the greater demon Samael after the Hell Gate was opened in the Vale,” she explained, and suddenly, the sword felt much heavier in my hand. Mind blown, I remained silent as she continued, “It was turned into a holy weapon in Heaven by the angel Emmanuel himself. After the Earth Angel killed Samael, she gifted the sword to Mary for safekeeping. Rosella instructed that I give this sword to you, at this exact location, at this precise moment in time. She also instructed me to leave immediately afterward. But not without first reminding you that any supernatural who needs a safe place on Earth is always welcome at the Haven.”
With that, she flashed out, leaving me alone with the sword.
And not just any sword.
This was the holy weapon the Earth Angel had used to slay the greater demon Samael.
Holy crap. I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve being gifted suc
h an incredible weapon, but I was going to use it wisely.
Which meant it was time to kick some demon ass.
29
Sage
While I’d been in the shadows talking with Shivani, some of my pack mates had already oriented themselves and started attacking the demon guards.
But without holy weapons, they couldn’t kill the demons. They’d shifted and were clawing and going at them with their jaws. My pack mates were holding their own, but no matter what they did, the demons wouldn’t die.
Closest to me, Linden shifted and pounced on a demon. He managed to get a few swipes in with his claws, but the demon seemed more annoyed by the attack than anything.
I rushed forward to help him. But before I got there, the demon sliced at Linden with his sword, separating his head from his body. Linden’s head rolled, his body collapsing to the ground. Both parts of him returned to human form upon his death.
Pain burst through me, as always happened when a pack mate died. Linden was a jerk and we butted heads a lot, but we were still pack.
His death left an empty spot in my heart that would never be filled.
Charged with rage, I rushed toward the demon that had killed Linden, my sword held high. The demon was taller and bigger than I was, but I had stealth and speed on my side.
He countered my blows with his own, our blades clashing against each other. My anger at the demons grew with every clang of our blades. He pushed me back with his strength, but I ducked and jumped away every time he went in for a fatal swing.
His red eyes burned with anger, and he growled, as if he didn’t understand why I wasn’t dead yet.
Amused by his frustration, I smiled at him. Training with Noah for all those months had taught me well.
Finally, the demon started slowing down. He was a second too late with stopping my next blow, and my sword passed his, going straight through his chest and into his heart.
His eyes widened and he disintegrated into a pile of ash and teeth.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins. For months, I’d helped Noah hold the demons off, always watching when he gave the final killing blow.
This was the first time I’d done it myself.
It felt incredible.
But I had no time to celebrate my victory. Because my other pack mates were still fighting demons in the yard. The strongest fighters had taken up the lead, and were holding their own. But without holy weapons to kill the demons, it didn’t matter how good of fighters they were. They needed my help.
I glanced around, looking for Lavinia. But she was nowhere to be found. Disappointing, but probably for the best. Because my pack mates could take her on. With my newly gifted holy weapon, I needed to fight where I was needed the most.
Against the demons.
And so, I rushed toward the closest demon, jumping in and helping with the fight. It was harder to fight while going two against one—you needed to be hyper aware of everything happening around you as to not harm the person on your side—but wolves were wired to hunt in packs. Plus, I’d gotten better at it while fighting with Noah.
Once I found my in, I killed this demon just like I’d killed the first.
The pack mate I’d been fighting with—Dale—stared at my sword in amazement. He shifted his head back to human form so he could speak. “Where did you get that?” he asked.
“A Haven witch dropped by and gave it to me.” I smirked, not explaining more before hurrying over to help out with the next demon.
My pack mates backed me up as I fought demon by demon. Flint fought at the opposite side of the compound. He was holding his own, but I kept my distance for now. What he’d done by forcing our pack to bind ourselves to the demons… it was unforgivable.
But I couldn’t think about my anger toward him now. I needed to concentrate on killing demons. One at a time. It was taking a level of strength and focus I hadn’t needed until now. But I could do this. I had to do this.
At least, I was trying to do it. I’d taken down four demons so far, and was battling it out with a fifth. He was taking longer than the others. I was fine doing this myself—I wasn’t one to back down, and I had a lot to fight for—but it would have been nice if we had more than one holy weapon at our disposal.
“Keep going!” I called out to my other pack mates. They hadn’t given up, but they were tiring. Linden hadn’t been the only death—Jean had been lost too—but there was no time to grieve. We needed to stay focused. “Hold them off until I get to you!”
That was what they’d needed to hear, and they howled intermittently—a battle cry against the demons that had been controlling us for months.
I howled too, despite being in human form so I could use my sword. It wasn’t as loud as a howl from a shifted wolf, but it sent a burst of power through me all the same.
Just as I shoved my sword through the demon’s heart, six people teleported into the center of the yard.
Raven, Noah, Bella, two witches I didn’t recognize… and Thomas.
Our eyes met, and my heart swelled at the sight of him.
He ran toward me, and the world slowed. But as he got closer, he reached for his longsword, held it forward, and swung.
He hit something right behind me.
I turned around just in time to see that his sword had pierced a demon’s heart. The demon disintegrated into a pile of ash and teeth at our feet.
“You were so enraptured by my presence that you failed to notice the demon trying to kill you from behind.” Thomas smirked and stepped closer to me, so there was barely any space between us. “Understandable. I tend to have that effect on people.”
As I stared up at him, so many thoughts rushed through my mind at once. I missed him. I was sorry for everything I’d said to him when he’d tried rescuing me. I was an idiot for thinking he’d never cared about me for all those years. I loved him. I wanted to make that love official and become mates.
My imprint bond warmed, making me hopeful that he knew what I was thinking despite the fact that it was too much to put into words right now.
From the intense way he stared down at me, I knew he’d felt every thought.
My stomach warmed under his loving, protective gaze. I wanted to take him in my arms and make him mine now.
But we were in the middle of a battle. My pack mates needed us. And I assumed he and the others were here—with more holy weapons—to help us fight.
“Come on,” I said instead, holding up my sword and matching his smirk with one of my own. “We have demons to kill.”
30
Raven
Once Noah, Thomas, Bella, the other two witches who had teleported us, and I arrived at the Montgomery compound with our holy weapons, we jumped in to help the wolves fight the demon guards.
Sage had been holding strong so far with a holy weapon of her own. I had no idea how she’d gotten one, but I was glad for it. Many more wolves would have been dead already otherwise.
Now, it felt amazing to fight alongside my friends instead of watching from the sidelines. As Excalibur sliced through the air, flames dancing around the blade as I swung and attacked, it felt like this was what I’d always been meant to do.
It didn’t take long before all the demons in the yard were piles of ash.
I wanted to run up to Sage and tell her how glad I was that she was okay. But just because there were no more demons in the yard didn’t mean we were in the clear. So I couldn’t let my guard down just yet.
“I smell another one in the main house,” Noah said. “Raven and I will take that one. The rest of you—check the rest of the premises and take care of any other demons you find. We’ll meet back here once the compound is clear.”
Sage nodded and led Thomas toward the guesthouse. Judging from the way she hurried, she had a score to settle with someone in there.
Noah and I entered the main house. It looked almost the same as it had the last time I’d been there—when Noah had first brought me there after saving me from E
li and Azazel in the alley.
But now I was accosted with the smells of all kinds of supernatural creatures. Mainly the woodsy smell of shifters, but also the burnt smell of demons and the metallic scent of vampires. There was also a barely noticeable smell of sickly sweetness—a dark witch. It was so faint that I suspected the witch was long gone.
As we went up the stairs, the smell of demon, vampire, and a hint of shifter got stronger. My Nephilim senses tuned me into the direction it was coming from—the master bedroom.
I threw open the doors, and my eyes met with familiar green ones I’d recognize anywhere.
“Mom!” I gasped, my eyes welling with tears at the sight of her.
She looked just as I remembered. Red hair just like mine, but cut shorter. But she was also paler. The lines of her cheeks and face were harsher and more defined, like she’d been airbrushed for a magazine. And she smelled metallic… like a vampire.
Azazel had said my mom was now a vampire. But demons lied. It was one thing to hear it, and another to see it and know it was true.
But we couldn’t have our big reunion just yet. Because there was a demon standing right next to my mom. A blonde, petite demon who quivered at the sight of me and had a slight smell of shifter on her, but a demon nonetheless.
I raised Excalibur and rushed toward the demon, ready to make the kill.
But my mom jumped in front of her, protecting her.
I pulled myself to a stop a second before Excalibur touched my mom. That was close. Too close.
I tried to go around my mom to get to the demon. But now that my mom was a vampire, she was fast enough to block my every move.
“Get out of my way,” I growled, my voice sounding way more intimidating than I’d planned. My mom needed to let me take care of this demon so we could get out of here.
“Please, stop.” My mom held her arms out, her eyes begging me to listen.
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