She glanced down at Talon, who was beginning to shake, then back at me before giving the slightest nod and collapsing next to her mate.
Enzo stepped in without pause, because we didn’t know how long her compliance would last, and scooped Talon’s broken form into his arms. I had no idea how he’d ended up so beaten, but I refused to ask and have Gemma relive the moments so soon.
Instead, I held her as tightly as I could until Enzo returned less than sixty seconds later. He took her from me, and I glanced around at my surroundings. Peyton and Finley had done an amazing job keeping us from being interrupted, but my mind instantly worried about Lyssa and Jules. I hadn’t seen either of them since the start.
Jules was finally spotted in her fox form running with Amalia. They were headed toward Marek and Malina, which made me ache to go that way as well, but I really wanted to lay eyes on Lyssa first. My heart started to pound as I dodged and punched several supernaturals in my attempt to move through the crowds.
The battle was beginning to calm down, but it was far from over. There was less chaos and more one-on-one fighting. Though, from the looks of everything around me and all the blood soaking into the ground, I couldn’t tell which was better, the former or the latter.
Finally, after making it halfway across the field and dodging several attacks, I found Lyssa fighting side-by-side with Headmaster Stone. Both of them were bloodied, but I didn’t see any noticeable wounds, so I hoped most of the blood wasn’t theirs.
She made eye contact with me for a split second and nodded, telling me she was okay, and that one movement allowed me to move on to where I was truly needed.
Nothing had been going as planned. Our group was majorly split up, but everyone was doing their part and they were moderately safe. I tried to take solace in that fact.
As a witch began throwing magic my way, Enzo appeared and wrapped his arm around my waist. I waved bye to the witch and happily let him take me where we needed to be.
“Are you okay?” he asked, clearly out of breath from the quick movements of his chest.
“I am. What about you?”
“Fine. And Talon will be, too. Gemma getting him to shift saved his life along with Amalia showing up.”
My chest loosened at hearing those words, because I had no idea how I would have consoled my best friend if she lost her mate just after the bond solidified.
We moved toward Marek and Malina, who were dancing around each other in the beginnings of a fight while several people surrounded them, none of whom were on our side. Before we could get close enough, another wave of Malina’s people arrived, or so I assumed when they raced past Malina and straight toward us.
Red eyes and pale faces snarled as they separated and surrounded me and Enzo, along with Amalia and a few of her people. Just when I had thought we were on even footing, Malina showed us that was not the case.
Vincent, the vampire we’d assumed to have taken the students and humans at the beginning of the school year, sauntered his way through the crowd. “Ah, the infamous Raegan. Your mother has told me much about you.”
“Hmmm, funny. I know nothing about you.”
His eyes narrowed, obviously not happy that he received no recognition in return. “Well, you’re about to know plenty.”
He spat on the ground, and it was like a green light for the others as chaos descended on us.
Chelle, how are you doing? I could really use your help, I practically begged, but received no response. My dragon was still healing, and I was on my own.
Realizing we had no chance in hell of fighting them, Enzo and I both created shields and did our best to simply protect ourselves. He was yelling something at me, but I couldn’t understand him over all of the hissing from the damn bloodsuckers.
Several sets of teeth sank into me, and I howled in pain as the venom spread into my muscles, making it harder to move. Normally, I could burn off the venom within a reasonable time, but there were so many of them, I could only withstand a few more bites before my body succumbed to the poison and began to convulse.
“I’m so sorry, Raegan,” Enzo shouted in my ear as he did his best to cover me. At that point, there had to be close to twenty vamps on us and there was nothing we could do. It was even worse than when Chelle had been attacked, and no burst of power was going to save us this time.
Any last shreds of hope were completely dashed a moment later when the sky opened up and Onyx’s dragon appeared in a portal with several more behind him.
This was it. Malina had won, and there wasn’t a damn thing we could do about it. The only saving grace was that I was at least going out with Enzo, and we’d done everything we could to stop my psycho egg donor of a mother.
The pounding of dragon feet sounded closer, and I expected at any moment we were about to become a snack for the traitor, but then something else happened.
The weight above us lessened, and the sting of venom began to dissipate. Instead of attacking us, Onyx was saving us. Why? I had no idea, but I didn’t have time to question it.
Onyx and the dragons he brought with him began throwing vamps around like they were play toys before moving on to help those ahead of us.
Once we were no longer being buried alive by vampires, I checked on our team. Just because we suddenly had more help, didn’t mean things were going to go our way.
Marek and Malina were still going at it with their fight, and my Meme was doing her best to prevent others from intervening. Those who had been helping her before were no longer around, and she wasn’t faring well.
As we finally joined in, Malina decided she hadn’t made my day bad enough and she really wanted to stick it to me.
“There’s my dear daughter. I thought you were avoiding me,” she said sweetly while glaring at me.
Marek took the moment of his distraction to regain his composure, but before he could move back in, Malina made her next move.
“You’ve surrounded yourself with all the wrong people, Raegan, and I don’t approve. You need to learn a lesson in what happens when you disappoint your mother. So, remember this moment and learn from it.”
Her arm stretched out and her fingers curled in, but not quite in a fist. I had no idea what she was doing until Enzo began to choke behind me, but it wasn’t just him who couldn’t breathe. Meme was falling to the ground, and so was Jules, who was only halfway across the field and had been coming toward us.
“I wonder which would hurt you most but not completely ruin you,” Malina pondered out loud. “I could kill all three of them and crush your soul entirely, but I’d like to show you I have some mercy in me. So, you choose? Who is going to die today?”
Marek moved toward her, but she tsked. “One step closer and they all die. All I have to do is close my fist and it’s bye-bye to three of your loved ones.”
Silently, I pleaded with him to hold off. There had to be some way to negotiate with her.
“What do you want?” I growled.
“I want you to choose, and we don’t have all day,” she snapped.
My head shook. “There has to be something else. Do you want me to go with you willingly? Fine, I will. Just let them go and end this chaos.”
Her lips lifted and eyes crinkled. “You’re in no position to offer anything other than a name. The name of who will die. Now, choose and let’s finish this before I decide for you. I promise I’ll enjoy that option more than you will.”
My eyes glanced from Enzo, to my Meme, to Jules. All people I didn’t believe I could live without. I wouldn’t choose, but at the same time, if I didn’t… I couldn’t even imagine losing them all at the same time.
Amalia, stronger than even I knew, managed to break through Malina’s spell just enough to piss off the sorceress by tossing the tiniest ball of magic at her. While I had assumed it to be weak, Malina didn’t seem to care if the hit hurt or not.
“I guess she’s decided for me,” Malina winced and shoved her other hand toward my Meme.
Amalia�
�s eyes met mine as the life began to fade from them. I ran toward her, tears already streaming down my face. “No!” I cried as I scooped up her limp form.
Malina cackled from behind me, and the battle continued on as if nothing had happened. Anger rose within me and scales sprouted on my arms, but Chelle still wasn’t around. This was all me, and I was okay with that.
Amalia’s body began to glow underneath me, and I held her for just a moment longer, wanting to be with her until she was completely at peace. The only bright light was that she would now be with her daughter, my true mother.
But instead of feeling like Amalia was letting go and moving on, I felt like I was struck by lightning.
Her power slammed into me, and my jaw clenched as I tried to take it all in without making a scene. I didn’t need anyone coming to my rescue while Malina was hell bent on killing those I loved.
Amalia had once said everything that was hers would one day be mine, and I never understood what she meant by that or why she had once taken my blood, but it all made sense in that moment. She’d chosen herself to die just so that I could beat Malina.
As my body grew stronger, I knew this without a doubt, and I knew exactly what I needed to do in order to accomplish the task set before me.
After gently laying my Meme on the ground, I stood up and realized my entire being glowed a deep teal color. Enzo’s attention faltered, and another got a solid hit in, but he resumed his fight while I continued toward Marek and Malina.
She had him pinned against the ground, taunting him with my weaknesses. “She could have been great, but they took her from me and made her not much better than a feeble human. If I didn’t need her power to take over Drakken, I’d have killed her the first chance I had. Instead, I’ll take great joy in your death.”
Marek pushed Malina back just enough that her feet collided with my legs. The power radiating off of me must have drawn her attention, because she turned away from Marek, completely forgetting about him as she glared at me.
“How?” she murmured, but I wasn’t listening.
Malina needed to die, and there was no mercy left in me, nor patience to care what else she might have to say.
My hands reached for her and wrapped around her neck while she was still caught off guard. Her own power fought against mine, but it was in that moment that I knew exactly who I was, and I wasn’t worried at all.
I was the first natural-born Doyen.
I was a witch.
I was a dragon.
Most importantly, I was going to kill Malina.
That’s when the burning sensation began, and several people started to call my name, screaming even with a fear greater than my own. Though, none of it stopped me.
I had one task to complete, and I wouldn’t fail. Not this time.
Malina’s hands scratched at me, but Marek had already weakened her, and I’d just been powered up by Amalia’s sacrifice.
Her soulless eyes begged me to stop when words failed her, but I had no sympathy for the woman before me. She wasn’t my family; she never had been. There would be no tears shed when she died.
The only problem was that when I was certain the task had been completed—that Malina was finally dead—I couldn’t stop.
Power continued to flow through me, both incoming and outgoing, and I couldn’t control any of it.
When I finally dropped Malina’s lifeless body to the ground, my head tilted up toward the sky, and the glow around me heated just like I had felt when Chelle used all her energy to save us.
Is that what I had done? If so, I lacked control and may have taken it too far.
Was I paying the ultimate price just to make sure the rest of those I cared about were safe?
As the power finally began to wane, I knew the answer to that question, and while I wasn’t happy with the outcome, I was okay with it.
Even as Enzo screamed for me, I sent my love to him and said goodbye.
Chapter 23
Enzo
When the portal opened up and Onyx came waltzing onto Earth, I thought for sure we were about to lose, and the weight of the world crashed down on me. I’d failed my mate. I hadn’t been able to save her, and that killed me.
Then, hope sparked when Onyx chose to fight with us and not against us for whatever reason. Nobody had time to question it, but Malina must have pissed him off in some way, and I wasn’t going to complain.
Though, that hope was quickly dashed when Malina’s magic took hold of me.
She’d cut off all air supply to me, Amalia, and Jules, putting Raegan on the spot to choose between three of the people she loved most in the world.
The decision would cripple my mate if she had to damn one of us to death.
Malina knew this, and the bitch took advantage of Raegan’s caring heart, something Malina had never had.
My eyes began to blur as spots appeared within them, and I was dangerously close to passing out. Frustrated beyond anything I’d ever been in my life, I hated most that there was nothing I could do. My legs had even given out, but I was frozen in place, standing limp as Raegan hurt.
Amalia, a much stronger and wiser being than I ever would be, somehow broke through Malina’s hold and shot just enough magic at the evil sorceress to piss her off.
Raegan’s cry of pain as life faded away from Amalia was nothing I ever wanted to hear again, but I didn’t have a moment to process it for fear Malina would go for her next.
As soon as the hold was released from me, I moved to stand in front of Raegan, and Marek charged for Malina. Jules joined in, and I kept anyone at bay who thought they could get close enough to my mate to harm her while she grieved her grandmother.
It didn’t matter that we were in the middle of a battle. She deserved a few moments, and I’d damn well make sure she got it.
That was true until a blast of heat slammed into my back and I wondered what the hell was happening. Before I could turn around, another bear shifter charged at me. I was getting sick of fighting off these beasts.
They had no damn coordination, but they were huge and obnoxious. Their size alone was the only reason they stood a chance against any basic-trained supernatural.
Trading blows with the mammoth was working, and I knew we were supposed to be having mercy on these supernaturals—we were the good guys, after all—but my gut was screaming that my mate needed me. Being by her side was more important to me than being compassionate to someone who would sooner rip my head off than show the same courtesy.
Gathering up enough magic to bulldoze an elephant, I slammed my hands into the bear’s chest and cringed as his hair burned and he toppled to the ground.
Though, that guilt only lasted a split-second when I laid eyes on Raegan. She was headed straight for Malina, and Marek was in no position to help her.
I screamed out her name and tried to go to her, but the power radiating off her was so bright and strong, there was no getting through unless she wanted someone to. Marek was even at a loss as I watched him circle Malina and Raegan, seeming just as helpless as I felt.
Raegan glowed the teal color I’d long ago associated as uniquely hers, and as her hands wrapped around Malina’s throat, there was a moment of pride in my mate.
She was going to do it. She was going to get vengeance for her family, and Malina would be no more.
I wasn’t sure how Raegan was capable, but when Malina stopped fighting back, I knew the important part of the battle had been won.
Jules strode next to me, also seeming at peace. Like every other time there was the tiniest bit of optimism, though, it was dashed away just as fast.
“What is happening?” I snarled.
“I don’t know. Malina is dead. Raegan should be coming down from the magic, not growing.”
Marek came over to us with tears in his eyes, and I knew it wasn’t good. He was going to tell me something that would break me so badly that I would never be able to come back from it.
“I was supposed to kill Mali
na. It was never meant to be her. It shouldn’t have ended this way,” Marek murmured with his shoulders slumped.
“What are you saying?” Jules said with a quiver, but I already knew what he was saying, and my jaw locked tight with rage.
“Raegan is absorbing Malina’s power right now. She won’t survive the transference,” Marek replied, his head cast down, unable to meet either of our stares.
Jules began to sob, but I didn’t.
There was so much hatred within me that I didn’t believe I was capable of tears.
My Raegan, the beautiful soul who had brought light into my life when I didn’t think I was deserving of it, she was dying right before me and I couldn’t stop it.
Phox appeared at Marek’s side, and they began to talk, but I didn’t hear a word they said as I pushed through the power surrounding my mate and did whatever I could to get to her.
Her head was tilted up to the sky, and her knees buckled as she fell to the ground and closed her eyes. When her form went limp, there was still a glow around her, but I was finally able to move through the magic pulsing off of her.
My hands reached out when I was close enough, but I had to pull them back; her temperature was running so high, her skin burned mine.
“Raegan, don’t do this. You can’t leave me.” I pounded my fist into the ground, and thunder sounded in the sky with each strike as I begged her to stay, then proceeded to pray to any God who was listening to not take away my mate.
Even if Malina was gone, the world would never be bright without Raegan’s soul in it.
I wanted to go with her. I didn’t have any reason to stay on this Earth without her. My heart was shattering beyond repair as the seconds ticked by and the light around her continued to dim.
Marek came to my side, saying something, but I couldn’t hear him above the roaring in my ears. There was a storm raging inside me, and nothing would ever be able to control it besides death now that my mate was gone.
Daring Provocation (Shadow Veil Academy Book 3) Page 17
