With a strong kick of my leg, I’m able to throw his balance off and my teeth slide along Silas’ leg. The taste of copper fills my mouth as I shred ribbons into his skin. I release my hold and jump out of his reach. Silas tries to put pressure on his leg to come after me, but it buckles when he does. In a fit of fury, he uses his nose to swipe through the snow in front of him, flinging it up into my eyes.
I squint my eyes, trying to blink the sharp ice shards from my sight, and roll to the side, anticipating his incoming attack. The frigid ice feels like it’s burning my eyes, but it’s nothing compared to the agony ripping through my flank when his teeth chomp down on my hindquarter. His head whips back and forth, making each cut from his teeth rip even further.
Stretching my head around, I’m just barely able to bite his ear, tearing it from his head in a vicious rip. It causes just enough damage for Silas to release his hold on me, and I’m able to stumble away. I position myself to keep him in front of me again, but something is wrong with my leg. My muscles don’t work quite right, not exactly a numbness going down my leg, but a creeping chill traveling through the limb. He had to have coated his teeth with poison somehow. Unfortunately, I’m unable to heal myself until this fight is over.
When Silas lunges this time, I’m prepared for him. I whip my body around, scratching my claws everywhere and snapping a bite in the first place I can reach. My mouth is full of his foul fur, my bite having landed on his chest instead of his neck like I wanted. As I clamp down as hard as I can, my hind legs dig repeatedly into his stomach. The warmth of his blood gushes through my toes. Instead of being disgusted, it just gives me a sense of victory.
I may be causing immense damage to him right now, but it doesn’t mean I’ve won the battle just yet. His body flails around, and twists just right to dislodge my hold on him. He rolls away from me, and before I can reach him again, the sound of breaking glass reaches me. A puff of yellow dust floats into the air and I step away, not wanting to breathe it in. It doesn’t matter though. Within seconds, it becomes difficult for me to get a deep inhale.
Instinctively, I know the tube he broke held a spell to suck all oxygen from the dome we’re encased in. Just as I know Silas protected himself from the effects as well. If I don’t end this now, Silas will win by default when I pass out.I knew that motherfucker was going to end up cheating to win.He isn’t strong enough to beat me in a fair fight.
I dive after him, my leg more like a stump than a functioning limb at this point, but I don’t let it hold me back. Tipping my head down, it rams into his side, pushing him over before he can stop me. I move to snap my jaws around his throat, but my muscles seize up. A chill spreads throughout my body, and I fight to regain control over my movements.
Silas finds his footing and prowls around me in a circle. He shifts back into his human form, and I lay still, waiting for the spasms to come to an end. My eyes track every move he makes as my lungs wheeze with the lack of oxygen. Black specks dance before me, but I refuse to let them consume me.
My body struggles as the lock on my magic screams with holding my power back. Silas smirks as he pulls a wicked-looking dagger from the belt laying on the ground. As he takes a step to approach me, the sound of crunching snow between us pulls both of our attention.
Queen’s Thistle pushes through the snow, traveling directly for Silas. With all the training I’ve done with my mother, I’ve learned to keep the vine from acting instinctually. Although, with my weakened state, it was able to break free from the second nature hold I’ve developed over it. For some reason, I assumed it would be held under the same laws during an Alpha challenge as the rest of my magic. What a colossal mistake that assumption was.
Now knowing I can wield one of my most powerful weapons, I divert the rest of my attention to winning this fight before I pass the fuck out. The vine speeds up, and Silas tries to move away from it. He walks backward, panic evident in his movements. “What’s happening? You shouldn’t have any control over magic in here.” His voice is high pitched, true fear oozing out of him.
His foot lands in a dip in the ground and he falls backward, but the dome wall is right behind him, catching his fall and keeping him upright. His arms go out by his sides and he feels for a break in the wall to escape.
It’s been about four minutes since I was last able to suck any oxygen into my lungs. Thankfully, I’m not a human and can last ten minutes before I pass out. That means I only have six minutes left to either kill Silas, or get him to submit.
I shift into my human form, but I don’t answer his questions. Speaking will reduce the time I have left. With my guidance, the vines reach him, and wrap themselves around his legs. “Queen’s Thistle doesn’t grow anywhere near here. This shouldn’t be possible,” Silas wails.
The vine wraps itself around his waist and I direct its leaves to bend their spikes into his skin. As they penetrate, they become thicker, making sure the bite is more painful. Silas bends over and tries ripping the vines off his legs so he can escape them. It’s too late for that though. Once the needles got a taste of his blood, there's no way to get them to release their hold unless I direct them to. Fat chance of that happening.
As his hands try to rip away the vine, the leaves and flowers cut at his hands. His frantic movements send blood flying from the cuts, and a splatter lands on my cheek. My nose scrunches up and my lip curls in disgust. While the leaves bite into his skin, I direct the flower stems to grow. As they get taller, they are able to leave paper-thin cuts into his skin.
Three minutes left, and Silas is still in full-blown panic mode. My chest burns and my vision narrows to a pinprick. My body is still fighting convulsions every so often from the poison, and now it’s doubling down due to the lack of oxygen. I direct the vine to continue spreading over his body, more quickly this time. I need to make it clear to him that he isn’t making it out of this fight.
The vine slithers around his neck, wrapping itself around several times before tightening like a boa constrictor. He abandons his attempts to free his legs, and instead, his hands fly to his neck. He claws at the vines, his nails ripping from the beds as he scratches his own skin while doing absolutely no damage to the vines.
Silas’ face cycles through several shades, almost like a changing sunset, before his skin settles on a dark purple. Now we’re on even ground with not being able to breathe. His eyes flutter before he desperately pats the vines at his neck in a motion similar to a fighter tapping out. With his submission, the dome begins to melt away, starting from the very top, and slowly traveling down until it disappears completely.
I desperately suck in deep breaths as Alex and Klaus rush to my side. Derrick and Marcus are still with William. I catch the movement of Derrick pushing on William’s chest, trying to resurrect his heart as Marcus funnels healing magic into him. When they reach me, my mates lay their hands on me and push their own healing magic into me.
The poison laying heavy in my veins disappears with their magic and my lungs are soothed of the ache plaguing them. As I’m being healed, I direct the vines to loosen around Silas’ neck so he can breathe. I don’t want my fun to end while I’m momentarily distracted. He sucks in a deep breath and the dark purple of his skin lightens, much to my disappointment. It just might be my new favorite color.
It only takes a minute for my mates to have me healed up, and all physical pain diminishes from my body. I brush off their worry for me, having no room for their emotions right now. With my emotions turned off, I thought I was incapable of feeling joy. But I’m proven wrong as my heart speeds up with anticipation. Each step I take causes my smile to grow, and I just know it’s a manic glee when I finally stop in front of him.
The vines still have a strong enough hold on Silas that he isn’t able to speak. They're only loose enough for him to not pass out. Which suits me just fine. I don’t want to hear anything he has to say anyway. No amount of begging will stop me from taking his life. The only thing I want from him right now is eternal agony. And to maybe be able to visit him in Hell to enjoy inflicting pain on him whenever I want. Although, I don’t think that wish will be granted.
I see the plea in his eyes as he gazes up at me. “You’ll never be able to experience the depth of pain and suffering you deserve for all of your crimes, Silas. My people will just have to settle with knowing your evil has been wiped from this world.” The brief amount of hope he held in his eyes, of being able to plead his way out of the death calling him forward, disappears and is replaced with cold hatred. Same buddy, same.
The vines squeeze tighter once more, and that beautiful shade of purple makes an appearance again. More flowers bloom, twisting and twirling, as if they’re dancing a waltz at a ball thrown just for them. With each turn, they dip to graze across his skin and clothing. It doesn’t take long before his clothes are in a pile at his feet. The vines replace the clothing they sliced off, and what little we can see of his skin resembles a tally board with lines of red slashed all over.
I’m distracted from working on my masterpiece when a hand lands on my cheek. A thumb swipes across my skin and wet blood spreads with the movement. “It’s time to end it, Angel,” the voice says, belonging to the hand touching me.
I feel disjointed from myself, but the voice is a beacon in the dark, calling me home again. “William needs you,” another soothing voice says on my other side. Something in my chest tugs in their direction and I know they’re right. I’m needed somewhere else. This piece of trash isn’t worth my attention any longer. I turn my back to him, no longer wanting to watch the light leave his gaze. My vines will take care of the rest.
Suddenly, this death seems way more fitting. He doesn’t even deserve the respect of having his Queen watch him die. He’s going to exit this world in the same way he lived it.
Alone.
I release the hold on his neck. Screams of pain meet my back as my mates wrap an arm around me on either side, helping me walk over the drifts of snow separating us from my other men. Suddenly my legs give out as a flood of emotions come cascading down on me. I crumple in the snow, pulling from the hold Alex and Klaus have on me. With a wail, I climb back to my feet and run for William. My sweet, passionate, loving man needs me.
