Zera’s cold, icy blue eyes flicked toward me, her expression unreadable as her shadows writhed and twisted.“Oh, but he is now.”
Zera’s expression didn’t change as her grip tightened once more, and with a sickening snap, Jack’s body went limp in her grasp.She tossed him aside as though he were nothing more than a discarded rag doll, his lifeless form crumpling to the ground with a hollow thud.
I stumbled to a stop, time suddenly standing still.I couldn’t breathe.Couldn’t think.The world around me swirled into a blur as I stared at Jack’s body, my mind refusing to accept what had just happened.
No.This couldn’t be real.
But it was.
Rage surged through me like molten lava, burning away the numbness that had gripped me.My body trembled and my chest heaved with fury and grief.
Zera’s cold eyes shifted back to me, her shadows slithering forward, but I didn’t care anymore.There was no fear left.Only anger.Only vengeance.
Hellfire roared to life within me again, hotter and more intense than ever before.The flames erupted from my hands, engulfing the alley as I launched myself toward Tavira and Zera, the fury inside me burning brighter than ever before.
My father had sent his goons to kill me, but instead, I would send them back to him.
In pieces.
ChapterTwenty-Six
The world burned around me.Hell, it could consume me for all I cared.My vision tunnelled on Jack’s lifeless body, crumpled like a broken doll against the alley’s cold cement.The sight of him coupled with Zera’s smirk all blurred together into a seething rage that clawed at my insides.
I’d kill her and Tavira both and send them back to my father.And then he’d know—he’d created a monster.
I unleashed a scream, one that shook the very ground beneath my feet as hellfire surged through the alley.This wasn’t just fire.It was pure destruction.The flames roared, devouring everything in their path.Zera’s shadows practically shrieked as my fire swallowed them whole and obliterated them.
But it wasn’t enough.
I stalked through the alley, my steps slow and measured.The heat crackled over my skin, but didn’t burn my flesh, because I wouldn’t allow it to.I was in complete control.And I gave the flames a direct purpose, two targets that were very much flammable.I focused my wrath—and the wrath of my power—onthem.
“Burn,” I snarled at Zera, launching a firestorm in her direction.It whipped through the air, moving at unimaginable speeds, its heat inescapable.
Zera’s eyes widened with panic as the flames closed in, and with a choked cry, she stumbled back, her shadows scattering in a desperate attempt to escape the hellfire.I didn’t have the skill to wrest control of her shadows, but extinguishing them was well within my reach—and I did, snuffing them out in a heartbeat.
Zera steadied herself, her gaze darting over my shoulder.Before I could turn, searing pain suddenly lanced my back.A scream ripped from me as I staggered forward, the fire faltering for a single second.Gasping, I twisted to find Tavira behind me, her beasts prowling at her sides.Blood stained her lion’s claws, his eyes glinting with hunger as he licked his lips in anticipation.
The creatures pressed in, tightening their circle, shadowed forms flickering in the inferno’s glow.Their energy pulsed, dark and threatening, ready to strike at the first sign of weakness.But I refused to give them that satisfaction.Not now.Not ever.
Fury blazed through me, fueling my flames until they swelled into a roaring tempest.With a guttural cry, I thrust my hands forward, unleashing hellfire that exploded outward like an unleashed storm.
The flames crashed into Tavira’s beasts, and their shrieks filled the air as the fire consumed them.The shapes writhed in agony, and in seconds, they were nothing—reduced to little more than smoke and ash, snuffed out as though they’d never existed.
Tavira dodged the surge of flames, her face twisting with disdain.She sneered, her lip curling.“Lucifer’s daughter, finally showing her true nature,” she taunted.“Perhaps you’re more like him than anyone realized.”
“Donotcompare me to that sadistic piece of shit,” I snarled back.“I amnothinglike him.”
She scoffed, but before she could respond, a deafening crack split the air above us.My head snapped up, and through the smoky haze, a figure descended like a falling star.
Rathiel landed beside me with a force that cracked the cement, his wings snapping out in a single, powerful motion.
Oh, thank goodness.Backup had arrived.
My flames raged around us, but with a flick of my wrist, I redirected them, pushing them away from him.
Our eyes met and an unspoken understanding passed between us.Then, with a sharp nod, we turned back to the fight, a seamless unit.Rathiel moved like lightning, his blade flashing dangerously as he lunged at Tavira.Meanwhile, I turned my full attention on Zera.I wanted her head, and I was more than happy to take it myself.
Zera’s grip tightened around her sword’s hilt, her eyes darting around for any remnants of her shadows—but they had all but abandoned her, shrivelled to nothing under the force of my hellfire.Now, it was just her and me, my daggers gleaming in my hands, flames still dancing at my fingertips.
