Adrian is young, maybe our age, and he standswithin inches of us. Like a guard dog, he puts himself between us and his leaders, but he’s close.Tooclose, and that’s his first mistake.
Gemma pulls a sharp pin from the bun atop her head, and her hair comes toppling down as she stabs him in the ankle. Adrian yelps, kicking Gemma in the stomach, before I punch the back of his knees, knocking him to the ground.
I help Gemma up and we start backing away as Cain and Fenris turn and charge towards us. Gregory and Sampson follow too, chased by Reina, and I can see Leo and Rowan running from another section of the carnival.
There’s a crackle of lightning in the air. The battle has truly begun.
My ears ring from the sounds of snarling, of snapping jaws and bones, and elemental magic sparking all around us. Rowan, Baelor, Khalid, and Draven all come out to play just as six additional lupion file through the gate. An arm crosses in front of my face, and I bite down, using every bit of strength I have to break through fur, flesh, and muscle. Another lupion pushes me, and my head hits the table, blood dripping from my forehead into my eyes.
Using my magic to pull water from the air, I spray a lupion as hard as I can. It probably looks ridiculous, but it does the job as he coughs violently, shifting away from me.
Everything happens too fast. I’m holding Gemma up, her arm over my shoulder, trying to get her out of the fight, but I can hardly see through the blood, all of my senses heightened. I taste the metallic tang of blood as I get her behind the popcorn stand and prop her up.
Running back towards Tempest’s body, I take in the entire scene. Rowan’s heavy, strong fist swings, managing to knock either Sampson or Gregory unconscious, leaving the other one to defend himself. I don’t think it’ll be long before Rowan fucks this guy up, too. Fenris is going against my brother, and Cain against Draven. The four men fight with claws, teeth, weaponry, and magic, and I flinch with every bloody strike of fleshon flesh. Cain’s lightning crackles, but Fenris hasn’t revealed his magic yet, too busy trying to dodge Khalid’s fireballs. I have to force myself to look away.
Draven was smart, ensuring those with access to magic fight one another, trying to keep everyone evenly matched to ensure our survival. Rowan might be the strongest physically, but he won’t make it out of this alive if Cain blasts him with lightning.
Baelor and Leo are further away, going against four of the other wolves, clearly struggling to keep up with their slashing claws. I cup my eyes with my hands, trying to see better, when I see Aida tail-whip a lupion and smile.
That’s our serpent.
Tempest is still on the ground, and I need to find a way to get to her without getting myself injured in the process. If I don’t act soon, one of the pack might grab her, and then there’s no telling what will happen to the treaty… or to Tempest.
“I demand to speak with Raph,” Cain says through gritted teeth.
“Raph can’t get to the phone right now, but please, feel free to leave a message,” Draven says, the sass reminding me of Baphomet.
It’s amazing how calm he is, given the situation, but I think he’s goading Cain, trying to enrage him further.
Magic seems to flow between them, like magnets repelling, bouncing off each other’s energy with large sparks. Flares of light dance across my vision, and I wipe the blood off my brow, unable to hear any more of what they’re saying from this distance.
I don’t fully understand Draven’s magic. Unlike those of us with atra markings, demon and half-demon power isn’t tied to an element; it’s untethered. Powered by magicite or their own life force.
Gemma once told us that on Earth, all the mages focus their magic on learning something incredibly specific. Like Aida, they might learn to see visions of possible futures, or maybe they can help plants grow or speak to animals, but Draven’smagic is different. She called itcharms,but stated he uses his magic in a much more powerful way, stronger than anything she’d ever seen before.
He can move things with his mind, controlling physical objects as well as energy.
I never thought much of it before, had rarely gotten the chance to watch him fight someone with a matched level of strength to him, but now I can see clearly that she was right. I think the only beings stronger than Draven are full-blooded demons like Raph and Luc.
Ash fills the air, and I breathe it in. It should worry me—the potential damage to my lungs—but the ash instead ignites something in me. It’s part of my brother. It’s proof that he’s alive and his magic is working, and that is enough for me.
Draven is using all of his magic to keep Cain’s lightning at bay, and I wonder if Cain has more than one rune tattooed on his body, given the ridiculous levels of strength he’s displaying.
With how many pack members they’ve sent, I wonder if we should’ve called some felion in for backup, or even members of other lupion packs, but I fear that would’ve made it harder for Tempest in the long run.
I inch closer to Tempest, and I can hear more of Draven and Cain’s argument. They’ve escalated to shouting, and Cain makes no effort to protect Tempest’s body—corpse or not—leaving it wide open for me.
“You people betrayed me! You’re trying to kill off my bloodline!” Cain screams, but Draven doesn’t say anything.
His eyes dart around, clearly looking for Gemma, and I gesture to the popcorn stand. He nods.
A bloodcurdling scream comes from another part of the carnival, followed by a second, and I hear a body thump to the ground. I try but fail not to think about who that might be as I slowly crawl to Tempest.
I hope it was fucking Baelor.
Cain continues his rant on legacies and lineage, not caring about his daughter, never even mentioning her name.
“I’m going to take over Haeresis. It’s time for the lupion to reign. The era of the demon is over,” he says, everything coming out unhinged. “You might be able to kill my heir, but you won’t be able to stopme.”
