A barrel toppled over behind me, ringing out as it hit the concrete. Footsteps slapped against the ground as the fucker took off running. I instantly went for my pistol and raised it to fire. I gave three shots, and Air magic blasted outward. Dust and rocks hit my face as my shots made holes in the side of a building, and some of the residue cut into my cheek and made me bleed. Valen didn’t cry out, so I knew I didn’t hit him.
Marcus fired off his own gun, but he swore, so his shots must’ve missed. Chancey darted forward, but he let out anoofand stumbled to the ground. Valen had socked him in the stomach and kept going.
This fucker was fast. We had to be quicker. Valen’s footsteps became soft, and I figured they’d turned into paws. He thought he’d shift into a wolven and run out of here. Not fucking likely.
“I don’t think so,” Marcus said. “It’s rude not to play with your friends.”
A yelp that sounded like it came from a hurt dog cut through the air, and I heard Valen scrabble his claws against the pavement as Marcus’ telekinesis magic yanked him backward and threw him into a set of wooden boxes. They smashed on impact, and Valen groaned as he changed back.
He scrambled to his feet to make a run for it in the other direction, but Chancey and I blocked his exit before he had a chance. I reached out to grab one arm as Valen attempted to run by, and Chancey caught the other. Together, we rammed our shoulders into Valen’s body and used all our strength to toss him forward. He flew twenty feet and smashed against a wall, breaking chunks out of a wall he slammed into.
My Air magic rushed up around us, and I noticed we’d tossed Valen down a dead-end alley, the only exit being the outlet where the three of us stood.
“Nowhere to go now,” Marcus uttered, letting out a demented laugh. He staggered toward Valen, and I heard him crack his knuckles.
Chancey went to move in, but I put a hand on his chest to hold him back. “He belongs to Marcus. We’re just here to make sure he doesn’t slither away.”
“Fine by me,” Chancey said darkly. “I’m gonna get a kick outta watching this.”
“You’re awful at hiding,” Marcus seethed as he circled Valen. “I’ve already found you.”
“And?” Valen scorned. “Why should I give a shit about you?”
“Let me introduce myself. I’m the nightmare that lives inside of you, and I am going to haunt yourfucking dreams.”
Marcus kicked Valen in the face as hard as he could. I heard a smacking sound as his shoe connected with Valen’s nose and broke it. Valen gave a cry of pain, which was quickly followed by the sound of fists pummeling into flesh. Blood spurted from his nose so far that droplets hit my pant leg. Marcus must’ve been covered in it. It made my heartbeat race and got me pumped.
“Wow, I can see why Charlie likes this!” Marcus cried as he pummeled Valen in the face again and again. “I’m having agreattime!”
Magic pulsed through the area, an energy signature I was used to. It was Marcus’ Curse Breaker powers, and his magic surged the way it did when he broke wards. Only this time, he wasn’t breaking any ward. He was stealing Valen’s powers, much like an Elf would, though Marcus couldn’t utilize fae magic himself. Still, witch magic was similar enough to Valen’s that Marcus was able to manipulate it and force it to change course. He drained Valen of his power so he couldn’t fight back, making the shifter pathetic and weak.
A battle orb sizzled in Marcus’ palm, and Valen’s scream echoed across the island as the battle magic seared his skin. The smell of burning flesh filled the air.
Marcus’ crazed laughter was even louder than Valen’s screams. The dark side of Marcus— the deranged villain living inside of him— had returned. It hadn’t emerged since we’d escaped the Institute, and I’d once thought it’d been a one-off psychotic break. But Marcus was losing it, and this time, he was remembering every moment of his missing sanity.
I understood now thatthiswas who Marcus really was deep down. There was a part of him that lay deeply submerged unless Kallie was threatened. Now that darkness had been awakened, and Valen was going to experience the full wrath of the demonic rage that was Marcus’ fury.
“You wanna fight back?” Marcus asked patronizingly, and he let Valen’s body fall to the ground. “You weak, disgusting, sorry excuse for a piece-of-shit thing. I suppose Icouldlet you try and stop me.”
Valen gave an enraged yell, until his cries of anger turned to pain. There was a sloppy, gory sound, and I realized it was Valen’s eye. Marcus was using Mentalist magic to puppeteer him, forcing him to claw his own eyeball out.
“Ew,” Chancey said, sounding grossed out but not disagreeing. “Put that thing back in. It’s hanging on by a thread.”
Valen wailed in unimaginable agony before Marcus dropped him back to the ground, and the shifter gave a shriek.
“Oh, that’s right. Youcan’tfight back, because I’d never let you,” Marcus taunted. “I’m not even going to let you get a cheap shot in. You won’t put a scratch on me, but I sure as hell am going to fuck you up.”
“Go to hell,” Valen seethed. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“What are you talking about?Everyone’safraid of me, because eventually, I come for you all. Haven’t you heard?I’mthe Lord of Death!” Marcus cried, giving a mock bow. “And death’s knocking on your fucking doorstep. DING DONG, I’M HERE!”
Marcus fired his pistol twice. His magical bullets hit and blew chunks out of Valen’s legs that splattered against my jacket. Off with the kneecaps, I guess. Valen’s cries of agony were so loud, I figured they were going to crack the windows.
“If you’re going to shoot me, be done with it!” Valen raged. He slapped a hand to his face— probably the side that was holding his dangling eyeball in.
“You think I’m going to kill you off right now? Likethis?” Marcus cackled. “No fucking way. You’ve got a long way to go, shithead.”
Marcus kicked him again, this time, in the stomach. Valen coughed a few times, and it sounded thick, like he was hacking up globules of blood.
