Page 49 of Eat, Slay, Love

The air compresses into a brutal wall of force and slams into Jonah's chest, lifting him clean off his feet and hurling him into the brick wall of a building hard enough to crater it. Stone erupts around him, his blood splattering across fractured brick. The impact reverberates through the alley before his body crumples forward.

The world narrows to a single, icy point.

Mine.

I move.

Salt spills from my fist as I run, scattering in a deliberate arc while my dagger strikes the concrete in fast, practiced strokes. I carve Baybayin words into the pavement, each one fed with a pulse of my own energy, the symbols glowing faintly as I close the arc into a circle around Belvedere. My magic pours through the blade and into the ground, sealing the geometry of the ward.

Containment first. Always containment.

The barrier rises with a low, resonant hum.

Belvedere watches, almost indulgently.

Jonah staggers toward us, fury blazing despite the blood loss. He means to cross the forming line.

I shove him. Energy leaves my palm in a concentrated burst that strikes Jonah’s chest and drives him backward, out of the circle a moment before it seals. His boots scrape against the pavement as he catches himself outside.

The ward locks.

Jonah slams his fist against it. “Mayari, no!”

Belvedere touches the inner surface of the barrier with his fingertips, and the entire structure groans. My symbols flicker under the pressure. His eyes shift to mine, amused. “You were trained well,” he says softly. “Poorly educated, but well trained.”

I lunge, dagger aimed for his throat.

He pivots with impossible grace, and my blade grazes his shoulder instead of piercing deep. The Baybayin flares bright, burning where they touch him, but he barely reacts. His hand closes around my forearm and twists sharply, forcing the weapon wide. Pain sparks up my wrist, hot and immediate, and he drives his elbow into my sternum hard enough to lift me off my feet.

I hit the pavement and roll, forcing myself up before he can follow. I slam my free hand into his chest and release a violent pulse of energy. The shockwave explodes outward, throwing him back into the barrier. The circle flashes white-hot as it absorbs the impact.

He recovers instantly.

His claws rake across my ribs before I can reset. Leather splits open. My skin follows. Heat floods down my side, thick and wet.

I stagger but stay low, dragging salt behind me and reinforcing the boundary while carving another word into the concrete with shaking fingers. My magic pours into it in a blinding rush. The circle tightens. The air vibrates violently.

Belvedere snarls now, irritation bleeding through his composure. He raises both hands, and the alley fractures. Concrete erupts upward in jagged chunks, one slamming into my shoulder hard enough to dislocate it, another catching my thigh and driving me to one knee. Pain explodes outward from the impact, stealing my breath.

Outside the barrier, Jonah roars. He slams both palms against the ward. His magic floods into it from the outside, destabilizing the structure. The circle screams under the opposing forces—mine holding, his forcing entry.

“Stay out!” I scream.

He ignores me.

Belvedere advances. His hand closes around my throat and lifts me off the ground. My feet kick uselessly as his strength crushes inward, compressing my airway.

“Adorable,” he murmurs.

I drive the dagger upward into his forearm.

The blade sinks deep. The runes ignite along its length, burning white. His grip spasms, loosening just enough for me to tear free and drop hard to the pavement. I roll, dragging salt with me, carving another binding word beneath his feet while blood drips from my fingertips.

My magic drains fast, slipping through my grasp like water, almost gone.

And now Jonah can force his way through.

The circle splits with a shriek as Jonah tears open a gap and steps inside, blood running freely down his torso. His horns glint under the alley lights.