Page 94 of Hybrid Heroics

A best friend. A fan. A support system.

Cooper, the bear shifter beta, was dutifully waiting at Charlie’s side. He had a mate with young cubs at home, so I knew my dad would watch over him.

A young boy muttered to Sam and Lucy before glancing up to share a dark smile with Ozlo Ness. I didn’t know who he was, but I knew he was no child. He was far older than his appearance. I could feel his power pulsing, the wicked deception of skinwalker magic.

There was a woman standing just behind Raguel, her hand on his shoulder as her brows knitted together.

“She’ll be fine, Leviathan,” Rig assured her. “I know what he’s done to you, but this is different.”

“I trust you, Raguel. But I worry for them. That is why I’m here today. I only get so many days in this form because of him.”

The last two people showed up on Alric’s side while I was listening to Rig’s conversation. They were dragging two hostages with them. Palmer’s dad, Aoiden, and Novak’s dad, whose name I still didn’t know… With their mothers in tow, trying to sway sides.

And that set the Malin siblings off.

Vaughn and Stone shoved Novak, both of them shoulder-checking my furious vampire as his golden eyes swirled with unrestrained rage. Jack snagged Blaire around her waist, stumbling when she shoved forward. She snarled, but didn’t resist him as he mumbled in her ear.

The Lynch twins flanked Palmer, all three of them calculating how quickly they could kill their father from this distance and still get their mom out. They didn’t move, knowing the probability was low right now.

“You won’t fight me, son,” Novak’s dad assumed, his voice even as he instigated my mate. “I’ve got your mother.”

“Don’t let him or Blaire fall for this,” Daphne whispered into my mind, her eyes steely as I stared at her and Aoife. “Not the Lynchs, either. We’ll get out of this.”

“We won’t. Give us just a minute, and we’ll have a plan.”

Grim touched my elbow. “I have an idea. Cover me?”

“Always.”

I made a clone of him, making it look as though he hadn’t moved. But he was Death, creeping in and out of wherever he wanted. There was no ward or spell that could keep him from coming for you. The idiots across from us hadn’t done their due diligence, otherwise they would have known better than to temp a reaper.

Without drawing attention, Grim appeared between my in-laws for a split second before he was gone again, taking his spoils with him. That was his job, after all. A simple grab and go was as easy as breathing for him.

“What the fuck?” Novak’s dad snarled, turning his ire on Alric. “Where did they go?”

“You said she wouldn’t be able to use the Void,” Palmer’s dad shouted in accusation, shaking the man at his side by the collar of his shirt.

Jack cackled as Grim landed behind us with the mothers of my mates in tow.

“Yeah. That bullshit isn’t going to work with us.” I held my arms out wide, showcasing the people Joyner had called my collection. “Meet the new generation, Alric. You were powerful in your prime, but you’re not in your prime anymore.”

“It would have been so much easier to just pass the torch along,” Jack added, shaking his head as he spoke to the people opposite us. “Then live the rest of your lives inside the lines we drew while keeping your life intact.”

“These are the new world leaders. And we’re not waiting around idly for your torches anymore. We’re stealing them, taking what we want while we kill you.” I smirked at Alric, letting him see that he was my sole focus. “You die today. I hope you’ve made peace with that.”

And that was it.

Our fates were sealed.

Forty-six of us against sixty-three of Alric’s strongest followers.

I made the first move, letting the material fall where it may on the board Alric crafted but didn’t control.

Because there wasn’t a soul alive that could control the monster inside me.

Thursday, June 25th

Late Evening