AllFreeNovel
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I sprang forward in a full-out sprint toward the cliff, instinct driving me straight to the edge. In one powerful leap, I shot off, not bothering with the steep path. The jump should have been impossible. Not just for a human, but a shifter too. But for me, in that moment, it was as easy as stepping over a puddle.
My paws hit the sand with a bone-rattling thud, the shock waves rolling through muscles already moving again as I bolted toward the figures standing next to the tornado. I scanned the surroundings, needing to take in as much as I could to prepare for this confrontation. But what I saw nearly took me out at the knees. Kingston was in the water, bobbing face-down, too still. I wanted to go to him, but I couldn’t. Not when I caught sight of Noah’s broken and bleeding body a few yards away in the sand. If not for Alek’s brutal war cry, I might have given up then and there.
Still surging ahead, I watched in mounting horror as Alek swung his battle-ax and leapt off the ground, throwing himself between my mother and a shimmering green portal. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of the too-tiny bundle arcing in the air.
Alek’s eyes widened as he reached out for Eden, and as I looked on, I came to a stop, shifting back to my human form and screaming at the top of my lungs. He caught her with one hand, curling her protectively against his chest like some superhero version of a football player, but any relief I felt vanished as they both disappeared into the swirling green vortex in a flash of light.
Time stopped as I dropped to my knees, my scream one incoherent wail. Finally seeming to realize I was there, my mother turned to face me, her lips lifting in a malicious grin.
“How touching. You arrived just in time for my big moment. You’re such a good daughter, being here to witness my victory.”
I stared her down, letting pure rage collect in my heart with every passing second. My vision ran red as I flicked my focus to Noah’s prone form, to Kingston, drowned and lost to me. She would pay.
A hum built inside me, moving through my veins like quicksilver, burning white-hot as copper-colored smoke blurred in my periphery. My mother’s brows rose as she assessed me.
“Ah, look at you. Finally decided to claim your birthright? You could have brought the world to its knees long ago if you’d only been stronger. Your humanity has always been your weakness.”
I didn’t understand what she meant until my body was engulfed by the mist. It was coming from me. It transformed as quickly as it appeared, solidifying into something else entirely. Something I’d desperately needed. Armor now cloaked me, black plates detailed in red. Thick and weightless all at the same time. And at my side, sheathed in a holster, was a heavy sword.
My hair floated as though I was underwater as I strode toward her, fury propelling me forward.
“You took everything from me.”
She smirked. “You never really had anything, remember?”
“And now you won’t either.”
Behind her, the portal was still a swirling vortex. I could hear inhuman shrieks growing louder with every step. Hell’s army preparing to unleash themselves on an unsuspecting planet.
Not on my fucking watch.
“I will not be your pawn any longer.”
Even though I’d never preferred the sword—it was too bulky a weapon for my tastes—I pulled this one free without issue, continuing to let instinct drive me.
Her laugh was mocking as she spread her arms wide. “Oh, you think you’re going to hurt me with that? Go ahead, Sunday. Take your best shot if it’ll make you feel better. Run me through. I’ll show you what real power can do. Your pitiful weapon is no match for me.”
My wrath was all-consuming, a furious, righteous anger. It bubbled in my veins, a molten flame forging me with its purpose. With a battle cry that would’ve made my Alek proud, I released every ounce of fury I had, pouring it from my broken heart straight through my fingertips. The blade burst into blinding flames as I shoved it clean through her armor until it poked out her back.
She gasped. Eyes wide, mouth opening and closing in shock. “Michael’s sword. How?”
“I know people,” I grunted before pulling the sword free and watching the blood trickle out of her mouth. “Fuck you, Mother. I hope you burn in hell.” I raised my booted foot and kicked her square in the stomach, sending her falling backward into the portal she’d worked so hard to open.
I wished I could say I enjoyed it. Watching her body be consumed by the demonic vortex. But it happened so fast, there was no time to do more than blink.
She was there and then just... gone.
As soon as she went through, the black sides of the gateway turned to smoke, spiraling into the green light like water down a drain until the entire thing closed. Snuffed out as if it had never been.
The waves calmed from raging peaks to gently lapping at the shore, the sky now a backlit canopy of beautiful twinkling stars.
The sword slipped from my fingers as the rage fueling me died out. I sagged to my knees, my chest feeling like an open wound. I should feel victorious, but all I felt was soul-crushing grief. They were gone. All of them.
Everything I’d ever loved, ever wanted for myself, for my future, was fucking gone. Stolen from me before I had a chance to enjoy any of it.
What good was a world without them? I should have let it burn. I should have let all of it fucking burn.
“Fuck, Sunshine. You are a goddamned badass. Will you wear that armor the next time we role play?”
