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The world around me swirls, my blood spilling onto the ground as I bleed profusely, but the image of Lucas's terrified eyes anchors me. An indescribable surge of fury fills every fiber of my being, overpowering the intense pain and dizziness when Satish growls, climbing in the back of the van and slamming the door shut.
“No!” I gasp, forcing myself to my feet when I am sprayed with rocks as the tires spin, not finding traction.
Desperately, my hand shoots out, clutching the rough metal handle of the van. As the tires screech, I pull myself upwards, trying to summon every ounce of mine and Kora's strength. But before I can fully hoist myself, a violent force meets my face – Satish's fist, as he rips open the door and punches me. The world turns into a sickening whirlwind as I'm flung from the moving vehicle, feeling the harsh scrape of asphalt against my skin.
Bruises form and pain seeps into every inch of my body as I roll across the asphalt, but the thought of Lucas trapped inside that van forces me to my feet.
Jonah's voice intrudes upon my thoughts, a sharp contrast to the growing numbness. It's frantic, filled with a raw panic that mirrors my own. “MARABELLA! I can't find Lucas! Only Corina!”
Gasping, I manage to send back a desperate whisper through our mindlink. “He has Lucas!” I choke out.
Jonah's desperate pleas echo in my mind, the sound cutting through the thick haze that threatens to pull me under. My vision blurs, but the sight of the retreating van sharpens every maternal instinct within me. Driven by sheer determination, I tap into my dark powers.
The ground below quakes and trembles, as it ruptures. Vehicles around me crumple like discarded toys, creating a barrier, blocking the van's way as I hurl every ounce of strength behind it, throwing the vehicle and cutting off the street they were about to turn down.
The van screeches to a stop and I clutch my knees, gasping, the car reverse hitting another car as it is forced to turn back the only other road beside me.
“Don't fail me now, shadows!” I yell as I harness them again, willing them to block the other road.
Suddenly, the car screeches to a stop, and Satish bursts out of the van, rage evident in every line of his face. Summoning every ounce of strength left in me, I lunge the shadows at him. But my energy is ebbing, and my aim is off. The sight that greets me before I crumble to my knees, my lifeblood spilling onto the ground around me. Satish, his menacing silhouette looming large, hand raised.
“Get to Lucas, Jonah! Satish has him!” I murmur through the mindlink only to lock eyes with Satish stalking toward me with a snarl.
“Should have stayed down, bitch!” he snarls. The resounding bang fills my ears. I feel like I've been punched in the chest, the force knocking me backward, and the next I see the stairs glistening through the smoke-filled haze of the sky. Jonah howls somewhere, and I hear the car screech away.
Jonah's howl, a sound filled with raw anguish, slices through the night. But even as chaos reigns, a familiar touch caresses my consciousness – Kyan.
A smile slips onto my face, feeling him. I know Kyan will burn everything in his path for our son. I know he'll show Satish the nightmare he's awakened. Oh, how Kaif will make the skies bleed and the earth tremble for me.
“Marabella!” The mindlink opens and my eyes flutter.
“Baby, where are you?!”
I feel Kaif take over as he tugs on the bond for my location.
“Marabella?!” Kaif and Jonah scream in my head.
I push on the mindlink, which reluctantly opens, but I know I can't hold it open for long as I bleed out.
Kaif's essence floods our bond, trying to pull me back from the edge. But my strength is slipping away, and my thoughts scatter, fleeting and elusive. “Ensure he screams Kaif!” I manage only to hear Kaif's roar in my head.
“No!” His feral snarl replays in my head, and the last sensation that anchors me are the desperate cries of both Kaif, Kyan, and Jonah.
The overwhelming darkness creeps in, pushing everything else out. Kaif's and Jonah's voices are fading, replaced by sheer and utter silence.
ChapterEighty-Four
Eziah
As the Mnemosyne pulls us into the depths of the past, the present becomes a distant echo. I suddenly find myself immersed in an era before our kind had been sculpted by our maker. Before the actions which led to the destruction of so many lives and the creation of so many more. It's startling to realize how the stories we've been told—our history—can be so skewed. Over time, narratives evolve, shaped and contorted by the biases and motives of those who tell them. Just as two witnesses of the same event recount it differently, history too has multiple facets. There are always two perspectives, and then there's the truth. Everything is now challenging the very foundations of what I once believed. However, one thing is clear. Celeste isn't the innocent she portrayed herself to be.
What started with deception, turned to jealousy, and now I am realizing that jealousy was the cataclysm that forged the war. It both started and ended in jealousy. Sure, Hades should have told her, but from his perspective, he was done with his old life, content to be with his mate, yet still loved his kids.
But I think he is right in his thinking, that she would have rejected him. Celeste, being a demigoddess, was partly ruled by emotion. Emotion and power are a combination that can turn deadly fast, that’s one thing I know for certain. Emotion affects logic, and sometimes becomes blinding. It's like watching two bad divorces unfold simultaneously. Yet, Celeste, attacking the very kids he kept hidden, started a war no one could fathom.
It started with Celeste's attack on his son. Then Hades attacked Celeste's village. Hades's manipulation of the villagers, forged the creation of monsters that had no business being created.
In turn, Celeste and her coven attempt a spell to defend their village from the wolves. However, the spell goes awry, turning them into Lycans, rather than controlling the wolves as intended and making themselves stronger. That event marks the creation of the Lycans.
