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Mason drops his chin, his cold glare settling on Caleb. “I should have known you would do this. You’re no longer the leader of the vampires, and I will not allow the Faeries to be brought into the mortal plane.”
“This is bigger than that, Mason,” Caleb growls, his body tightening. Every muscle is locked. Every fiber is flooding with fury.
Mason shakes his head. “It was Faerie magic that made the Van Helsings powerful enough to bring the vampires—our people—close to extinction. That must not happen again. I won’t allow any of you to do this.”
So be it.
Caleb rushes his former friend and slams into him, using surprise to get the better of him. He swings the bag and slams the book into the side of Mason’s face. “You’ve been brainwashed by the Council, Mason. Don’t you get that?”
Mason’s eyes widen and he stumbles backward, a sneer curling his lip. His fangs flash as he leaps forward, grappling with Caleb for several long seconds before easily shoving him away.
“What are you doing? You’re a weakling now,” Mason snarls.
Maddy tries to join in, but Cora catches Maddy’s arm. “Not now,” Cora says. “Let them do this.”
Caleb plants his feet into the ground, hating how weak he feels as a mortal. His heart pounds in his ears again—did it always happen this way?—and his blood pulses through him. With a snarl of his own, he rushes at Mason again.
Except Mason pushes him to the side, throwing him into a row of chairs for a non-existent audience, knocking them to the side where Caleb trips over them. The clatter echoes in the hall.
“Don’t you get it?” Mason demands.
“Don’t get what, Mason? What?” Caleb bellows as he climbs to his feet. “That you’re not a leader at all? That you’re only a puppet for the puppeteers?”
“No, that you can’t win, Caleb. You’re a mortal. Nothing more.”
Roaring with rage, Caleb runs at Mason again. He feints right as Mason whips out a furious strike, then quickly ducks under his outstretched arm. Everything feels so much slower. So much weaker. But he doesn’t let that stop him. His head plows into Mason’s chest, eliciting a satisfying grunt from his old friend.
“Fool,” Mason spits, catching Caleb in his arms.
They twist and struggle, but Mason’s body feels like steel and Caleb is practically putty in his hands. Mason catches Caleb, his arms clamping around from behind and instantly tightening. The vice-like grip closes around his ribs, trapping him, but Caleb slams his head backward into Mason’s face.
Mason grunts, but doesn’t release Caleb. In fact, his arms jerk and tighten, as if the jolt of pain is fueling them. Caleb squirms and tries to drag in a breath, to fill his lungs with oxygen. It’s not working. Instead, Mason’s grip grows tighter.
All the air is squeezed out of Caleb’s chest. His ribs crack. It’s impossible to move.
“I warned you,” Mason sneers close to Caleb’s ear. “Now they’ll have to watch you die.”
A buzz grows in Caleb’s ears, bigger and louder until it spreads through him. A warmth blooms in his chest. It bursts into a flaming inferno. His arms shake, his legs give out. The bag drops from his numb fingers, the book landing with a thud.
But Mason holds tight.
Assuming he can contain what he’s unleashed.
“Caleb, no!” Maddy shrieks. She must understand what’s happening inside of Caleb. Once more, she tries to rush toward him.
“Hold her back, Cora!” Caleb yells as the power in him reaches a chaotic frequency, as though every cell inside his body vibrates with the energy inside him.
Cora drags Maddy back from the fight.
Everything goes crimson, and Caleb can’t see anything but red. In the distance, he feels Maddy, but there’s nothing else. He must win. He must save…
Suddenly, the energy bursts out of Caleb, and Mason’s grip disappears. Caleb turns around to see Mason crumble in a pile of charred remains. One of the nearest council members rush at him, and Caleb meets the hulking man.Destroy them all!
Within moments, Caleb pulls the man’s arms from his body and snaps his neck. Another council member charges at him. Then two more attack. But each of them falls to the ground in the great hall.
One more. One more.The words beat in Caleb’s mind. It’s a drum beat which doesn’t stop.
Elias stands against Caleb, now one of the few remaining.
