Once the energy touches the demons and hybrid beasts, it blows them backward, raising the ground beneath them and encasing each one in black flames.
Their shrieks bellow out around me as they burn from the inside out.
Moments later, they begin to deteriorate and turn to ash, the only evidence of them left behind as it floats to the ground.
My ability reaches out, searching for my mates, sensing each one of them as they head straight for me. The tightness in my chest eases, knowing they’re all okay and on their way here.
Before I pull back, I notice the different energies of other supes around me like small, brightly colored lights. Some are more faded than others, my instincts telling me their injuries are more severe.
The silence stretches out around me as I reach out for any other threats, but I can’t find any with all the demons and beasts now destroyed.
The energy inside me doesn’t lessen. It burns with untapped power, looking for another outlet.
Destroying the demons had barely touched the surface.
Luka stumbles over to me, making me pull back from my mind to focus on him. His eyes widen when he sees me, but whatever he sees doesn’t frighten him. He moves quickly and doesn’t stop until I’m wrapped in his arms.
I feel his body shudder as he tightens his grip on me.
“That was close. I couldn’t see you. I thought…” He swallows hard.
“I’m okay. Better than okay,” I tell him, feeling stronger than I ever have.
Luka pulls back, not believing me. He checks me over for any injuries. Once he’s satisfied, he looks around us. “We need to look for the others.”
With that thought, my mind lights up again, sensing each of their warm energies as they get closer. “They’re already on their way here. Jax is closer. He’s hurt but is healing.”
Luka frowns, opening his mouth to speak when Jax limps up behind us.
“Brother.” Luka meets him halfway, helping him over.
“Why is it taking so long to heal?” Luka asks, inspecting his leg. I glance down at it, cringing at the large chunk missing, revealing the bone as it heals.
Jax shrugs. “I guess it takes longer when a chunk is ripped out.”
Luka cringes at his reply, watching it as it slowly heals.
Jax moves over to me, a soft smile on his face. “You just saved us all.”
I shake my head, but he stops me, taking hold of my chin. His eyes search mine, the soft look not leaving his eyes. “You had me worried for a minute. I couldn’t find you.” He shakes his head, chuckling. “And then you stand up and fucking unleash hell on them.” He leans forward, resting his head against mine. “That’s my girl.”
I give him a smile before looking down at his leg. It still hasn’t fully healed yet. A pulse flickers in my mind the more I stare at it.
Jax notices, pulling back. “It’s fine, baby. It’ll heal soon. It doesn’t even hurt.”
I roll my eyes at the idiot. Of course, it hurts. A chunk of his leg is missing. But the pulse grows, and with it, the overwhelming need to touch it.
Stepping forward, I place my hand on his leg and go with my instincts to pour some of the energy into it.
Jax sucks in a sharp breath, and we both watch as his leg heals, the injury disappearing within seconds.
Once it’s fully healed, I pull back my powers, feeling a slight shift of energy over my body.
“Show off,” Jax says but gives me a look, telling me he’s grateful and proud.
Kai, Rion, and Axel find us then, moving effortlessly through the rubble and debris. Kai rushes straight for me and pulls me into him, breathing in deeply. I grab onto him, looking over his shoulder at Rion and Axel.
Even though I knew they were safe, having them here beside me makes me feel more relieved.
“I saw what you did,” he tells me, pulling back to look at me.
I tense up, but he shakes his head. “You’re amazing.”
“Don’t let her head get any bigger than it already is.” Axel smirks at me.
I narrow my eyes on him. “Dick.”
His smirk grows. “Don’t worry, Princess, you’ll still get that later.”
Before I get that chance to reply to the smart ass, Kai moves and Rion takes his place, pulling me tight against him.
“Siren,” he breathes.
He holds me a moment, neither of us saying a word, just holding on to one another like we’re each a lifeline for the other.
Pulling back, Rion kisses my forehead, looking down at me. Swallowing hard, he takes a step back and walks around, looking at the wreckage.
We join him, checking out the extent of the damage. The road and sidewalk are no longer distinguishable, blending together to make a mass wreckage of debris. The buildings are lost among the rubble, no distinctive signs left of what they used to be. Fires are still alight, scattered all over the place, and vehicles are broken and overturned, most burned out or still in flames.
“This is going to take more than a clean-up crew.” Jax frowns, surveying the destruction.
“I added to it when I sent out that blast. I—”
“No. You saved us. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be together right now,” Kai’s says, leaving no room for question.
An icy shiver runs down my back at the tone in his voice, making me wonder how close it was for all of them too.
Jax clears his throat. “I give I.O.U’s in the form of sexual favors.” He gives me an innocent look, his eyes wide. “Just so you know.”
Laughter bubbles up inside me, chasing away some of the guilt and tension around us.
Luka shakes his head at us, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his side.
“We’ll section off this side of the city until we can get it re-built,” Kai says, turning to us.
“We should do a search for any supes lost or still trapped.” Rion sighs, a frown on his face as he glances around.
“Kiarra might be able to help us with that,” Luka says, looking down at me, a smile on his face.
The guys glance back and forth between us wearing puzzled expressions.
“My abilities, they’ve… grown. I can sense people around me and see them like a light in my mind.”
The guys’ expressions turn stunned.
“So what you’re saying is, never try to play hide-and-seek with you?” Jax nods his head. “Got it.” He winks at me.
I shove him playfully, thanking him for breaking the awkward moment.
“If you’re not too tired to try, that is,” Luka says.
“I’m fine.” I didn’t feel an ounce of exhaustion. Whatever power I awakened inside me still feels endless. With just a thought, anyone in the surrounding area lights up inside my mind.
I hear a sharp intake of breath from one of the guys beside me, but I stay focused, searching around me for anyone who might need help. I move from person to person, casting my search farther out, but no other lights are found in our area.
Meaning only one thing… those that were still here, are gone.
Swallowing hard against the lump in my throat, I think about how many lights have faded from this world and into the next tonight. How many families have lost a sister, brother, friend, or partner?
I keep looking for a moment longer before pulling back. Blinking back the burn in my eyes that threatens to spill, I glance up at the guys. They’re all staring at me with awed expressions, making me frown.
Kai steps closer, reaching a hand out to my face. “Your eyes, they’re not just black anymore. It’s like a constellation of stars. They’re beautiful.”
Clearing my throat, I reel back the energy inside me. Opening my mouth, I try to come up with a change of subject, but nothing comes to mind.
Kai gives me a knowing look. “What did you find?”
“Most are making their way in the opposite direction. If there are any supes that were lost or trapped. They didn’t make it.”
“Damn.” Jax exhales.
We stay silent for a minute, the air around us becoming sorrowful with thoughts of those who were lost in the fight.
Our silent moment is broken when we hear movement from behind us. Whipping around to it, we find a portal opening not twenty feet away from us.
The guys are in near shift, still trying to push me behind them when Jazmyn stumbles through.
“Jazmyn?”
The portal closes behind her as she reaches a hand out. I reach her just before she falls forward.
“What happened?” There’s blood all over her. Her hair is matted with it, and there are cuts and bruises all over her.
She opens her mouth to speak but stops, swallowing hard, trying to catch her breath.
I check over her injuries. Some of them are deep, needing stitches. Others are starting to look slightly infected.
I don’t feel the overwhelming need to reach out and heal it like Jax’s leg, but I reach out and push some energy into her. She gasps as I continue to let the energy flow into her. It’s harder than when I healed Jax, and I have to keep pushing, but slowly, all her injuries heal, leaving only the dried blood behind.
Jazmyn glances down at her body before looking back at me. “How did you?” She frowns, stopping herself. “It doesn’t matter.”
“What happened?” Rion asks, coming up beside me. He glances down at me, smiling, but I don’t know what the smile is for until I catch the guys wearing matching ones.
Kai raises a brow, glancing from Jazmyn to me. I forgot they didn’t know about my upgraded healing ability.
I smile, telling him I’ll explain later, and focus back on Jazmyn.
Shaking her head, she blinks back tears. “It was all a distraction.”
I share a frown with the guys. “What was?”
“Manhattan.” One word strikes us silent, hitting me like a punch to the chest. Surely, she couldn’t mean…
“What do you mean? Jazmyn?”
“The Underworld…” she breathes, barely a whisper. “It’s been breached. Demons and creatures from every crevice are slipping into our realm using Staten Island to do it.”
Dread builds inside me, twisting my stomach with knots and making me feel sick to my stomach.
She shakes her head, glancing around. “We couldn’t hold them off.”
“Kane and Malik?” I ask, my stomach dropping.
She swallows hard, sighing. “They’re okay, but… It’s bad, Kiarra. I’ve never seen anything like it. We barely made it out alive.”
She looks over at the guys. “It all happened so fast, but we opened as many portals as we could to here. We didn’t know where else to go.”
I grab her hand, giving it a squeeze.
Kai nods his head. “Everyone is welcome to stay here as long as they need to.”
“Thank you,” she tells him before sharing a worried look with me.
The guys start coming up with where they can place everyone, going back and forth with different ideas.
Jazmyn looks paler the longer she stares at me.
“What is it?” I ask her, knowing whatever it is wasn’t going to be good.
“King was there.”
The guys freeze, whipping their heads to her.
“He showed up right in the middle of it all. The demons and creatures parted for him like he was their fucking master.” She swipes angrily at the tears running down her face.
Rion shares a look with Kai.
“What could he gain from all this?” Luka asks.
“Hell on earth seems like a pretty big one,” Jax replies.
“For what, though? Those types of demons would destroy every bit of life on earth, leaving nothing behind.”
“There’s more…” Jazmyn tells us.
Jax rolls his eyes. “Of course, there is.”
“King… sent a message for you.” Jazmyn stares straight at me.
“I hope you told him to fuck off.” Axel snarls.
She gives him a scathing look that he doesn’t bow down to. “It wasn’t me he told… The demon only lived long enough to pass it on.”
“What did he say?” I ask her, ignoring the guy’s protests.
“He said, ‘It’s time for you to come home. I’ll see you soon.’”
“Like hell are you going anywhere near that fucking psycho,” Jax grits out.
The others agree with him.
But what else are we supposed to do? Just let him destroy the world and everyone I care about along with it?
No.
It is time. Time to take the fight to him.
Kai sees the look in my eyes, the resolve as a plan starts to form.
He shakes his head, moving closer to me, his eyes pulsing red. “No! Not happening. You’re not going anywhere near him.”
“This is the only way. You know that.” It was always going to end like this. I knew that from the moment I chose to fight instead of running. It’s never going to end unless he’s dead. And if I have to go to the pits of hell to make sure the twisted fuck stayed there, I will.
“No. I’m not losing you again.” He swallows hard, a glint of panic flashing in his eyes.
I reach up, placing my hands on his chest, and feel the hard thump of his heart as it beats like crazy.
“I’m not asking to do this alone. I want you all by my side. We’re a family. We do this together, always.”
Kai’s eyes soften, losing some of the panic. “I wasn’t lying when I told you I’d follow you to the ends of the world. I just… I hate that you’re always in danger… that it follows you around waiting to strike.”
I step into him. He wraps his arms around me immediately, embracing me tight.
Kai sighs. “I know you’re strong, stronger than us all. But I still want to protect you and my brothers. I need to keep you all safe.”
“I know, but we can’t sit by and watch when the world is falling around us. We’re not built like that. We need to act, to help. And if it comes down to it… to kill. Because we know that if we want a better world for us and everyone we care about, we’ll have to fight for it.”
Kai rests his head on top of mine. “I love you,” he whispers. “It’ll never be enough… those words. Not for how I feel about you. But know that it will always be true. No matter what happens.”
“We’ll get through this. Just like everything else,” I tell him, meaning every word.
Kai pulls back, nodding to himself before looking around at the guys. Each of them is furious about the new development, but there’s an air of reluctant resolution around them too.
“What’s the plan?” Jax asks, knowing full well what’s about to happen. Kai stares at them a moment before releasing a harsh breath.
“Pack up. It looks like we’re heading to the Underworld.”
