Gabriel’s POV
The way he looked at Aria made me furious. I will kill the fucker and dance around his dead fucking body.
I gathered my magic and I blasted it toward Victor.
He was fast. He pulled up a shield and his eyes snapped toward me.
“YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!” he screamed. “I CAN’T WAIT TO TAKE AWAY YOUR MAGIC AND KILL YOU!”
I smirked and fired up my magic again. Victor expected it and sent a blast my way. Aria put up a shield in front of us.
At this point, everybody started fighting. Annie and Mike ran toward Petra to help her with Cora. Nick, Jake, Aria, and I focused on Victor.
He was strong, stronger than I thought he would be. I glanced over at Aria and gave her a little nod. She was panting hard, trying to hold up her shield.
I focused on projecting an image of a cliff toward Victor. Aria focused on projecting pain. As soon as our spells hit him, he staggered back. His magic lost its intensity and his attack stopped.
I was relieved. I took a deep breath and focused on keeping my image inside his head. Aria lowered her shield and increased the pain.
All of it lasted for a few seconds.
I was shocked when I felt Victor push us out of his head. He raised a mental block and blasted his magic right at my sister.
The blast knocked her up in the air and she flew a few feet back.
“ARIA!” all of us screamed at the same time.
I watched her fall back down. She hit her head on the ground, and my blood froze. I gasped and turned around to look at the fucker. I blasted my magic toward him. He didn’t see it coming, and he fell with a grunt.
I turned back around and saw Aria sitting up, holding her head. Nick was next to her, trying to get her to stand up. He was eyeing Victor the whole time.
I raised the magic shield around us, and my eyes glanced at the forest.
Where the fuck is Patricia?
“You put up a good fight,” I heard Victor’s voice behind me.
I turned around and watched him get off the ground.
“The fight isn’t over,” I said.
Victor laughed. “It will be soon.”
“But we have another surprise for you,” Nick said, cocking his head to the right.
Victor looked at him and smirked. He lifted his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
I followed Nick’s gaze and saw Patricia standing behind a tree, glaring at Victor. She was behind him, so he hadn’t seen her yet.
I smirked and looked back at Victor. My shield was still up, protecting us from any magic he could send our way.
I took the opportunity to glance over at the battle between Cora and Petra. The sky above them was still dark. The rain was pouring down on them, and all four of them were soaked. Strong winds came from their direction. Cora looked exhausted, but she was still fighting. Mike and Annie were a distraction. They were attacking Cora, so she would direct her magic toward them, creating an opening for Petra to finish the job. They were very good, but Cora was strong. I was looking at Annie’s wolf, trying to find any injuries. I was relieved when I didn’t see any major ones. She had a couple of scratches and bites, but nothing major. Her wolf looked exhausted but strong. I was so proud of her.
“Maybe you should turn around, fucker.” Jake said coldly, bringing my attention back to our fight.
Victor narrowed his eyes and laughed. He raised his hands and sent another blast toward us. My shield held it back, but it was a hard one. I was panting, trying to keep the blast away. As soon as the blast was over, my shield fell down. I couldn’t hold it up. Victor smirked and riled up his magic again. I didn’t have the time to raise a shield, but Jake and Aria reacted. They knocked Victor’s spell out of the way.
“You should have listened to the boy, Victor,” Patricia said.
Victor froze with his hands up in the air. He was about to hit us with another blast when Patricia walked out of the forest.
She stood in front of Victor, and I could see the color drain from his face. I couldn’t see Patricia because her back was turned to us, but I was sure she was smirking.
“You were dead,” Victor mumbled, his eyes never leaving Patricia.
“I am very much alive, thank you,” she chuckled.
“I felt the bond break,” he growled, raising his hand toward Patricia.
Nick was fast. He put up a shield around us.
“I broke it,” Patricia said, calmly.
Victor gasped. “No. That is impossible.”
“When you know the right people, nothing is impossible,” Patricia said as she looked at Petra.
I was so distracted by Patricia and Victor that I didn’t even notice that the storm next to us had quieted down. Petra was standing above Cora’s dead body, absorbing her dark magic. Petra’s eyes were completely black, and she was mumbling words I couldn’t hear. Black vines spread from Cora toward Petra’s body, enveloping her completely.
My stomach twisted and shivers ran through my body. I’d never felt this much dark magic and it made me sick.
Annie and Mike ran back toward us.
Victor’s angry scream startled me. “Cora!”
Patricia laughed coldly. “One of my child’s killers is dead. The other one will follow her soon.”
Victor stared at Cora’s dead body, not looking back at us.
I think his mental block was down. I grabbed Aria’s hand and focused on projecting an image into Victor’s mind. I showed him Cora’s death. I replayed it over and over again. I didn’t see it happen, but I could imagine it. It would be enough to cause him pain.
Aria projected pain so strongly that it made me shiver. I didn’t know if others could feel it, but this had to be the most intense emotion she has ever created using her magic.
Victor screamed and fell to his knees.
Aria’s POV
My head was pounding hard from the hit.
My forehead was covered in sweat.
My body was exhausted from using this much magic.
But I was determined to bring Victor down.
I wasn’t going to let him hurt my friends. I wasn’t going to let him kill my brother.
Gabriel’s grip on my hand tightened as I struggled to hold the intensity of my projection.
Victor was on his knees, screaming. I saw Patricia smirking as she grabbed the knife strapped to her ankle. She walked up to him, grabbed his hair, and pulled his head up, placing a knife on his throat.
She looked up at Gabriel and me. “Stop the spell.”
We did as she said.
Nick immediately grabbed me. I released a breath I had been holding and melted into my mate’s arms. I was so tired that it was getting hard to stand. The head injury didn’t really help.
Victor opened his eyes and looked at us with so much hate that my knees buckled.
“This isn’t over,” he said in a threatening voice, looking at Gabriel and me. “The prophecy isn’t fulfilled. You are not 22 yet. I will be back. I will take what belongs to me. This isn’t the last time we’ll be seeing each other.”
I shivered, and Nick growled at him.
Patricia laughed coldly as she dragged the knife across his throat. Blood started flowing down his body, and Victor made a gurgling noise.
My eyes widened and I felt bile rising. I buried my face in Nick’s chest. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.
I wanted to turn around and look at Patricia, but Nick stopped me.
“Don’t,” he said softly. “You don’t want to see.”
Patricia was screaming. I could hear her stabbing him. I could hear Victor’s skin being sliced open. The sound alone made my stomach twist.
Nick covered my ears and pushed my head back to his chest. I was thankful. I would surely throw up if I had to continue listening to Patricia mutilate Victor’s body. I could still hear her scream, though.
After a while, her screams died down. Nick removed his hands from my ears, but he still wouldn’t let me turn around.
I looked up at him. He looked fine. He had a few scratches on his face, but I couldn’t see any serious injuries. I was relieved. I couldn’t live if something happened to him.
He looked down at me and gave me a small smile. He bent over to kiss me. His lips sent shivers and spark down my body.
“It’s over, baby,” he mumbled into my lips.
Is it? What about Victor’s threat? What did he mean when he said that he would be back? What did he mean when he said that the prophecy isn’t fulfilled?
I didn’t voice my concerns. Instead, I smiled at him and looked at my brother. He reached out to me, and I immediately let go of Nick. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he lifted me, wrapping my legs around his torso. He made sure I couldn’t see Victor’s body.
I buried my head in his neck, and he rubbed small circles on my back.
“Are you okay, love?” he asked me.
I nodded, not lifting my head.
“It’s over,” he said. “We are okay. Nobody will ever hurt you again.”
“Burn their bodies,” I heard Jake’s voice from behind me. “We have to make sure nothing is left of them.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Mike move. He was holding Annie so she wouldn’t have to see Victor’s body. He walked away, and the next thing I heard was somebody dragging the bodies onto a pile. I turned my head to see Nick with a lighter. He threw it on the pile of bodies, and I could see the flames reflecting in his eyes.
“I am glad his miserable life ended like this,” Mike said coldly. “Too bad he isn’t alive so he could feel what it feels like to be burning alive.”
My stomach twisted, and I buried my head back into Gabriel’s shoulder. He kissed the top of my head and held me tighter.
“We should go,” Annie mumbled. “I don’t want to smell this.”
I agree completely.
“You go,” Mike said. “I will stay and make sure the fire doesn’t spread. We don’t want to ruin the forest.”
“I will stay with you,” Nick said and turned to me. “Will you be okay, baby?”
I nodded. “Yes. Don’t worry. Gabriel is with me. Finish this and come home.”
“I will,” he smiled at me. “Make sure that someone checks your head.”
I nodded, and Nick kissed my cheek.
Gabriel turned around and started walking away. I buried my head in his neck. I didn’t want to see the bodies burning. Annie, Blake, and Jake followed behind us.
As soon as the burning bodies were out of our sight, I motioned for Gabriel to put me down. Jake threw his hand over my shoulders and pulled me to him.
“Are you okay, Minnie?” he asked.
“I am,” I looked up at him and gave him a small smile. “You?”
“Fine,” he mumbled. “I’m worried about Zack.”
My heart clenched painfully, and tears started gathering in my eyes. Zack was fine. He had to be fine.
“He will be okay,” Gabriel said. “I don’t know him well, but I know he is strong. He will pull through.”
I nodded and wiped the tears from my cheeks.
As soon as I saw Mike’s cabin, I started running. I could hear my brother calling me, but I didn’t stop. I needed to see Zack. I needed to know he was okay.
“Zack?!” I called as soon as I burst through the back door. “Cassie?!”
Cassie came running from the living room. She threw herself into my arms and hugged me tightly.
“Oh, my Goddess!” she cried out. “Are you okay? Where are Jake and Blake? Are they okay?”
I didn’t get to answer because Jake came inside the house.
“We are okay, Cass,” he said and pulled her into his arms. “Is Zack okay? Where is he?”
She held onto Jake and sobbed.
My heart stopped beating.
Oh, Goddess, please no.
