Alexander’s POV
This wasn’t my Fia.
This was someone else. This was something else.
It wasn’t my sister. It wasn’t my twin. It wasn’t my best friend and the person I grew up with.
This thing in front of me was darkness itself. It was ugly and it possessed the body of my sister, trying to convince us that my Fia was gone.
She wasn’t gone. She wasn’t fucking gone!
I would get her back. We would get her back.
Her magic hit the magic wall that surrounded us and all of us jumped back. The wall was strong enough to protect us, but I could feel it was weakened by the impact.
Sophia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. An angry look appeared on her face. She tried again, but her magic didn’t break through the wall.
“Stop it, Sophia,” my mom said. “You won’t break through it. My magic is as strong as yours.”
Sophia clenched her fists. The ground between us cracked open and hot lava came pouring out, making us all gasp loudly.
“What makes you think that you are as strong as I am?” Sophia mocked my mother.
I screamed when I saw her step into a pool of lava. She looked at me and laughed.
“Don’t worry, Alexander,” she said. “Nothing can hurt me.”
Hearing her call me Alexander was like being punched in my chest. It took my breath away and it was painful. She never called me Alexander, not even when she was angry at me. I was Lex. I was always Lex.
Use the stone, Mom. I mind-linked my mom.
I can’t. She said. I need to hit her with my magic. She needs to be weak and distracted.
Fuck. I had to do something to distract her. I needed to keep her busy so my mom could do what she needed to do to take away Sophia’s magic.
“You aren’t stronger than all of us together, Sophia,” I shouted, making her laugh at me.
She tilted her head and kept her eyes on mine. The blackness in her eyes made my stomach turn.
“We need to distract her,” I whispered to Hunter. “Shift.”
He listened to me and shifted, making Sophia look at him.
“Hi, my Angel,” Hunter said, his voice breaking. “I missed you.”
The trees around us burst into flames. I glanced around and saw our warriors running toward us in panic. The rogues were gone. It was just us and our warriors trapped in the fire ring she created.
She was trying to burn us alive.
“It is ridiculous to call me an Angel while you are standing in the middle of the fire I created,” Sophia snickered, making Hunter whine quietly. “I was never your Angel, and I am certainly not your Angel now.”
The fire around us intensified, proving Sophia’s point.
I glanced at my mom. She pulled the stone out and she was mumbling something. My dad, uncle, and Mason were standing around her, trying to shield her from Sophia’s gaze. We couldn’t let her see what our mom was doing.
“You were always my Angel,” Hunter shouted, clenching his fists. “You will always be my Angel. I will find a way to free you from the darkness, Sophia. I promise, my love.”
She laughed and the darkness came pouring out of her eyes. Fear washed over me and I had to hold back a scream.
No!
Not her! Not my Fia!
Hunter grabbed my upper arm and squeezed it tightly.
The fire ring around us was closing. The fire was so close that I could feel the heat on my back. Our warriors were surrounding us and soon they would have anywhere to go.
Hurry up, Mom. I mind-linked her.
“You will never win!” I screamed at her. “You won’t take my sister from me! You won’t take Sophia from us! We will fight until our last breath for her!”
The thing in front of me laughed. Its eyes were completely black now. Black tears kept pouring on its cheeks, making the creature that captured my sister look terrifying.
Suddenly, a strong wind surrounded us, making me cover my face and my eyes. I fell on my knees and shielded my head.
I heard screaming and shouting around me. I could feel my mom’s magic surrounding me. I could feel the heat disappearing.
“No!” Sophia screamed.
I heard my mom mumbling incantations. I couldn’t look up. The wind and the fire were in a battle over me and I couldn’t move. The noise was deafening and I couldn’t hear anything except Sophia screaming and my mom mumbling incantations over and over again.
Suddenly, everything stopped.
The sudden silence made my ears ring. I gulped and tried to take a deep breath. I needed to calm my racing heart down.
I opened my eyes and slowly looked up. I saw my mom first. She was taking short and shallow breaths. She was staring at the stone in her hands as tears fell on her cheeks.
My eyes snapped to the place where Sophia was supposed to be standing.
Only she wasn’t there. She was laying on the ground a few feet back.
“Fia!” I screamed as I jumped up and ran toward her.
The crevasse that was separating us wasn’t there anymore. All that remained was solidified lava.
I didn’t even realize that Hunter was already there.
“Oh, my Angel,” he cried out as he lifted her from the ground and pressed her to his chest.
He placed a kiss on her lips and buried his nose into her hair. He took a deep breath and a quiet sob escaped him.
She was unconscious. The blackness disappeared from her cheeks. She looked like my Fia again.
“Oh, Fia,” I mumbled, choking on a small sob.
Hunter handed her to me and I hugged her tightly. The knot of fear and anger that I had in my stomach since she disappeared loosened a little. I could take a deep breath now that I had her back.
But the knot wasn’t completely gone. I was angry as fuck because they hurt her. Seeing her body all beaten and bruised had me ready to find Richard and rip him to pieces.
I looked down at her and placed a small kiss on her forehead. She looked so fragile.
Our family was surrounding us. Hunter never let her hand go.
“We have to go,” my mom said as she ran her fingers through Fia’s hair. “The stone won’t hold her for long.”
I looked up at my mom and saw how exhausted she was. My dad was holding onto her tightly.
I looked toward the building and tightened my jaw.
“Take her home,” I said as I handed her back to Hunter. “I will stay and find that fucker.”
I would show him what happened when you tried to hurt my family. I would watch him die and enjoy every second of it.
“There is no need, Alex,” my mom said, making me look back at her. “He is dead.”
My eyes widened. She looked down at Sophia and gulped.
“She killed him,” my mom mumbled quietly.
I looked down at my innocent sister and my heart clenched painfully. I already knew how much she would suffer once we got her back. She would have a hard time dealing with the fact that she killed someone.
“Good,” Hunter mumbled as he picked her up in his arms and kissed her cheek.
He pressed her to his chest and started walking away.
