Chapter 48
Let It Burn
I release a roar as I come out of the vision, kicking and punching. Power like I’ve never felt before surges through me. I can also feel my sisters as theirs pulse through the air, so palpable I can taste it.
“You’ve never been alone, and you were never the weakest link. Your power was just hidden,” Lee Ann says in my head.
“I get it now. I understand.”
“This was our destiny. The Council of the Phoenix and the fire sirens will rise again. Born of ash, risen through song.”
Ray releases a roar that shakes everything around us. I feel it in my soul. She absorbs the wall of wind surrounding us. I then pull in the wall of fire before the wall of ice disappears. I land in a crouch with my arms held behind me and my chakrams in my hands.
Smoke pours from my nostrils as my power pulses in my veins. Flames light my chakrams, flowing from my hands. Embers begin to rise from the floor where I stand.
Looking up through my lashes, I glare at Seraphina who’s staring back at me. Quickly, I glance around for Bradan who once stood where she is. I found all our mates trapped. Bradan is roaring in anger as he’s engulfed in flames.
“They are strong, but this is our house. Bring them down,” Lee Ann says in my head.
“The fire bitch is mine,” I snarl.
I don’t have to think about it this time. I flash to Seraphina and grab her by her hair before I teleport to Bradan’s secret place. Once we are in the underground great hall I toss the bitch by her hair across the room. I land on my feet and dig my heels in as I slide with my own landing.
“Taylor, baby. You can do this. I’m watching, baby girl. I’m with you. I can see through your eyes. Kill the bitch and have no mercy,” Bradan says in my head.
“No problem, babe. I’ll make it quick and then I’m coming for my man.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Seraphina gets to her feet and shakes her head as if to clear it. I stalk to her right as she begins to move to my left. I punch at the air and a ball of fire flies at her.
I’m taken by surprise when she opens her palm and absorbs it. I nod to myself as I note that something has changed. I’m not going to underestimate her.
“You weren’t expecting that, were you? My parents have unlocked my true powers just for me to kill you and your mate,” she cackles.
I shrug and change course. I run at her, moving lightning fast. Then, I throw a few blows up close. I land a punch to her face and two body shots. From the look on her face, she wasn’t expecting the force behind the blows or how fast I came at her.
I grin at her and dance back before she can counter. She growls and charges at me, bringing out that whip of hers. I have my chakrams holstered at my back, but I don’t reach for them just yet.
Instead, when she lashes the whip at me, I catch it with my palm and wrap it around my hand, yanking her toward me. She falls forward. I use that momentum to spin her and pull her back into me.
When I have her close, I wrap the whip around her neck and tighten my hold with both hands. However, she manages to slip her hands between the whip and her neck.
I don’t let up. I keep tugging as I place a knee in her back. The scent of smoke hits my nostrils and I realize too late she has burned her way through the whip.
I release it and go to shove her forward, but she manages to elbow me first. I groan and stumble back. Chiding myself for bringing her in too close, I shake it off and remind myself that this hall is huge. I need to take advantage of the room.
“It’s not so easy to defeat me all by yourself, is it?” She taunts me.
She flashes before me, but I flash across the room before she can attack. I can tell flashing is new to her because I can read her before she does it. We both begin to flash around the room as she tries again. Her tell gives her way each time.
I decide to go on the offensive and attack the next time she tries to flash at me. She walks right into an uppercut. I knock her on her ass and pounce.
I get on top of her and begin to bang her head on the stone floor beneath her. She wraps her hands around my wrists, trying to pry me off her, but I don’t let go.
She goes to elbow me in the ribs again, but I release her and flash across the room. This time, when she gets to her feet, she begins to resort to her old methods and starts to throw fireballs at me.
I knock them away with my bare hands. I’m beginning to grow tired of this and I still need to help free Bradan. I can feel his agitation.
To my surprise, Seraphina begins to use her palms like flamethrowers. I throw up a shield just as the flames roar toward me. My rage begins to rise. She could hurt my babies with all this bullshit. I want her gone.
Remember .
The word floats through my head as I’m bombarded with memories of Bradan training Api Kecil. I remember her fire wolf coming to life and the power that coursed through her.
As I remember, power begins to rush through me. More power than I’ve ever felt before. It’s greater than the power I felt when I transformed into a flame for the first time.
This is something different. I begin to feel like someone else entirely. Seraphina throws a fireball, trying to break my barrier as she continues with the flames from her other palm.
The barrier does crack as my focus is split. “Taylor, what’s going on?” Bradan’s voice breaks through my head.
“I don’t know. I feel strange,” I reply back.
“Baby, you’re peaking again. Go with it. Don’t fight it. Listen to the words that come to your heart. They will guide you to what’s next.”
Just as he says the words. I begin to feel like I’m going to come out of my body. More memories open up. This time, training with Kendrick fills my mind. I remember my proficiency with the chakrams. I remember the fierce determination that superseded my skills.
I now have the skills and the power; I just need to demonstrate that heart and fierceness. It’s like someone whispers in my ear. I know the words to speak, and I understand what they mean.
I feel them in my heart just as Bradan said I would when we stood together in this very place. I repeat the words that come to me.
“ Ben krali?eyim. ”
Seraphina
My eyes grow wide as this bitch transforms before me. Behind her stands a replica of the little bitch. It raises its head and stretches as it comes to its full height as if awakening from slumber.
It’s an avatar that looks like her. It stands nearly ten feet above her with a crown of fire on its head. If I didn’t hate her so much, I would be in awe.
Her avatar looks like a goddess. She raises her hands, revealing a chakram in each. Then she holsters them.
This causes me to look back down at the real-life being. She too, has a crown of fire perched on top of her head. She has lowered her shield as if I’m no longer a threat as she’s glaring at me with so much hatred.
“Kiss your ass goodbye,” she says then kisses her fingertips and blows on them.
I start to laugh hysterically as tiny embers float from her fingers toward me. Like sprinkles of pixie dust. All of that for this?
“You have to be fucking kidding me. This is all you’ve got,” I laugh out.
The avatar moves, pulling her chakrams and crossing them in front of her as she moves into a fighting stance. My eyes grow wide again as my laughter dies when the tiny embers begin to turn into flames that grow as they rush for me, becoming huge the closer they get. Then they open like the mouth of a wolf.
I don’t have time to counter as I’m too stunned to move. I can only cross my arms over me at the very last second as I scream and drop to my knees.
“ No .”
Bradan
“Fuck yeah, baby girl,” I roar.
I stopped fighting my prison the moment Taylor teleported from the temple to my hidden great hall with Seraphina. I’m so proud of her. As my chest swells with pride, I feel the tides of this battle changing.
Taylor worked for that victory, but it’s not the last one for this battle. I can feel how hard the others are fighting to get free and join the fight.
Suddenly, the room begins to shake. Debris from the ceiling starts to fall. I focus on the room, trying to figure out what’s happening. That’s when a deep hair-raising growl mixed with a grunt fills the air.
“What the fuck?”