Chapter 37 #2
“Doesn’t matter,” I reply, magic crackling at my fingertips. “If he’s against us—” I don’t need to look at her to know that Elly doesn’t like this. Honestly, neither do I. After everything that happened with William and the family, I thought there was hope for him. Elly gave me hope for him.
William comes to a stop a few feet away, but I can immediately tell it’s not really him. His face holds no emotion, and his eyes are distant and glassy—as if he’s being controlled.
Looking up again, I’m pummeled in the face by a foot, my nose breaking upon impact.
A sharp sting erupts, and blood gushes down my chin.
A flurry of wings and a second kick send me stumbling backward.
From the corner of my eye, I see William pounce on Elly.
She manages to block his fangs by jamming my dagger into his open mouth.
Her earth magic shoots out in thick vines to constrain him—weaker than usual, but she’ll manage.
Assured that Elly can take care of herself, I focus my attention on the smug bastard in front of me: the Nephilim, Inakr.
“I take it you got tired of cleaning up my messes?” I say dryly, wiping my bloody nose on the sleeve of my jacket.
My magic crackles in the palm of my hand, assessing the situation around us.
An invisible wall surrounds Inakr, preventing me from simply blowing him to pieces on the spot.
He clearly expected a fight and came prepared, suspecting that he might not be able to best us without protection against our magics.
Despite the collar clasped tightly around Elly’s neck, it’s as if he fears it might not be enough.
It speaks volumes that I notice whatever protection the Nephilim has, he didn’t extend to Nagamaru. They’re expendable in his eyes—something I’d bet they have no idea about.
“Something like that,” Inakr answers, a vicious smile twisting his lips.
“How did you find us here?”
Inakr glances sideways at Nagamaru, and I know enough. It’s probably the only reason he revealed himself—he couldn’t risk things going wrong. With Nagamaru trapped, it would only be a matter of time before we could break them and discover the Nephilim’s involvement.
Inakr’s attention returns to me. His eyes blaze with anger, irritation, and something I can’t name, alerting me that he’s about to—
The Nephilim swipes at me with his wings, and my reaction is a fraction of a second too slow to completely avoid him.
My magic proves ineffective, confirming what it told me about his protection.
The only thing I can do is raise my left arm to parry his attack, which shreds my limb in the process.
I curse as pain surges through me, clenching my jaw to hold back any further reactions.
The feathers of his wings are even sharper than my brother’s.
With most of my magic blocked, preventing me from attacking Inakr directly, I take a page from my brother’s book and form it into a sword. The blade connects with the Nephilim’s wings, and a few feathers flutter down. It takes him by surprise, momentarily distracting him, but that’s all Elly needs.
She jumps onto Inakr’s back, plants the dagger in one of his shoulders, and wraps her earth magic tightly around his neck.
A black vine with sharp thorns digs viciously into his skin, much like the collar still restraining her.
Inakr snarls and reaches behind him in an attempt to throw her off.
She just bares her teeth in response and tightens the vine until she draws blood.
Elly continues to pull while avoiding his razor-sharp wings.
With one more tug, both of them crash to the ground.
She remains on top of Inakr, his back arching as he furiously claws at the vine around his neck.
Realizing his wings are more of a burden at this point, they shoot back into his shoulder blades.
No longer hindered by them, the Nephilim reaches for her once more.
“Mal,” Elly yells, “I can’t hold him for long. William—” She’s cut off as Inakr plunges a small knife into her side. “You son of a—”
I don’t hear what else she has to say. The moment I turn to find William, he’s on top of me, having escaped from his own confinement.
His teeth slice through the sword like butter, the magic sputtering and falling apart.
With no other option, I use my still-healing left arm to keep William from ripping out my throat.
His long canines sink deep into my skin, and I grit my teeth against the sharp pain.
I headbutt the First Son, and he lets go with a yelp, staggering back for a moment, looking feral. He raises his hands, revealing his sharp, claw-like fingers, ready to come at me a second time. “Mal! Hurry!”
William doesn’t even seem to recognize me. Is he under Inakr’s control? It certainly looks like it. But how? The Nephilim’s a half-breed; he shouldn’t have this kind of power. Unless he’s not.
Dammit, Yblis needs to start paying closer attention to who conceives children with whom because this is a mess.
William lunges at me with claws bared, and I nick his leg with my magic in response.
He snarls as he goes down, but he immediately starts to rise again, coming for me with claws and teeth.
I barely manage to avoid him. He’s fast, and I’m held back by the fact that I don’t want to kill him if it can be helped.
I know I could live with it if he were to die, but Elly would rage at me if it happened by my hand.
There’s a crackle, and magic surges through the air with a loud whoosh, almost knocking me off my feet. It hits William with full force, blowing him off me. He lands on the ground, slightly dazed despite his controlled state of mind, buying me a few seconds to assess the situation.
Nagamaru has fully healed and somehow managed to break free from the spell containing them. Back in their female form and wielding a bone dagger, they tackle Elly with a yell.
Elly tumbles off Inakr, the dagger clasped firmly in her hand, but Nagamaru pulls her up by her hair before she can put it to use.
They plant their own dagger in her neck above the collar, completely running her through.
Elly lets out a pained cry that boils my blood with fury, and I see Nagamaru flinch slightly, as if they don’t want to harm her.
They swiftly pull the dagger free, and blood flows from the gaping holes in her neck.
Elly coughs, sputtering blood down her chin, staining her blouse.
“Apologies, pet,” Nagamaru whispers in her ear, “but I need you to be otherwise occupied for now.”
Elly clutches her hand around her bleeding throat as Nagamaru pushes her away, and she falls onto her ass.
She drops the dagger, and I swiftly pick it up as I turn to help her, my vision clouding with rage.
I don’t get the chance to act on my rising anger, though.
William jumps on me once more, his teeth sinking deep into my shoulder.
A snarl escapes me as I drop to my knees with the First Son clamped down on my shoulder.
Inakr stands before me, leaning over and casually plucking the dagger from my hands.
He inspects the blade for a moment, then a cruel smile curls his lips.
His eyes flick to mine, and he plunges the dagger into my stomach, twisting it for good measure.
Using my own weapon against me is a nasty move, but I’m not surprised to find out he’s that kind of person.
I curse, my hands instinctively clutching the weapon as soon as the Nephilim lets go. They tremble slightly as I grip the blade. Inakr is stronger than I expected, solidifying my suspicion that he’s not a half-breed but a pureblood.
Together with William still gnawing at my shoulder and my other wounds taking suspiciously long to heal, the strain on my magic is rapidly becoming too much.
Before I can redirect some magic to keep it from happening, both of my glamors drop, and my skin flushes red.
Even the Eloghyll scars on my arms become visible where they peek out of my sleeves.
Inakr’s lilac-gray eyes widen in surprise for a moment. Nagamaru’s startled “What the hell?” is not nearly as subtle.
I snarl at Inakr as he steps away. He gestures at William, and, being an obedient mind-controlled puppet, his teeth release me. A glance at Elly shows that at least she’s no longer bleeding. She catches my gaze and gives me a small nod of reassurance before Nagamaru shoves her toward me.
Elly falls next to me, her wound ripping open again. Seeing how slowly she heals, Nagamaru’s bone magic clearly hinders her ability to recover.
My hand shakes slightly as I reach for her, pulling her close.
“Don’t worry,” Nagamaru says, stepping up to Inakr, their eyes fixed on Elly. “I won’t let her die.”
It takes a lot to refrain from snapping at him, but I know I need to take this moment to allow my magic to heal me—and for Elly to heal herself. “Seeing your unhealthy obsession with my wife,” I spit at Nagamaru, “I guess she’s what you’re hoping to gain from this.”
“Is it that obvious?” Nagamaru laughs, twirling a strand of bright red hair between their fingers.
“Keep it together,” Inakr barks at them, “and get away from me. Your scent is nauseating.” Nagamaru’s eyes fill with anger for a fraction of a second. They try to hide it by shifting back to their male form, but I catch it. And in the squeeze Elly gives me, so does she.
They can’t stand each other.
I grin viciously. “What about you, Inakr? What kind of greed drives you?”
He doesn’t seem pleased with my words, but I couldn’t care less. “The same as it has been ever since you started monopolizing the market. I want you gone.”
“Unsurprisingly boring.”