Chapter 33
Thirty-Three
Avery
Avery moved in front of him. There wasn’t a chance in hell she could do anything to protect him, but it was the thought that counted. Never in a million fucking years did she think she would be lying down to be a sacrifice for a shifter, but here she was.
Wren didn’t take her eyes off the shifter, her gaze fixed on the threat. “I’m not asking, Avery. Move away from it now.”
Avery didn’t say anything, only held her head up high. It was almost sad how much Wren sounded like their mom. They had been close once. Not anymore. Not after she had become an enforcer and the spitting image of her mother.
Wren made a signal with her hand, and the sound of cocking rifles rang over the crashing waves.
Tension rippled through the bond as Wren came two steps closer, enforcers following closely behind.
She could feel Felix priming himself for a fight, her body doing the same.
For the first time, the shadows didn’t feel so far away, like they were at her beck and call, simmering just under the surface and ready to strike.
“Don’t,” was all she said to Felix. As much as her sister was a bitch, she didn’t want her to get hurt either. There was a way to come out of this without bloodshed. Because that was what it would be.
“Do you have any idea what you are standing next to? What this looks like?” Wren said, venom dripping off every word.
But her sister had a tell, the slight clench in her jaw told her it was a front, that fear was driving her more than anything.
Avery didn’t blame her for it, though. Her mother and every other person on this island had shifter hatred drilled into them since they were children.
Untold stories about how dangerous they were.
“I know what it looks like,” Avery said, trying to keep her voice even despite the tremble in her arms.
Wren blinked, gripping the rifle. “Then you understand why I have to do this.”
“Please, I’m begging you to let us go.”
Wren laughed coldly. “Leave? Avery, listen to yourself. Where are you going to go with a shifter?” Her demeanor showed a crack for only a second before it went back to its practiced mask.
She never used to wear it, not much anyway, but since she became a commander, since her father had died, it had become a permanent fixture on her.
“The shifters killed our father,” she said, devoid of any emotion.
She held her sister’s gaze. “He could still be alive.”
“Don’t be stupid. Shifters have killed so many of us, and you’re standing there having a fucking stroll with one.”
Avery flinched, but she didn’t let the doubt take root.
She knew it looked like she was spitting on her father’s empty grave.
But what she didn’t have enough time to explain was, well, everything.
The bond, the bunnies, the goddess, the statues.
That everything wasn’t what it seemed, and that she had bet her life on Felix, several times over.
But there wasn’t enough time. Her throat felt tight, words scraping out as she spoke.
“We have it all wrong. Shifters are not who you think they are.”
Behind her, Felix said nothing, but she felt another thrum of power surge down the bond, a crackling force ready to unleash at any moment.
Disgust flickered along Wren’s face, her eyes hardening. “I will not let one of them take another one of my family away.”
Avery’s heart dropped, a conflicted flicker going through her. Her sister did care, but it was too late. Avery knew what she was about to do. Time seemed to stop, the beach deadly quiet as Wren sent out the command. “Take the shifter!”
“No!” The word tore out of her as chaos ensued around her.
The enforcers moved.
But Felix moved first.
Shadows exploded as the monster inside Felix formed into a beast as large as the dragon.
It let out a deafening roar, bullets slicing through its limbs.
No matter what they thought. It was still Felix.
Her mate. She had to stop this. Had to stop him from being killed.
But before she could do anything, a whip of darkness flung Avery into her sister.
No.
Pain flared up her side as she landed in the cold sand. The impact knocked the air out of her lungs, while bullets continued to whistle past her as she took wheezing breaths.
“What are you doing!” Avery said to Felix through the bond.
“You will be safe with her. I will hold them off for as long as I can.”
Shot after shot rang out. She saw it unfold in slow motion. Shadows moved everywhere, piercing enforcers like spears and tossing their limp bodies into the ocean, the inky depths claiming their souls. Magic burned her nostrils so much that she wanted to claw it out.
Her sister’s hand wrenched Avery’s arm, pulling her off the sand. “We’re leaving.”
With surprising strength, she got on her knees and pushed Wren back a few feet.
Shock plastered on her sister’s face, as if she didn’t think Avery would fight back.
Well, she was sick of being predictable.
Sick of being underestimated. Sick of being drowned by the weight of others.
It was about time she clawed her way to the fucking surface.
“Stop this! You don’t understand,” Avery said, rising up from the sand.
“I understand perfectly,” she snarled.
Using her fingers, she felt for the mating bite on her shoulder.
When she found it, she sank her nails into it.
Pain radiated out from the wound. But she didn’t care.
She kept going until hot rivulets of blood ran down her chest. Avery called forth her shadows.
They listened to her, because they were hers.
This was her power, and no one, not even Felix, could take that back from her anymore.
First, she formed her shadows into wisps that left every part of her exposed apart from her lady bits.
Because goddess forbid a powerful bitch not want her hoohaa out on display.
The mating marks glowed gold on the edges, lighting paths around her body.
And with the way Wren’s face dropped, her sister had seen them immediately.
Wren’s eyes went wide. “What—” She stopped in her tracks. “What have you done?”
“You should have let us explain.”
A bitter laugh escaped her sister. “It has you fooled. It’s a hunter, Avery. It’s not a pet, or a friend, or whatever you’ve told yourself it is. They are our enemy.”
Just for a moment, a seed of doubt placed itself within her.
Wren seemed so certain that what she was doing was wrong.
Years of the academy whispering that she had been made into a fool.
Then, she thought of Felix putting his life on the line for her, of the goddess, and for fuck’s sake, herself.
She knew her heart better than anyone. And she burned that seed to fucking ash. “Then what am I now?”
Wren swallowed, signaling something behind her. The dragon lowered its head next to her sister, growling at Avery. Heat radiated off its scales as if it were brewing fire in its throat.
“Enough,” Wren spat. She gripped her wrist, but Avery was faster.
Already raising her hands, she reached for the well of power within her.
Magic gathered in her palms, a crackling electricity racing through her veins before she threw everything she had from pure instinct.
Shadows burst out, whipping her sister back into the leg of her dragon.
Its head snapped back, roaring up at the night sky in pain before shaking its head, its long neck swaying with the motion.
The recoil slammed through her arms, leaving them shaking.
She’d never channeled that much power before, hadn’t known she could.
Avery didn’t run immediately. She watched as Wren picked herself off the ground, making sure the blast hadn’t killed her. But it had royally fucked her up. Blood flowed from her temple, sand all in her uniform and hair, face twisting into fury.
As much as Avery liked her newfound power, she did not want to stick around for the butt of her sister’s rage. Too late. A deranged smirk spread across her sister’s face. Oh shit. Yep, she had pissed her off. Time to go.
Avery scrambled through the sand toward Felix, who was still thrashing shadows in every direction. Many enforcers were either dead and crumpled on the sand or missing. The few that were left were quaking in their boots. It wouldn’t be long before more enforcers came.
Felix spotted her from across the range, hesitating for just a second.
It was long enough that the enforcer shot out a bullet, its path leaving a blazing trail across the monster’s form.
But it didn’t hit, only bounced off his form.
Fury ignited in his eyes as his head snapped toward the enforcer who shot at him.
The monster cast out its shadows, wrapping around the rifle, crushing the barrel inward and forcing it up towards the enforcer’s face, while another shadow pulled the trigger.
The head exploded, chunks flying across the sand.
Avery gulped at the gruesome sight, at the bodies scattered on the floor. Was she really doing the right thing? Her stomach flipped. But it didn’t matter now; it was done.
“We have to go,” she yelled into his mind, hoping desperately that it would reach him. This was only going to end one way. Felix may be more powerful, but these were trained enforcers; their only chance was to run before more came.
The monster only roared as more shots rang out, and Felix put himself between them and her. “There is nowhere to run, little witch, we must fight.”
It was then that she realized. She wasn’t talking to the monster. Felix was conscious in there. It wasn’t some mindless beast. He was choosing to stand there and die for her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her sister raise her hands.
Fuck.
“Run!” she screamed at him.
Felix turned around, looking her dead in the eye. Like he was memorizing her face for one last time. No. Please run. You stupid fucking cat!
Flames lashed out of Wren’s palms, the rifle long discarded.
They raced towards Felix, trailing in the sand before engulfing him in a wildfire, wrapping around his legs like vines.
He let out a deafening bellow, trying his hardest to break the binds.
The sound cracked her chest right open. It was futile.
Avery watched as they flew over him like ropes, forcing him to the ground.
Something caught her from behind, not Felix’s shadow but the cold grip of an enforcer.
Warded handcuffs bit into her wrists. She looked behind her to see Callum’s face, his expression unreadable as he forced her to the ground, her knees taking the impact.
She wasn’t even surprised at that stage.
Of course, it was him. The last few hours had her soaring and only to crash right back down.
Numbness seeped through her, protecting her from losing her shit entirely.
There was still a chance. There had to be.
A blast hit her chest, snapping her head to the floor as Felix roared out. The enforcers worked in tandem, creating a ward that she hadn’t seen before. He thrashed against the flames, his shadows slowly dissipating, getting picked up by the wind as if they were merely smoke.
The ward came from below, a complex pattern spewing flaming strings and tangling Felix in its web.
The magic that had felt so alive only moments ago had died to a strangled whisper.
Four enforcers surrounded him, holding up their hands to control the ward’s movement.
How many shifters had they captured like this? How many had her mother imprisoned?
The monster had gone, leaving only Felix kneeling on the ground, his body trembling as he still fought the wards that restricted his every movement. Avery looked around desperately, searching for something that might help. Anything.
Goddess please, she begged. Do something!
But she was only met with silence.
The goddess was still a bitch then.
Felix’s chest moved with haggard breaths. When his eyes found Avery’s, he stilled, face softening. “I’m sorry I could not protect you.”
He was apologizing. He was kneeling in a binding ward designed to torture shifters, surrounded by enforcers ready to kill him, and he was apologizing to her. This was all her fault. She had done the ritual. She had made him be her familiar.
Rage ignited in Avery’s chest as she thrashed against the hold. Callum didn’t let her move an inch as she watched her sister cross behind Felix. It couldn’t end like this. Not when she had just found the one person who made her feel alive again.
“This is for your own good,” Wren said, looking Avery directly in the eye, and put a hand onto his head before he slumped forward into the sand.