Chapter 7 Mayhem
MAYHEM
Fury unfurled in the core of my being, my roar of anguish emanating from my very soul, loud enough to shake the windows of Ember’s home.
I should have ended the foul air witch’s life when I’d had the chance long ago, but I’d allowed myself to be distracted.
I had tempered my demonic nature to please my soulmate, and now she was a prisoner.
And for what? That devil-forsaken amulet. The root of all our problems.
The urge to rush inside and destroy the infernal object overwhelmed me, but if I’d learned one thing from Ember and her sister, logic was as sharp a weapon as any sword. I would bring Ember home, no matter the cost. Of that I was certain. The other certainty…
Adrian would die.
I turned on my heel and stormed up the steps. Patrice had vanished, either taking refuge inside or running away. Which, I couldn’t care less. Throwing open the door, I found Miles and Shade rushing toward me, my roar having signaled the alarm.
“What happened?” Miles asked.
I ignored his question and marched into the library, my fists clenched, my rage boiling over. Chaos leaned against the closet door where Ash banged incessantly, and he straightened, alarm widening his eyes as he took in my livid expression.
“Where is Ember?” my brother asked.
“The imbecile from Boston took her.” I brushed past Shade and entered the studio. The amulet still lay in the center of the summoning circle, and I grabbed it, my boot smudging Discord’s sigil drawn in chalk.
I slipped the chain over my head, and the moment the pendant rested against my chest, a surge of power washed through me. The hellfire in the core of my being—normally subdued in this earthly realm—heated to an infernal temperature, and my muscles tightened with newfound strength.
“I must go to the clearing,” I said as I returned to the library. “Adrian demands the amulet in exchange for Ember’s life.”
“Whoa.” Miles held up his hands, his gaze locking on the chain around my neck.
“Brother…” Chaos’s voice dripped with warning.
“Adrian still possesses the power of the stone.” I took the van keys lying on the corner of the desk. “I’m simply making the fight fair. Correct the sigil I smudged. I will return with Ember, and then we will end this.”
“I’ll go with you,” Shade said.
“Me too,” Miles added.
“No.” I whirled toward them, making them flinch. “He instructed me to come alone.”
“That’s not happening.” Shade crossed his arms, jutting his chin stubbornly.
“He will kill her otherwise,” I said. “The power he absorbed was from the broken amulet. It has damaged his mind.”
“Let me out,” Ash screamed and pounded her fists against the door. “I’ll kill Adrian. I’ll kill them all.”
My hands curled into fists. “Make her sleep. Not only is she going to hurt herself, but she’s driving me insane.”
Chaos widened his stance. “In sleep, she will be vulnerable.”
She continued screaming and banging.
I curled my lip. “Awake, she is dangerous.”
“I’m living proof of that,” Shade said.
“Ash poses the biggest threat to your coven,” I said, “so the three of you must take care of her. I will handle the imbecile and ensure Ember’s safe return.”
I stormed out of the house and climbed into the van, slamming the door and peeling out of the driveway before the others could stop me.
The drive to the woods was a blur of red-tinged vision and white-knuckled rage.
The amulet hummed against my chest, a second heartbeat strengthening me and drumming a rhythm of war into my blood.
When I arrived at the forest, I kicked the door open and sprinted into the darkness, the hellfire inside me lighting the path like a beacon.
The trees whipped back and forth, groaning under the assault of an unnatural gale, what few leaves they had left snapping from the branches and swirling around my legs.
The veil had thinned to nearly nothing here, the low vibration of the Underworld seeping through, making the atmosphere heavy, sulfurous, and thick.
I burst into the clearing, skidding to a halt, my boots tearing up the earth.
In the center of the chaos, a cyclone of debris and dust stretched toward the sky, and there, suspended in the eye of the storm, was Ember.
Invisible bands of air pinned her arms to her sides, and her head lolled forward, her purple hair whipping around her face like a flag of surrender.
“Let her go!” I roared, the sound tearing through the wind.
Adrian floated near the top of the tree line. He looked down, a sneer twisting his lips until his gaze landed on my chest.
His eyes widened, greed eclipsing the malice in his expression. “You brought it. Excellent.”
“I brought your demise.” I reached for the hellfire inside me, and thanks to the amulet, it didn’t just spark; it exploded. A pillar of violet flames erupted from my body, incinerating the grass in a ten-foot radius.
Adrian laughed, the sound sharp and grating. “You think a little fire can stop a storm? I am the air, the wind, the wild…I am a hurricane.”
“Then I will burn the sky.” I launched myself at him, propelling my body upward with a blast of fire from my palms. Adrian’s eyes widened, and he flicked his wrist. A wall of compressed air slammed into me like a physical punch from a giant.
I grunted but didn’t stop. I punched through the barrier, the amulet feeding me strength I hadn’t felt in centuries as I grabbed Adrian’s ankle and yanked him downward.
He yelped, summoning a gust that drove me into the ground. I hit the dirt with a bone-jarring thud, but I rolled, dodging a blade of wind that sliced the earth where my head had been half a second before.
“Ember!” I shouted, scrambling to my feet.
Still floating a few feet from the ground, Adrian lashed a hand toward me, and another gust of wind knocked me from my feet. I caught myself, rolling and feinting right before plowing toward him.
He raised a hand again, but the amulet had increased my speed tenfold. I slammed into him, grasping his legs and yanking him to the ground. He grunted, losing his grip on Ember, and the tornado dissipated.
She dropped like a stone.
“No!” I lunged toward her, but she hit the dirt with a sickening thump, groaning as she rolled onto her side.
My breath came out in a rush. She was alive, and that was all that mattered.
“The amulet belongs to me!” Adrian flew upward before descending like a hawk, his hand outstretched, his body torpedoing toward my chest.
His fingers wrapped around the amulet, and he pulled, not with his arm, but with the wind. A sudden, concentrated updraft caught him, rocketing him toward the clouds, and because I wore the chain, I went with him.
He yanked his arm left and right, the metal cutting into my neck like a saw before catching beneath my chin and blocking my air. My legs kicked uselessly of their own accord as he dragged me higher and higher.
“Give it to me!” he screamed over the roaring wind.
He twisted his hand, tightening the necklace like a garrote. The links dug deeper into my throat, slicing skin. My vision blurred, the immense pressure threatening to sever my head from my shoulders. I clawed at the chain, at his hand, and he pinned my arms with his wind, holding me helpless.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t fight. I was about to be beheaded…yet again.
“Die,” he said, but I had no intention of following his order.
I looked down to find Ember pushing herself up, her eyes wide with terror as she watched me dangle.
I will not leave her.
The rage in the core of my being hit critical mass. It wasn’t simply hellfire anymore; it was pure, unadulterated destruction. My demon clawed its way to the surface, and I didn’t fight the transformation. I welcomed it.
A guttural roar ripped from my crushed throat, deeper than any sound a human form could make. My body morphed, doubling in size, horns sprouting from my skull as my tusks lengthened and sharpened. The expansion of my neck snapped the chain with a sound like a gunshot.
The sudden release sent Adrian tumbling backward in the air. The amulet, free from my neck, plummeted toward the ground as I fell. I shot a stream of hellfire at the scorched earth, the heat creating a pillow beneath my feet before they touched the clearing floor.
Adrian corrected his flight, his eyes darting frantically for the prize. He dove for it, but Ember was already moving.
Despite her injuries, she lunged, snatching the glowing pendant from the dirt seconds before Adrian could reach it. She rolled onto her back, clutching it to her chest, and lit a ball of fire in her other hand. With the amulet in her possession, her strength grew, the flames burning white-hot.
Adrian pulled up sharply, hovering ten feet away, his chest heaving. He looked at me—a towering demon prince ready to tear him limb from limb—and then at Ember, who was armed and holding the source of ultimate power.
Cowardice won.
He threw his hands up, summoning a massive gust that launched him into the night sky, faster than should have been possible.
I roared at his retreating figure and sent a blast of fire after him, but it dissipated in the clouds. Slowly, I allowed the hellfire to recede. My chest heaved, and I turned to my witch. “Are you okay, my love?”
“I’m fine.” She looked at the amulet in her hand, her eyes filling with wonder. “I’ve actually never felt better.”
She cut her gaze between the pendant and me, pinching the chain with her fingertips and holding it away from her body. “Here. You’d better take this.”
I accepted the necklace and pressed the broken ends of the chain together. It repaired itself instantly.
She threw her arms around me, burying her face in my chest, and I wrapped her in my embrace, holding her so tightly I feared I might break her. But I couldn’t let go. She was safe, and she was mine.
“You used its power,” she said, her breath warm against my skin.
“As did you.” I kissed the top of her messy, tangled hair. “If the others’ reactions to the magic are any indication, it will linger inside you for a while. Use caution.”
She laughed. “Sure. You too.”
“I see your point.” I chuckled. Ember wouldn’t temper this newfound power any more than I would. “Let’s go home. It is time to summon my brother.”