Chapter Thirty-Three #2
Screams spread through the forest. Flames stretch high, yellow and red streaks devouring everything in sight. Explosions ripple through the trees, sending branches tumbling to the ground and leaves fluttering like ash.
Gunfire erupts in the distance.
Smoke parts as a shadowed figure emerges, a blade leading the way. Leo intercepts the strike, his body a shield between me and the steel. He catches the attacker’s wrist in a vice grip, twisting until the man’s shoulder pops.
The knife clatters away, forgotten.
I dive for it, fingers curling around the hilt, and point it at him.
Leo’s arm snakes around the man's neck, hauling him back. The attacker thrashes once, twice, then goes limp.
“Are you injured?” Leo asks, breathless beside me.
“I’m fine,” I say, though my whole body is buzzing with adrenaline.
“Look out!” Leo shouts.
Something invisible slams into me, and I’m catapulted across the field.
Another hunter charges. I size him up through a haze of adrenaline, waiting for the gap in his defense. He lunges—clumsy and fast—and misses. I dodge, hooking my heel behind his ankle and sweeping his legs out from under him. I’m on him in an instant, pinning him to the dirt.
A knee crashes into my stomach, doubling me over. Before I can recover, he slings me off him.
“Come at me, little girl,” he taunts.
Fine.
He asked for it.
I steady myself, the energy crackling like static at my fingertips. I take one deep breath, then release it in a vicious surge. The blast plows into the hunter, launching him across the forest until he collides with a trunk.
My lips twitch into a small smirk. How does that feel?
Branches snag at my arms, but I keep moving, searching for Leo.
The terrain is no longer green. It’s littered with bodies. Some are limp and gasping. Others are immobile.
Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look.
A cry tears through the trees to my left, making the hair on my arms stand on end.
Whoever is screaming needs me.
A flash of vibrant hair catches my eye.
Seraphina’s curled on the scorched leaves, her face twisted in agony as she clutches her knee.
As I sprint toward her, a tall man overshadows her, his blade catching the orange glow of the fires as he raises it to strike. I lock onto the hilt, summon my power, and rip it from his grasp with a telekinetic snap.
Charging forward, I drive my boot into his gut. He stumbles, but manages a swing at my head. I sidestep—a reminder of Kylo’s training guiding my feet—and seize his arm, twisting until the bone snaps.
I slam him into the earth using a concentrated pulse of telekinesis. The ground cracks and craters beneath him. He lies there, stunned and gasping, but as he tries to rise, I channel energy into my fist. My power amplifies the blow like a sledgehammer as I drive it into his jaw.
His head snaps back, and he goes limp.
Seraphina limps to my side. “Thank you,” she rasps. “He was seconds away from finishing it.”
The unconscious man lies at my feet, my knuckles throbbing. A cold dread settles in my stomach. “He’s not dead, is he?”
She crouches, two fingers pressed to his throat, then shakes her head. “He’s alive. You just beat the absolute hell out of him.” She flashes a tired, blood-streaked smile. “I didn’t know you had that in you.”
How many lives were lost today?
“What are you doing out here?” She winces, shifting her weight away from her mangled leg.
“I’m looking for Leo.”
“I can’t come with you.” She gestures to a gash on her thigh. “The dickhead got me pretty good.”
Blood soaks through her clothes, pooling onto the leaves.
“You’ve lost a lot of blood. Do you have healing abilities? Can you close this?”
She shakes her head with a weary sigh. “No. And right now, it hurts too much to even breathe, let alone move.”
“Keep pressure on it.” I yank off my sweatshirt and hand it to Seraphina. She presses the fabric against her wound with a pained hiss. “I’ll find Leo and send help.”
“No need. I’ve got my phone. Akira’s already on his way.” Her fingers curl around my forearm. “Be careful, Lia. End this, and bring Elijah back to me in one piece.”
“Stay hidden,” I say.
Breaking into a jog, I head deeper into the thickening smoke. We were supposed to stay together. Instead, our team is scattered. I’m alone in a fire-ravaged forest with no map and a dozen ways to die.
I wish I could read Leo’s mind to find him.
The thought halts me mid-step.
I can’t read his mind, but maybe I can find him another way.
Beneath a low-hanging tree, I crouch and drop my shield.
A tsunami of raw emotions and thoughts crashes into me. It’s loud and wild, like a thousand voices screaming in a windowless room.
Pain. Rage. Desperation. Choking fear. Elation.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
My lungs constrict, but I force the panic down.
Inhale. Exhale. Let it flow through you. Do not let it take root.
That same golden thread I followed before winds through me, like sunlight piercing through storm clouds. I open my eyes and take off, sprinting back toward the building. With every step, the feeling intensifies, surging through me like a beacon.
Leo’s locked in a knife fight with two Aether Hunters, his movements fluid and fast. He twists through their attacks like water, ducking and turning, never where they expect him to be. Within seconds, both men are down.
“Where did you go?” I ask, breathless.
“After you were attacked, I was ambushed.” He grimaces. “They’re everywhere.”
My twin stands before me, a mirror of the violence we’ve endured. Blood is smeared across his cheekbones, ash is matted in his hair, and thin, red cuts line his arms like tally marks. His chest heaves with exhaustion, his shirt torn and stained.
This nightmare has to end—for him, for me, for all of us.
He sheathes his knife and brushes dirt from my forehead. “Whatever happens, I’ll do what it takes to keep you safe. You deserve a life beyond all of this bullshit.”
“Nothing’s going to happen.” I take his hand. “And I’m not your responsibility, Leo. Not anymore. I can take care of myself, but I need you to protect yourself, too. It’s time to find the others and get out of here.”
“You know we can’t.” His eyes darken. “We have to finish this. Draven and Joaquin are here. It’s now or never.”
I knew this moment was inevitable. Yet nothing could have prepared me for the terror coursing through my veins.
“I’m not ready to look them in the eye.”
“I don’t want to face the devil we grew up with either. Remember what they’ve done. This ends today.”
I look past him to the burning tree line, where orange sparks spiral into a blackened sky. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to take them on alone.”
“We won’t be alone,” he promises, his hand finding mine. “We’ll do it together. Us against whatever comes next.”