Chapter Forty-Four
Lia
Draven and Blair charge straight for us. I lift my arm to stop them, but Kylo beats me to it. A massive sheet of snow lifts from the ground, curling over them like a breaking wave before crashing down like an avalanche.
He takes my hand. “Follow me.”
We dart behind a cluster of white-coated boulders. The trees around us are skeletal, their branches drooping with ice.
Not ideal for hiding.
He crouches beside me, eyes scanning the potential battlefield. “Let’s use the snow.”
“Are you seriously suggesting a snowball fight?”
Mischief sparks in his eyes. “Why not? Aim for thick patches. Go for speed and impact.”
Only Kylo could turn a near-death showdown into a snowball fight.
“Save the cute thoughts for later. Guard your mind. I shouldn’t be able to hear you.”
Shit. Focus. Focus. Focus.
“Big brother! Come give your sister a hug. I’ve missed you,” Blair screeches, her voice sing-song and off-key.
I peek over the boulder. Blair’s already climbing to her feet, her grin gone, replaced by a twitchy scowl.
Kylo catapults a frozen slab at her, knocking her flat. She screams as she hits the ground, snow and ice exploding around her in a blinding burst.
“Come out of hiding and fight me, you cowards!” she yells.
“Most impressive snowball throw I’ve ever seen,” I tease Kylo. I round the boulder, preparing to attack Blair.
Kylo hooks a hand around my arm and spins me back around. He envelops me, his frame shielding me from the others. “Whoa, slow down. Carter isn’t here yet. Let’s stall them.”
“What do you suggest we do?”
“Keep your head down. Avoid hand-to-hand for now.” He taps above my collarbone. “That energy rushing through you? Tap into their emotions. Use it.”
I draw in deliberate breaths and channel the incandescent energy resting in my core.
Their energies tangle, creating a perfect disturbance. I focus on each, tuning out Blair’s hysteria as I zero in on Draven’s guilt—hidden like a tiny orb beneath the darkness shrouding his presence.
This, I can use.
Draven burns with bloodlust, his hatred so potent it nearly chokes me.
“They’re delusional. It’s like they’re riding some kind of high.”
“Let their madness consume them.” He presses a quick kiss to my lips. “Don’t hold back.”
I hone in on Blair. The mania inside her builds like pressure in a pipe. I grab hold of it, dig into the cracks, and thread my power through every splintered seam.
I wrench the emotional valve open.
She collapses, rolling back and forth in violent, hysterical laughter before spiraling into screams and sobs.
Kylo charges, and I’m close behind. He seizes her wrists, holding her flailing body in place. “She’s almost out. Keep going.”
Kneeling beside her, I press my hands to her head, but as I push deeper, something tears me off her. My back slams into the frozen ground, pain ricocheting through my hip.
When I look up, Kylo and Draven are locked in combat.
“Hey, bitch!” Blair’s boot strikes the side of my jaw, snapping my neck sideways.
I spit blood and snarl, rage igniting inside me.
She’s still laughing, eyes glassy and unblinking.
She wants unhinged?
I’ll show her worse.
Her foot digs into my back as she bends her knee. “Aw, you think you can win?”
“I can, because I’m not deranged,” I snap, bucking her off. Rising to my feet, I plant myself in a fighting stance, fists raised to guard my face.
Blair lunges, but she’s sloppy.
“Kylo and Draven taught me how to fight,” she hums, swinging again. “You’re no match.”
“Funny,” I bite back. “Leo and Kylo taught me. I’d say you’re outmatched.”
Each missed strike drives her deeper into a frenzy. She swings again. I duck, step inside her guard, and catch her punch, twisting her wrist.
She shrieks as I slam her to the ground and drop over her, pinning her beneath my knees. Gripping her wrists, I pull them to her sides and hold them there.
“Stop!” she cries.
This is the consequence she earned.
For what she’s done.
What she’s become.
I make her feel the anguish that tore through me the moment Leo died. I shove her into the pit of my pain, dragging her into the unforgivable torment she helped cause. Her body jerks beneath me, unable to escape the terror I’ve unleashed.
She screams, high-pitched and animalistic.
Reaching into her turmoil, I amplify the panic, forcing her down the same rabbit hole I barely survived—telepathically sending memories filled with sleepless nights and choking grief.
She squirms viciously, but I tighten my hold.
“This is for Leo.” I funnel every shred of agony I’ve ever known into her.
Her cries taper off, her limbs slacken, and her eyes roll back as her body goes limp.
Leaving her behind, I sprint toward Kylo and Draven.
Snow, splintered trees, and boulders rocket into the air as their powers collide, sparking on impact and shaking the ground.
Debris rains down as I dive behind a tree, trying to get a clear angle on Draven to help Kylo. A wall of snow surges upward behind them, the ground cracking beneath it, splitting the terrain in a harsh, uneven line.
Aether Hunters charge toward us, scattering rubble in all directions.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I need to get them away from Kylo.
My telekinesis lifts me into the sky. Below, the Hunters swarm him. I gather my energy in a single pull and blast it downward. The shock knocks several of them off their feet, sending them crashing into one another.
One of them uproots a tree and sends it hurtling toward me. I dart aside, but the movement throws off my balance. I drop, palms breaking my fall. Recovering fast, I push up, only to find Kylo’s worried eyes on mine.
“Be careful!” he shouts.
Draven uses the opening to strike, unleashing a savage blow to Kylo’s stomach. Kylo drops with a grunt before another kick to his side sends him flying several feet.
“Get away from him!” I thrust my power at Draven, but he holds his ground.
Twigs snap. The Aether Hunters close in like the walls of a shrinking labyrinth.
“There’s nowhere left to run,” Draven announces with a grin. “Be good little soldiers and surrender.”
“Fuck you,” Kylo spats.
He forces himself upright and places me behind him.
“Two against all of us.” He gestures to his loyal lapdogs. “Give up or die. This is your last chance.”
“How about secret option C, where we fight?” Kylo says, clenching his fist.
Draven’s eyes cloud over, and dark energy swells at his core like a gathering storm. “Then you die here.”
“Think again, asshole.”
I’ve never been more grateful for a voice.
Carter strides through the trees, flanked by Elijah, Seraphina, Zayne, and an entire squad of fighters.
My lungs remember how to work again.
“Fuck ’em up, my friends!” Elijah bellows, a wild grin splitting his face.
A shockwave rams into us. Kylo takes the hit, his body cushioning mine.
The scene in front of us erupts with roars as metal clashes, fists connect, and battle cries pierce the daylight. Our warriors and theirs collide like an impenetrable wall. Bodies fly, branches crack, rocks and debris scatter through the sky.
Two hunters dash toward us. Kylo jumps to his feet, his blade flashing free from its sheath. Time seems to slow as he meets them head-on.
The first hunter swings, but Kylo ducks low, spins, and slashes his blade clean through the attacker’s abdomen, twisting it once before yanking it free.
He pivots to the second and brings the blade up in a diagonal arc, slashing across the woman’s throat. Kylo follows with a swift kick to the knee, buckling her, then slams the hilt of his blade into the side of her skull.
Both enemies lie motionless at his feet.
Kylo stands there, not even winded.
“You still with me?” he asks, grabbing my arm and hauling me up.
“I’m good,” I say, catching my breath.
“Let’s find Draven.”
“He couldn’t have gone far.”
“There,” Kylo says, pointing across the open space.
Draven heads straight for a jet, its engines whirring to life.
Coward. After all that bravado, he’s running?
“I’ll stop the jet.” Kylo’s already in motion. “You stop Draven.”
Adrenaline pumps through me, muscles twitching and ready.
Here we go.
I tear after Draven, putting all those vicious training sessions with Kylo to use.
Turns out all that running did pay off.
With a flick of my hand, I unleash a wave of power. He crashes onto the ground, skidding before tumbling down the incline. I aim again, driving him farther from the jet.
I search for Kylo and spot him standing still. The enormous steel beast of a jet levitates above the treetops, groaning under the strain of his power.
Kylo blinks.
Just blinks.
And the jet collapses in the sky, folding inward like a crushed can.
Kylo doesn’t command power.
He is power.
Pure, unrelenting force in human form.
The explosion that follows is ear-piercing. A roar splits the sky, sending tremors through the earth as fire erupts overhead. The blast flares bright against the white expanse. Shards of metal rain down in burning fragments as the scent of fuel engulfs my nose.
My ears ring. Everything feels distant and muted, like I’ve gone underwater. Sounds swirl and warp, like a conch shell pressed against my head.
A flaming hunk of debris spirals through the air, heading straight for me. Kylo tackles me, taking us both to the ground an instant before it smashes into the spot where I was standing.
“Are you okay?” he rasps, eyes scanning me.
He’s yanked away. Draven extends a hand, fingers splayed, gripping Kylo by the throat with the force of his power.
The ground drops out beneath me.
“Move another inch, and I’ll kill him.”
I halt mid-step, my muscles twitching with the effort to stay still. “Release him, Draven.”
“I’d watch your tone.” Draven’s hand clenches. Kylo’s veins stand out at his temples, his eyes wide and bloodshot. His body shudders from the telekinetic energy pumping through him, compressing him from the inside out.
“Just let him go! I’ll go with you.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Kylo bites out.
Draven tightens his grip. I watch, horrified, as the color drains from Kylo’s face.
“It’s a simple choice, Lia. Surrender, or I shatter every bone in his body. He’ll be dead before he can even choke on the blood.”
My brain—my slightly broken brain—panics.
Think, Lia. You’ve known something like this was bound to happen. Stay calm. Stay in control.
Eyes closed, I tune in—not to the emotions, but to the energy surrounding me. The black hole I’ve always felt around Draven.
I can shape it.
Use it.
Kylo’s fury boils beside me, but I ignore it, leaning toward Draven instead. His instability crackles through him, corrupted and uncontained. I draw it in, steadying myself.
The pressure that once crushed me now drives me forward.
Power builds in my core, hot and pulsing. He stares back, and for a moment, something in his eyes makes me falter.
He doesn’t deserve it. Not my hesitation. Not this mercy. But I can’t bring myself to kill him.
There has to be another way.
I remember Elijah’s words.
“Siphons can take power, twist it, strengthen it, or strip it away completely.”
I need one chance.
“I’m waiting,” Draven mocks. “What’s it going to be?”
I almost forget what he asked.
Oh yeah. The ultimatum.
With my head held high, I zero in on Draven’s emotions first, to blindside him. Beneath all that violence, there’s a sliver of guilt. I latch onto that thread and amplify it until he stumbles.
His grip slackens enough for Kylo to slip free. He bolts toward me, placing himself between us before stepping aside, giving me space to finish what I started.
Draven collapses, clutching his head. He curls into himself, trembling and rocking like a broken child. The guilt I’ve fed him wraps around him like chains.
I focus inward, tuning into the core of him—the black, toxic mass of his power.
He howls in anguish, and his power tears free. It unravels into me in unwilling strands, leaving my limbs buzzing with excess energy.
“You can’t hurt anyone anymore. It’s over.”
Draven slumps backward onto the ice-dusted ground.
My victory doesn’t last long.
The landscape tilts sideways, trees and snow smearing together. My stomach knots, and sweat beads at my temple. I sink into the cold terrain, muscles heavy, breath shallow.
I need a second… one second… to catch my breath.