Chapter 15 Ezra
Ezra
The shadows streak ahead, a living spear tuned only to her scent and pulse.
Panic tears through me, and I bolt, lungs burning, my shadows hurling themselves into the dark like we’ve already lost her.
My body twists and bends as I shift into the Tesem, and then run as fast as my four legs will carry me. Within minutes, I’m on the edge of Aurora’s property and back in my L?kkda. The pickup truck from earlier sits ominously in the far corner of her driveway.
Stripping down to my boxer briefs, I shift into my Umbraeth then silently float to the truck. Louie is inside the house, whining and frantically digging at the door.
Does that mean they’re out here?
If I tried to call out to her now, I could put her in danger.
I’m fast. But one wrong move? He’ll open her throat and paint the cab in crimson.
A muffled voice leaks out, its joy twisted with cruelty, clawing at the seams, like the sound’s too big to be held in by metal and bolts.
“I was gonna be merciful. I was gonna make you something more.” He laughs, small and rotten—some pathetic thing pretending it’s ferocious.
“But now, I’m gonna carve you up, piece by fucking piece.
And when I’m done? I’ll hand-deliver your pretty little head to Isa myself.
The Disciples will see what I’ve done for them.
For her. They’ll know I was the one who took the Daughter down. ”
Fuck.
He knows. He knows what she is.
And he thinks he can take her. Thinks he can claim what already belongs to me.
An angry red film covers my eyes. My shadows scream, wild with fear and rage and something far more desperate.
They beg for destruction. They want me to let go.
Because they know what’s waiting in the dark with them.
The thing in the cage. The thing that senses her pain and wants to raze the world for it.
And I know, if I lose control now, I won’t save her. I’ll destroy her.
I slip between the crevices of the old truck and almost devour the monster in the driver’s seat when I take in the scene before me.
Jameson has his hands wrapped around her throat, and a massive amount of blood covers Aurora’s face and chest. But my shadows move before I can stop them, slamming against the windshield, trying to break through.
They’re hungry. They’re furious. They want to kill for her.
The Cù Fèidh claws its way out of me, releasing a jagged, splintering sound that doesn’t belong to anything from this world.
The truck vibrates with the force of it, windows rattling in their frames. The light inside the cab dims—not flickering, but swallowed, devoured by creeping, stretching darkness that spreads like ink in water.
A weight stirs in the darkness, something unseen but unmistakably there, pressing against the edges of reality. Something I don’t have time to acknowledge.
She’s fading. And I’m going to make him suffer for it.
Aurora’s eyes are fury and malice, but her eyelids flutter when she sees the Cù Fèidh shift in the dark.
Quiet recognition flares behind her blood-clotted lashes.
Blood leaks between her teeth and down the sides of her face as her lips curve into a wide, wicked grin.
She knows I’m here.
And Jameson, for all his pathetic bravado, has no fucking clue what’s about to happen to him.
But knowing I’m here isn’t enough. She needs to know she can stop fighting now. That I’ll do it for her.
My shadows curl toward her ear and whisper, “I’ve got you, my brave little lupine,” just before she passes out.
Let her rest.
Jameson’s mine now.
In a wisp of smoky shadows, I shift back to my L?kkda. My control almost slips again when my gaze lands on Jameson’s unzipped pants and the shredded remains of his cock resting near Aurora’s mouth.
Get her to safety first. Then I can play with him.
I can’t deny the sense of pride warming my chest. She fought until the very end and destroyed the weapon he used against her.
My brutal little lupine.
My near-naked appearance has the intended effect as Jameson’s hands release Aurora’s neck and reach for the door.
“Oh my, I really hope you’re not reaching for a gun. That would be most unwise,” I snarl.
My head snaps toward him with a wide smile, rows of razor-sharp teeth bared.
“What the fuck are you?” Jameson sneers. “Some little underborne freak? Let me guess. She’s your fated mate, huh? Gonna tell me you’re soulbound or some shit?”
He laughs, the sound cracked and wild, as saliva drips from his bottom lip.
I smile, my eyes glittering—already savoring the beautiful, inevitable end of him.
“Fate?” I echo, my voice jagged and cold. “You think this is about fate?”
I shift slightly, and the shadows press against the cab walls, stretching thin across the glass, scenting for blood and lies.
“This isn’t some lovesick fantasy, Jameson. This is older. Deeper. Even brushing against the truth would unmake you. It would gut your sanity and strip your skin off in ribbons.”
I tilt my head, studying him the way a predator sizes up something already wounded.
“I don’t love her.”
I growl, leaning protectively over Aurora’s limp body.
“I belong to her.”
Jameson backs up against the door, and Aurora’s head lolls to the side, dangling between his legs.
She’s still breathing and still has a pulse. Thank fuck.
“You know, don’t you?” Jameson asks, a smirk forming on his lips.
Smirk all you want, asshole. She just bit your dick off, and I’m about to do worse.
“She’s a Daughter, the Daughter, and she doesn’t even know it. No one’s fucked her yet. She never got her power, and she has no descendants. She has to die, and then this all ends,” Jameson spits, his eyes wild with conviction.
“I’ve known politicians who started wars for fun.
Vampires who’ve existed so long they’ve calcified into dust, ego, and MLM schemes.
And one social media mogul who built an empire on weaponized positivity and snacks on serotonin hits like candy.
But somehow, Jameson, you are the dumbest fucking thing I’ve ever met. ”
I bare my teeth. “Do you really think I would side with a member of the Disciples? I am a monster, after all—one you bottom-feeders never knew existed.”
My shadows churn around us, eagerly thrumming with bloodlust.
“And because you dared to touch her, because you tried to take her from this world … from me … you will pay with your life.”
Jameson lunges for the door, but the shadows catch him mid-reach, snapping tendons and splintering bone. He shrieks, nothing but meat and panic, begging for a mercy I burned out of myself long ago.
I will take my time with him, make him feel the pain Aurora felt, but first I need to get her inside to Louie.
What’s the opposite of a cosmic punch to the dick? A star-soaked blowjob? Because that’s how it feels when I spot syringes filled with a yellow liquid in the cup holder.
“Well now, what’s this?” I ask playfully, reaching for the syringes.
Jameson whimpers, holding his broken wrist against his chest. When he looks down, a strangled cry rips from his throat, almost like he forgot about his shredded cock.
The adrenaline from the assault and attempted murder must have finally worn off.
“Jameson, did you drug her? But of course you did.”
The shadows tighten around his wrist on instinct, grinding bone against bone until they crunch like gravel beneath car tires.
“Because you couldn’t handle her awake. Couldn’t handle what she’d do to you if you gave her the chance. You knew she was stronger than you. You knew she would burn through you like flash paper. And you couldn’t stand it.”
Fucking pathetic.
I jam the needle into his neck until it scrapes against bone, then push the plunger.
Fuck it, one more won’t hurt, just to make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.
If he dies, he dies.
If he lives, this motherfucker is in for a long night.
When Jameson slumps in his seat, I open the car door and cradle Aurora in my arms. Blood soaks her face, and her pants still sit around her thighs. Jameson will pay for what he’s done to her.
There aren’t any keys in Aurora’s pockets, so when I get to the house, I kick in the door and walk straight into a pissed-off hellhound convinced I’m the enemy.
“What the fuck did you do to her, you old bastard?” Louie growls as she takes in my near-naked body. Then her gaze shifts to an unconscious Aurora, her jeans shoved halfway down her legs, and blood drying over every inch of her skin.
My deep, steadying breath does little to push my disdain for the hellhound out of the way, but Aurora’s safety is our top priority.
“Louie, enough.” I don’t raise my voice.
I don’t need to. “We’ll talk later about why you didn’t use your hellfire on the door.
Right now, Jameson’s unconscious in the truck, and time’s running out.
I need to get her inside and make sure she’s stable.
I need you to stay with her. Watch her. Can you do that? ”
Her eyes narrow, clearly deciding if she should tear my throat out now or wait until Aurora is safe.
“He’s no ordinary man. He’s a hunter for the Disciples of Humanity’s Light. He knows about Aurora.”
I pause, letting the weight of that settle between us.
“So do I. Which means others do, too.”
My voice tightens before I can stop it.
“Let me in, Louie. Let me help her. Then I’ll deal with him.”
“Shit, I knew something was off about him when he walked through the door. He wasn’t right … and I let her go …”
The hellhound whines as I gently lay Aurora down on her couch, cover her with a blanket, then run my fingers over her sticky, blood-stained cheek.
“We can decide who’s to blame later, Louie.”
My voice is unreasonably calm, considering the rage threatening to rip my chest in half.
I begin checking her for injuries. Nothing too invasive, just enough to confirm she’s stable. Louie growls under her breath, pacing in tight circles.
“If you had hands,” I murmur, brushing Aurora’s side with gentle pressure, “you could do this part. But, alas … paws.”
Louie snarls. I don’t look up.