Chapter 26 #2
The urge to laugh almost escapes me. I'm the one who should be saying that, not him.
I tilt my head, analysing his posture, his body weight distributed for attack.
"That would be an insult." My voice is low, laden with contempt. "In fact, I suggest you give it your all... it would be disappointing to finish you off in mere seconds."
"You'll regret saying that, bastard."
I shrug my shoulders, flex my fingers, feeling my claws extend to their limit.
The challenge has been accepted. This is a duel. One on one.
He advances first, a blur of muscle and unbridled fury. With an agile movement, I dodge, spinning quickly to the side. My claws tear into his ribs, the sound of blades cutting through flesh and crunching bones muffled by his grunt of pain.
Liam leans to the side, but takes advantage of the angle of the fall and, with a sudden movement, he fires a direct kick at my knee. The impact is quick, precise, and at the same time propels him away from me.
My joint explodes in a wave of sharp pain. My leg gives way slightly, but the ground never dominates me.
The pain only enrages me, disappearing almost as quickly as it arises.
I could end all this in the blink of an eye. A simple thought and I would immobilise him, he would be on the ground, helpless, trapped by my invisible barriers. But no, not like that. It wouldn't be a fair duel. I'll only use brute force. No magic.
We leap at each other again.
Liam stretches his arms out in a cross, closing himself in a side arc, I anticipate two claw strikes to my ribs. But I'm faster.
We meet in the air, a crash of flesh against flesh.
I manage to grab his arms before they hit me, our muscles tense, pure force colliding.
Liam growls as he is restrained, bends his legs and fires a powerful kick at my torso in an attempt to escape.
I feel the impact, but he is already trapped in my hands, he only makes my claws sink deeper into his wrists, the ligaments in his arms stretching to the limit.
We fall heavily, rolling across the earth and leaves.
I manage to position myself on top of him and push his wrists above his head, holding them firmly in one of my hands, while the other goes straight for his neck.
My fingers close, I want to steal his air until he is unconscious.
I don't want to stoop to his bloodthirsty level, I want to end this and win without having to kill him.
But Liam writhes violently, his hybrid strength manifesting itself. His legs wrap around me, and the claws on one of his feet strike my side, cutting deeply.
"Give in, damn it!" I growl, squeezing his neck until his eyes turn red.
Liam opens his mouth, the bastard can't breathe properly, but he flashes a sick smile full of fangs.
"Never," he replies in a strangled voice.
The metallic smell of blood mixes with the dense forest air, and the twinge of pain in my side catches my attention.
The wound hasn't closed yet.
"What?"
For a moment, I hesitate, and I end up loosening my grip on him. In that second of distraction, Liam takes advantage and uses his strength, one of his arms escapes my grip, and before I can react, he digs his claws into my shoulder, moving down my arm, tearing my skin.
A sharp heat spreads through the wound, a pain so intense that my vision flickers.
"Son of a bitch," I growl, redoubling my strength on his neck to keep him under me, my claws sinking into the wrist I still hold captive.
Liam doesn't give in, and with a quick movement, he pulls his claws out of my arm and pushes them into my side, piercing my torso.
I groan, not just from the pain, but because something is wrong.
Something doesn't make sense.
My body is... weakening.
I regain control of him, putting all my weight on top of him, forcing him to feel my pressure. I release his neck, but immediately dig my claws into the same spot where I struck him before, into his broken ribs.
He screams, a yelp of pain, and momentarily lets go of me, bringing his hand to his wound.
I swallow hard and pull away, standing up quickly as I take a deep breath. My fur is soaked with my own blood, the deep cuts won't close, and the pain spreads through my body, sharp and incessant.
But there is something worse. Something that freezes me inside.
I feel an unnatural, creeping cold spreading through my veins. My body is losing heat. My vision flickers between focus and darkness, as if I'm about to pass out.
I blink to clear my blurred vision and my attention focuses on Liam, who is getting up. He coughs and spits blood on the floor.
I try to create a barrier around him to keep him away from me, but as soon as it appears, it disappears. A sharp pain strikes my chest as I try to create it again.
And then, terror sets in.
My essence. My magic.
Something is sucking every drop of it away, draining my strength, leaving me empty, weak... wrong.
What the hell has he done to me?
My eyes meet Liam's, and he smiles.
A satisfied, cruel smile.
He raises his hands and his claws glint in the dim light.
"Can you feel it, mutt?" He flexes his fingers, a cruel smile forming. "Cold iron powder. I applied a generous dose to each claw. It's not as fast and efficient as a full blade, like the one my mother used to kill yours, but... it does the job."
Anger hits me along with fear.
Cold iron. Of course. He never planned a fair fight.
He knew that, face to face, in a brute force fight, he wouldn't stand a chance.
"Son of a bitch..." I growl, feeling my legs grow heavier, my vision darkening at the edges. "That's against the rules."
He laughs.
"The rules don't apply here, bastard. You're not a wolf like us."
He lunges again and I instinctively dodge, but I'm slower. My body screams against the movement, but I ignore the pain.
I can't stop now.
If I fall, I'm dead.
I need to surprise him, find an opening, a sneak attack.
I make a hesitant move, feigning an exhausted stumble, and wait for the right moment.
When he lunges, I quickly lower myself, digging my claws into his abdomen with all the strength I have left.
Liam chokes, his eyes widening in surprise.
I don't give him room to breathe. My claws rise as I lift my body, tearing the skin of his torso until they dig into his shoulders, then I pull him towards me.
I feel the movement of his forearms rising, ready to strike me in the back, but I waste no time, opening my mouth and lunging at his neck. My teeth sink deep into my half-brother's throat, and he lets out a muffled yelp, his poisonous claws scratching my back, his limbs weakened by my attack.
I know that if I don't sink my fangs deeper, soon I won't have the strength to finish what I started.
He will recover, and I will not.
So I bite down hard, tearing flesh and tendons, his blood flooding my mouth, dripping hot and salty down my chin. Liam's body shudders, and a gurgling sound escapes his throat, muffled by pain. Even so, he doesn't give up, trying to hit me, fighting with all he has left.
I do the same, gathering the last vestiges of strength I have left, and with a quick movement of my head, I snap his neck. His body immediately goes limp, lifeless, his weight hanging beneath me.
With a brutal thrust, I throw him away, and his body flies like a rag doll through the air before hitting the ground with a thud.
I breathe with difficulty, my muscles and bones protesting with every movement.
My snout is drenched in warm blood, but the metallic taste no longer affects me. What consumes me now is weakness, creeping through my limbs like something dark, sucking my essence away with every passing second.
I have won.
But the circle of wolves around me does not dissolve. No head bows in submission. No acceptance of victory.
Something is wrong.
I turn just in time to see two of them advancing, their eyes glowing with raw fury. Sons of bitches. This isn't part of the duel. This shouldn't be happening.
I growl in warning, my fur bristling, my muscles tense, but they don't back down. They don't hesitate. And then I realise, they're not just ignoring the code of conduct. They're breaking it.
The circle of wolves closes around me. One step. Then another. Every muscle in my body screams in exhaustion, the pain tearing through my flesh like red-hot iron. My heart pounds against my ribs, the only certainty pulsing in my mind.
If I stay, I die.
I growl in defiance, baring my bloodied teeth, but they do not retreat. Fierce eyes shine in the darkness, fangs exposed, and then howls echo through the forest.
The first ones attack.
Two huge wolves leap at once and I throw myself between them, dodging by a hair's breadth.
My shoulder collides with one of them, pushing him into the air, throwing off his jump.
The other barely has time to react before my claws tear into his flank in a desperate blow.
He falls to the ground yelping, but I don't stop to see if he gets up.
The circle hesitates for a second and I take advantage of the opening. I gather momentum, every fibre of my being focused on a single goal: to run.
I dash through the forest, each step a Herculean effort, the pain burning like a whip tearing at my nerves, but I cannot stop. My blood drips from my fur in scarlet trails along the path, each drop stealing more than just strength, stealing my essence, my magic.
The wolves follow me with their howls, the sounds of their paws hitting the ground growing closer and closer. This behaviour is unnatural for them; they don't usually do this after a duel. What the hell is going on?
My vision flickers, blurred, the outlines of the trees blending into indistinct shadows.
Just a little further...
The cabin is ahead.
Its magical barrier glows with an almost imperceptible light, the protection I need. My legs fail me in the last few metres, but I throw myself forward, crossing the invisible boundary.
The wolves stop abruptly, angry growls echoing in the night. Drool drips from their sharp canines, their eyes shining in an animalistic frenzy. Something is wrong.
They are not just angry.
They are out of control.
But the barrier stops them. One by one, they retreat, their ears lowering, their bodies trembling before finally turning and disappearing into the forest.
I fall to my knees inside the safe perimeter, my chest heaving, my skin burning as if it were being torn apart from the inside out. My body responds to instinct, trying to transform back into human form, but something is wrong.
Pain explodes, a cruel spasm running through my limbs.
I can't do it. My flesh trembles, hesitates, something inside me refusing to return to normal completely.
My clothes appear, but my body is still in disarray.
My fingers remain elongated and clawed, my legs bend awkwardly, human skin mixed with beastly fur.
My bones hesitate, stuck between two forms, unsure which to assume.
The cold iron... is preventing me from changing.
I am trapped in this anomalous form, a twisted hybrid between beast and man. My own body, my own magic... betraying me.
A groan of pain escapes my lips as I try to move, my muscles stiff, weak, refusing to obey. My breathing is shallow, the world around me swaying, darkening at the edges of my vision.
I struggle to reach for my mobile phone, my clawed fingers trembling, unable to hold anything. My body gives way. I collapse to the floor, crawling on all fours like a wounded animal, each movement making me whimper in pain.
Everything around me distorts, my thoughts stumble, but one truth leaps out of the chaos: this was no coincidence.
The bloody duel happening at the exact moment of the monsters' attack?
The uncontrolled wolves...
This reeks of a trap.
Cold iron spreads through my veins like lethal poison, burning, consuming, erasing every remnant of the fae essence that dwells within me.
Liam discovered my secret, the lineage I inherited from my mother, something I made a point of keeping hidden.
Even after my adoptive father hired a mind controller to erase any memory of my weakness from the entire pack's memory, he found a way to discover it.
And now, that knowledge is destroying me from the inside out.
I struggle to breathe, to stay conscious, I need to survive...
And then, right in front of me, a pair of familiar eyes.
Green eyes.
She runs across the lawn, coming to my pitiful state with feline agility.
Her silhouette is the last thing I see before darkness engulfs me.