*Maddox*
Every Goddess damned warrior in this place is possessed by Alatar. I dart around, weaving through hallways and down flights of stairs in my haste to just get away from the chaos. I’m trying to lead the warriors away from Isla’s scent, thinking Alatar might will them to stop her progress.
‘We need to get them out of the castle,’ Elijah says over the mindlink, Emery clutching his back as we dart through the main foyer.
‘You’re right,’ I reply, cutting toward the front door that is gone now, blown open and destroyed by the storm.
‘Do you know where the temple is?’
‘I don’t,’ I say with strain. Isla and Antony didn’t come out this way. I lost her scent in the castle. It was like she’d just disappeared. ‘Take Emery back to the boat and wait for us at the cove. I’ll find her.’
Before we have a chance to go through the front door, warriors swarm us, their eyes glassy and swirling with power. Damnit, I don’t want to kill these men. These are Antony’s warriors, and they have no control over what they’re doing.
But when they shift… there’s nothing right about them. Shadowy wolves thrumming with mist-like power stand before us. I can barely see them against the storm raging outside. Power pulsates through them like a silver thread that winds up their legs and over their backs.
We can’t even strike them because there’s nothing solid about them.
Elijah moves in a slow circle around me as Emery slides off his back and drops the bag of our clothes she is carrying. I shift back into my human form and quickly dress, as does Elijah. The wolves watch us absently, none of them moving a single shadowy muscle as power throbs through their forms.
“What do we do?” Elijah asks.
“I have no idea,” I answer. Even Emery, normally itching for any kind of fight, is still beside me as she grips her favorite dagger so tightly her knuckles are white with the strain.
A smell hits me–sharp and acrid. One of the wolves steps forward, glowing white teeth bared. What is that smell? Like… like something is burning?
Heat penetrates my skin where the strange lighter Mystica gave me is resting in my pocket. I quickly pull it out, keeping my eyes on the wolves blocking our path as their leader creeps closer. The lighter is almost too hot to touch. I open it, flicking it on, and the unusual red flame dances higher than I’ve ever seen it.
The wolf jumps back, snarling. I cock my head and hold out the lighter, the flame sending cracking heat over my head and the wispy, thick gray mist dancing around the room.
I don’t know why, but I suck in a breath and blow on the flame.
White-hot heat blasts forward. I hear the wolves screeching in panic before the entire room erupts in silver fire. Elijah throws himself on Emery, sheltering her with his body as the flames dance over the walls and ceiling.
The flames aren’t hot at all when they touch my skin. They don’t burn my clothes. It’s exactly like the flames from the temple when I’d placed the Diamond of Faith. The angry red flame coming from the lighter suddenly burns out, and the room immediately snaps back to what it was before–empty, quiet.
The wolves are just… gone.
“What the fuck? I whisper, looking around the room and then back down at the lighter.
* * *
*Isla*
We climb an ancient set of stairs nearly an hour after descending into the tunnel. None of us have said a thing during that time. Poppy is shaking though, but I know it’s not because she’s injured. I know how she’s feeling right now–hurt beyond belief. Lost. Worried. Heartbroken.
Her mate walks in front of us along a beach I’ve never seen before–at least, not that I remember. The sand is black and coarse, made up of broken seashells that don’t reflect any of the minuscule light breaking through the heavy clouds. I steal a glance over my shoulder and see the swirling mass of clouds over the city and the castle.
‘Oh, Goddess, please, keep everyone there safe.’
I push the thought of Maddox out of my mind as we trudge forward. My heart is in my throat, and I’m on the edge of tears just thinking about him being there while I’m here, somewhat safe and out of the storm.
We’d finally found some peace together only for it to shatter all around us again.
Will anything be the same after this?
Antony stops walking at what looks like a bluff of some kind. I lay my hand on Poppy’s shoulder, forcing her to a stop. Below us is… a huge void. A hole in the beach itself that would usually be full of water even at low tide. I look around and then up at the tree line in the distance. I realize with a start that the beach we’ve been walking on would have been submerged by the ocean as well under normal circumstances.
But not now. Not now that the wizard is drawing the ocean up and over the castle with each passing storm.
In the hole is a temple covered in barnacles and seaweed, everything about it slick and eerie as starfish cling to the stone columns and steps.
“Stay here,” Antony says coldly before sliding down the slanted wall into the hole.
“How is he supposed to get back out?” Poppy asks in the quietest voice I’ve ever heard from her.
That is an excellent question, and one I can’t answer. The hole is at least twenty feet down, maybe more, and walls are nothing but layers of sand that slide out and pool around Antony’s feet as he makes his way down.
I watch with bated breath as he goes inside the temple.
My head snaps in the direction of the tree line, and I go completely still. Figures move out of the trees, wolves, all of them formed by a fine mist of power.
Great, just great.
“Get behind me,” I say to Poppy, who is still looking down at the temple. My powers spring to life as the wolves creep across the beach. But below us, a deep rumbling sound comes from the temple, and the ocean itself begins to roil in the wind as it picks up and sprays us with sand.
“What’s happening?” Poppy asks hurriedly.
“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here,” I whisper, my eyes on the wolves. My hands begin to glow as two of them start sprinting forward. I throw Poppy behind me and send my power forward, but the wolves dart around it, circling around us as the rest of them start sprinting forward.
I turn, sending a spray of blue light in a circular motion. These wolves are fast, far too fast, and my power only hits one of them. The wolf just… disappears in a poof of mist. “What?” I whisper, but then grunt with effort as I send another jet of power scorching the beach. More wolves disappear into nothing but ash and mist, but still more come. I don’t understand where they’re even coming from!
Something hits me hard from behind, and I fall flat on my face. I struggle to catch my breath and blink past the sand sticking to my eyelashes. My head throbs, and my vision fills with stars.
But then Poppy screams.
“Poppy?” I cry, trying to roll over and summon my powers back, but my fingertips only flicker with light. I’m… spent.
Poppy cries out again, then grunts, then screams. I painfully turn to find Poppy being dragged down the beach toward the water by two wolves.
“Shift!” I cry, but she doesn’t. She’s panicking, and so am I as I try to stand. Every muscle in my body is burning, and pain settles into my bones. Something heavy is preventing me from moving. Something that's pressing into my back and digging… digging claws into my spine. I choke on the scream of pain that leaves my mouth as the claws curl and penetrate my skin.
I can do nothing but watch as the wolves drag Poppy closer to the violent waves. No, no, no, no–
But then I see Antony, his clothing torn and sopping wet as he pulls himself out of the hole and takes off across the beach, daggers in each hand as he stalks toward his mate.
I close my eyes as the wolf holding me to the beach lowers its snout against my neck, its cold nose pressing into the base of my skull. ‘Maddox,’ I say down our bond, his name a quiet pray. ‘I’m sorry. I can’t stop this.’
‘I’m coming.’
‘Don’t,’ I say, then close my eyes as I feel teeth graze my neck. I can’t shift. I can’t use my powers. I’m used up, empty, nothing left to give.
I think of the child in my belly and feel nothing but sadness and regret.
“I’m so sorry,” I say aloud, and open my eyes again in time to see the two wolves who’d been dragging Poppy away attacking Antony.
A thrum of power settles deep in my belly and slowly fans out, spreading over my skin like a warm, cozy blanket. I close my eyes against the sudden brightness. Sand dusts over my wet, tear-stained cheeks, then a boom of energy spreads through the area. There is no sound for several long moments. I don’t feel the wolf on my back or hear Antony fighting to the death for his mates life. I don’t hear the waves.
“Isla–” Antony rolls me over onto my back. “Isla, open your eyes!”
I blink up at him, squinting into the… the sun. Bright, warm sun and a clear blue sky. Gentle waves tickle my toes as I slowly sit up, shielding my eyes with my hand. The water is clear and turquoise, and when I turn my head to the hole where the long lost temple had once been, I see nothing but soft, golden sand.
My head snaps back to where I was able to see the castle in the distance. I suck in my breath and cry out, shock rippling over my skin.
It’s whole, untouched. Like all of the damage inflicted on Maatua had suddenly just disappeared.
“What happened?” I ask but then notice the blood covering Antony’s body. His shirt is in tatters and black with blood, his skin oozing–
“Oh, Goddess,” I cry out as Antony collapses into me. I catch him, throwing my arms around him.
Poppy rolls him off me and falls to her knees in front of him, her hands soaked in his blood as she presses into the numerous, fatal injuries to his chest and stomach.
Antony opens his mouth, but not a sound comes out. His eyes settle on Poppy and a single tear rolls down his cheek.
Poppy screams his name at the same moment his soul leaves his body. I feel him go. I feel the sheer devastation of their mate bond snapping.