Chapter 73

Cirilla's Point Of View

Growling, Nina charged to the surface, and using my magic I dug my claws into the ground creating a magical force of explosion that flung them around, giving those around some time before they would get to them.

I glanced over my shoulder at Shirley. She was already in her wolf form and Kayla next to me panicked as these beasts were already bridging the distance between us.

Shirley had lunged instantly at one when I heard her panicking cry from over my shoulder.

I turned to her just in time to stop one of those things from clawing at her.

“My magic!” She screamed, “Something's wrong! I can't use my magic. It's weakening,”

“What?”

“The boundary spells must be down. It's a veil, it's blocking out our magic, and every source of our powers, but I don't understand why it isn't affecting you,” Kayla rushed in fear.

“Back to the mansion!” I yelled, releasing volts of magic at them but they seemed completely unaffected.

Shirley and Kayla started for the route leading to the mansion while I followed behind, slowing down these beasts.

From the other side of the forest, more of them appeared and before I could get them out of the way, they were instantly lit up in flames. I snapped my head to my left where Niko was standing, and next to him was Theo, Malia, Eric, and Enzo, and behind were a few of our warriors.

“What the hell is happening? What are these things? How did they get in?” Shirley had shifted back to her human form.

“They are everywhere,” Eric lunged after the closest beast to him, together with Enzo and it took both to rip them apart.

“Pair up!” Theo ordered, his eyes glowing bright auburn utilizing both his vampire and wolf powers.

I paired up with my brother, placing a protection spell on as many of our people as I could.

Enzo and Eric stuck together while Niko with Kayla and Malia with Shirley paired up together, lunging against another of these beasts with their claws.

I detached the head of a beast from its neck, turning around to check on the others. Niko and Kayla had taken down a few of those, also the same with Eric and Enzo.

From nowhere, I heard Shirley's sharp cry, I glanced around the army of beasts and ours, searching for her until I saw her. She was stabbed by one of the beasts and flung meters into the air, crashing against the grass.

She scrambled to her feet baring her claws about to charge on the beast charging towards her, but another was behind. I raised my hands, lifting the beast into the air and tearing them apart, limb from limb. She nodded at me in appreciation, tackling the one before her.

I kept on fighting these beasts, but it seemed they only kept multiplying.

“Guys!” Niko yelled and drew a few of our gazes to him in the middle of the vicious fighting. He was almost frozen in the middle of the bloodbath. “Something's wrong, these things they keep—”

I froze as well. My eyes swept through the scene, into the distance and all around, it was then I understood what Niko was saying and noticed grotesque parts and limbs of these beasts, moving on the ground, like there were strings of magnets pulling them back together and was once again whole.

“What the fuck!” I heard Malia's gasp. “They can't die?”

I swallowed hard, my heart racing in my chest. They couldn't die. We were only fighting a losing battle. One we would all end up dead. Oh goddess… this was it. Mum's vision.

“Retreat!” I yelled as panic began to rise in me. This was fucking suicide.

We were running through the forest, ripping apart every beast we came across, when I felt a force of explosion headed our way, and immediately, I counteracted it and as the dark smoke began to settle, Mason emerged from it.

His gray eyes twinkled with devilish expectation and his lips twitched up into a sneer that made my blood boil.

He took a calculative step forward, but before he could take another, Asher's gargantuan large wolf lunged at him from a corner, throwing him into the air, and tossing him against a tree.

Mason regained control quickly and he landed soundly on the ground.

Visible veins started throbbing on his forehead and neck as his rage came up to the surface and directed at Asher.

Asher's wolf let out a loud growl as he instantly shifted to his human form, his eyes glowing a shade of yellow and murderous red, prepared to attack Mason but with a click of Mason's finger, what seemed like a hundred more of these unkillable monsters appeared everywhere, surrounding everyone, including Asher.

His dark eyes narrowed on me as he chuckled, maintaining eye contact with me. “Now, it's just you and I, love,”

Nina shared control with me and using my vampire's speed, I zoomed off, charging at Mason with a loud growl vibrating from my chest.

*****

Davina's Point Of View

This was a different level of dark magic. Compared to nothing I had seen. I could not only feel it but it was embedded in the very air we breathe.

There was barely any time to waste, I ruthlessly tore apart every one of these beasts that attacked me. But it wasn't enough. I could feel my magic grow weaker and weaker with each use.

I had just left the witches’ quarters, Neela, the witches, and I had put a protection spell on as many of us as they could, but it wasn't going to last long. Idalak had lifted a dark veil, weakening our magic and powers to nothing. It was only a matter of time before our connection broke as well, but before then I had to find Idalak, trapping him in the phoenix stone, and even though it was temporary it would give us a little time to think and restrategize.

While Rhona, some of the witches and fae members we had in our pack were already at the witches’ cemetery where every fallen witch of the French Quarter was consecrated, in hopes they would be able to connect and draw from the ancestral magic flowing through the earth and be able to take down the dark veil in the sky weakening everyone of us.

But the reality was, it wouldn't matter. This was exactly what I saw in Cyrene's vision. There was no way of taking down the veil or any of these beasts without taking down Mason. He was the one controlling it.

I mindlinked Cameron and he was at the borderlines with Benjamin and the others fighting against these beasts.

I felt my connection with the witches break as I used some of my magic to kill a beast that had a wolf pinned to the ground. But effortlessly, these beastly creatures were back together. These things couldn't be killed. Idalak was our only hope of killing them. And as I felt the phoenix blade against my skin, I pushed down the lump in my throat. This would work. It had to.

Oh goddess, please, help us.

My skin tingled with fear as I reached the vicious scene. The first thing I saw was Lizzy boys merged in their wolf forms, being stabbed by the claws of one of these beasts, the impact throwing them in the air, and forcing them apart. I used my magic to catch them in the air, lowering them to the grass.

My eyes scanned the bloody scene for Cirilla and Theo. But I couldn't see Theo, and some meters away, I saw Asher, fighting against the beasts that gunned at him. My eyes continued to look for Cirilla. I saw her on the hill, in a fight against Idalak.

My chest constricted, and my heart raced ridiculously fast while I darted towards the top of the hill.

As soon as I was closed by, I channeled every ounce of magic in me, charging it into the phoenix blade and the stone on the hilt glowed bright.

I was already at the top of the hill, where Cirilla and Idalak were. I could feel her magic essence, in the middle of all these her magic was still stronger. She was fighting against him with much vigor with her claws around his neck as she shoved him into a huge rock, pouncing on him.

With a swift force of magic, I sent the phoenix blade into the air, and it immediately aimed for his heart and I began chanting. Pushing myself to the limit and harvesting whatever ounce of magic I could gather, focusing it into the stone.

Idalak growled, falling to his knees with black lines snaking down his skin like vines. I continued chanting, and I could feel a bit of Idalak energy being sucked into the stone. But everything fell into ruins the instant he unleashed a wave of power from him in violent force, it broke whatever magical hold I had on the blade, and its force flung me against a tree.

I felt the warmness of my blood trickle down my forehead and a large chunk of wood was in me. And I couldn't feel my magic.

Idalak's mocking laughter charged through the chaos in an echo, and before he could charge at me, Cirilla attacked him.

I removed the chunk of wood within me, my eyes searching around for the phoenix blade that had fallen to the ground at his outbursts but quickly, a number of these grotesque beasts appeared and surrounded me.

I pulled my dagger out from my boots, getting ready to attack when Vittorio's black large wolf appeared, its sharp canines and claws tearing off a few from the left. But the bead of gold in his eyes began to filter and it forcibly shifted back into Cameron.

We had our backs against each other, spinning next to each other as we were surrounded by more beasts that had formed again into one.

The sound of the fierce battle around made my skin crawl as a repeat of Cyrene's vision played again in my mind This was it. The moment I had desperately fought against. Nothing had changed. We were on the hill. Idalak was still alive and everyone was about to die.

*****

Cirilla's Point Of View

I knew exactly what to do, killing Mason was the only thing that could put a permanent end to these things. They were somehow connected to him with his dark magic flowing through them, rejuvenating them. But unless Mum returned with the blade, we were barely fighting a losing war. No matter how many injuries I inflicted on him, he kept healing himself.

I sent two powerful forces of magic at him, and it tossed him against a rock, and instantly, I was quick to pounce on him again. But he had a sickly grin from ear to ear, almost as if he was enjoying every second of this back and forth.

“What's so funny?” My eyes blazed with blue fire.

“You. You look even more gorgeous when you are trying to kill me,” His evil smirk grew larger. “You are fighting the inevitable, love. Look around you, nothing you or anyone do matters, and at the end of the day, I'll get what I want,”

My eyes narrowed as I tried to understand his riddles and my claws around his neck tightened. “So what you want is to see the world up in flames?”

He never once took his dark hooded eyes away from me as he chuckled. “What I want is you, Cirilla. You are who I want. You are my destiny as I am yours,”

“What?” I could barely keep my hatred out of my tone. “You are sick Mason,”

“It's not too late, love. Be mine. We were made for each other. It had always been us. Even after this world goes up in flames, I'll still be here, and so will you. You have no idea what we could accomplish together,” His dark eyes twitched with a wicked glint. “You are just like me, Cirilla. Exactly like me,”

I heard Nina growling through our link. “I could never be yours, Mason. Not in this lifetime or a thousand years. I was made for someone else and you are wrong about one thing, I am not like you,”

A huge smile appeared on Mason's lips and he was about to say something when I saw Mum rushing towards us with a replica of Kali's blade in her hand.

Everything moved so fast. One minute Mum had the phoenix blade in Mason and the next he unleashed a force of dark energy that sent everyone flying and was about to attack Mum, but at once I lunged at Mason.

“You can't fight fate, Cirilla!” He bellowed in anger, counteracting my attacks with his dark magic.

A powerful growl thundered from me as my claws punctured through Mason's stomach, tearing up his chest and doing as much damage as I could.

Immediately Mason's eyes glowed, power radiating from him, making me freeze and he used the opportunity to escape.

I fought the effect of magic keeping me frozen, but then I realized the sounds from the vicious battle had ceased, and as I scanned around I found everyone frozen in time.

Rage burned within me. “I swear on my life, I'll kill you before you get to see the world you dream of,”

His nostrils flared and his wicked grin was instantly wiped off. “And how would you manage to do that? I cannot believe killed,”

“The hole I made in your chest seems to disagree. I awakened you didn't I, and I can kill you, Just like the prophecy says,”

Something sparked in his gray eyes as I gripped him by the throat and pulled my hand up about to claw my way into his chest but he gripped my hand, pushing me against him so that our nose was a breath from each other.

“That’s where you are wrong Cirilla. Our fates have always been set in the stones long before we were born. We are two ends of the same string,” He gritted in rage. “Do you want to hear a secret?” He tilted his head a little, bringing his lips to the shell of my ears. “You are my strength and my weakness. As long as you have life flowing in your veins, I can never be killed. You can't save anyone. Not your family nor that mutt of a mate. You cannot defeat these beasts, Ciri. They cannot be killed. You are the very source breathing life into them. They are not my creation, but they're yours. Locked up in the void with no power running through my veins, your magic reached out to me, breathing life into me, and creating these beasts. The prophecy didn't lie, as long as you are alive, there's no stopping me or what's to come,” Mason yelled, pointing to the frozen battle scene.

“What?”

Time moved in slow motion as I glanced around and Mason's words echoed in my ears.

I stumbled back as my eyes kept glancing around as I watched everyone I loved frozen and at the mercy of these beasts. Some were dead while others were about to meet their ends as well.

This was all me? I had caused this.

I gripped the closest rock beside me for support as suddenly, I couldn't breathe properly. Tears brimming down my eyes without control. My heart was squeezing, and crushing inside me, as if wanting to suck out the life within me as Mason's words kept echoing in my head.

“Look around sweetheart,” He turned my face to the frozen scene, and at once my eyes landed on Mum's. She had tears in her eyes and with that look in her eyes, I could already tell she knew. She had known all along. This was exactly what she saw in Cyrene's vision but couldn't say.

The world began to enclose me, fading away and at the same suffocating me.

A sudden feeling of coldness traveled through my body. A powerless numbness. A thick ache settled in my chest as my eyes stung with tears. I fell to my knees as realization paralyzed me.

Has this been my fate all along?

I broke down in tears, unable to control my emotions as my entire life flashed right before my eyes and I couldn't help but think about what could have been. What I could have been?

This was so cruel. Fate was being cruel.

Why me? Why did it have to be me?

It wasn't supposed to end this way. I looked around to witness the world almost in flames and it was all because of me, and at the same time, only I could put a stop to it. I could save everyone. I could keep them safe and alive but in the process, I'd lose mine.

I wasn't ready to die just yet. I still had so much to do, so much to live for. I had Asher and finally a family I belonged to. My family.

Please, goddess, don't do this to me. Finally, I had everything I always wanted. I don't want to lose them. I am not ready to die yet.

“Look what we have here. A circle of everyone you care about. I promised you, didn't I? That I would rip apart everything and everyone you hold dear. Whom should we start with?” I cried, burying my face in my palms as Mason marched forward to me. “Eeny, meeny, miny…” My eyes widened at his words as his finger pointed at everyone, before finally stopping at Asher. A sinister smile on his lips. “...moe,”

In a flash, he started towards Asher and that alone was the trigger I needed to kick some action into my bones. I zoomed off after him, barreling my claws and rage at him.

He gripped me and through my blurry eyes, I met his dark eyes. “Stop wasting your strength. You cannot defeat me. It's useless fighting me. Fighting the inevitable. Fighting what we are meant to be. There's no saving anyone. Everyone dies. That's how it ends,”

“No,” I swallowed deep, my heart-wrenching at my thoughts. “This isn't how it ends,”

His eyes narrowed. “You cannot defeat me,”

“I know, as long as my heart beats isn't it?” A tear slid down my eyes as his brows furrowed. “You are nothing without me. I own you and only I can end you, Mason Hartley,”

His eyes were wide and I could see the shock and terror in them.

The magic within me burst out from my chest, causing a ripple through the air. The pain and intensity of my magic were coming out of me in waves. Every inch of my body burned inside out, breaking the frozen effect of his magic on everyone and beasts, and sending them flying in several different directions.

I moved swiftly, speeding after him as the force of my magic also flung him and he crashed on the ground at the edge of the cliff.

His eyes darkened. I could still see the storm of fear swirling in them. He was up from the ground, but before he could lift a finger, I gritted my teeth and my claws dug into his neck, squeezing it, and crushing every fragile bone within.

I pulled him against my body. “You claim we belong with each other don't we?” I smiled bitterly, tears slipping from my eyes. “Then let's die together, taking this ill-fated bond down to hell,”

I wished the mortified look of pure horror did a little to alleviate the pain and heaviness in my heart but it didn't.

I couldn't escape the truth within, I must die to save everyone else. There was no other option nor did I have any other choice.

I lifted my eyes to meet Mum's, full of sadness, tears pouring down from her eyes and they shifted to Dad, his eyes were full of intense pain. A fresh wave of tears emerged as they rested on Theo before scanning through the faces of everyone I had learned to love. And when my eyes found Asher's, the look in them broke me completely. His eyes were pleading, begging me not to do this.

Immediately, I spun Mason around, and with my magic, the phoenix blade lying on the ground levitated in the air, flying towards us. At the same time, I heard Mum's scream and from my peripheral vision, I saw Asher speed towards me.

“Don't do this, please, princess,” Asher's broken voice echoed in the corner walls of my soul, and Nina howled in tears.

“I love you,” I managed to say between sobs through our matelink, my eyes never leaving Asher's that were now full of sorrow and unshed tears as he raced against the blade, but before he could reach Mason, the blade pushed its way into Mason with force, and it's sharp edge also piercing through me.

The next thing I felt was a surge of pain right in my chest as Asher's petrified eyes locked with mine.

A breathless gasp left my lips and the pain I felt deep within drowned out Mum's scream and every other sound that followed. My legs gave out quickly, and I stumbled back with Mason, falling off the cliff.

The last thing I saw was a pair of broken green eyes filled with much sorrow and pain as the world completely faded away and darkness was all that was left.

And in that instant, I knew that that broken gaze of my mate would haunt me even in hell.