Page 54 of Reluctant Rebel

Jinx frowned. “Didn’t she die of some wasting sickness? How is that your father’s fault?”

“Because he just had to have his perfect triplet babies!” Z growled, shoving Jinx in frustration. She fell back against the wall and felt her ankles become free. “He knew the pregnancy would be the beginning of the end for her. But he still knocked her up.”

That wasn’t the same story Brax told. He’d told them that his mother was the one to pressure Maliq into having babies. He had been willing to adopt or be childless. But Eronia had insisted. According to Brax, it was more about power for QueenEronia than a love match. However, his father’s feelings for his wife had been true. Jinx didn’t volunteer any of this information, though. She wanted to keep her head on her shoulders. She also didn’t remind Z that he wouldn’t be here today if Maliq hadn’t knocked up his mother. Z’s argument—and resentment—was completely flawed.

“I’m sorry,” Jinx murmured softly, hoping to come across as sympathetic. She wasn’t. Z was a big boy. He made his own crappy decisions. And by the sounds of it, his mother had done the same. She sounded toxic as hell.

“So was she,” Z said, his eyebrows raised. “But she made sureherlegacy continued to live on. In me. I would spend hours by her bedside while my brothers were off being selfish. They worshipped Father but left Mother to rot.”

“And that’s why she chose to share her secrets with you and not them,” Jinx commented kindly. At least, she hoped she sounded like she gave a fuck.

“Exactly,” Z confirmed. He clasped his hands in front of him, rocking back on his heels. “Magic in Purgatory has grown weak, diluted across too many generations. We may as well be filthy humans. It was Mother’s greatest wish to change that.”

“By killing descendants of the Forebears?” Jinx held her breath when the shadows holding her wrists together dropped away. She didn’t so much as twitch, keeping her hands trapped behind the cave wall and her back. “You know you’re driving every supernatural line into extinction, right?”

“I didnotknow that, actually,” Z admitted with a shrug. “Not until my little visit with Mikhail earlier. But it makes no difference to my plan. In fact, it strengthens it. You see, when a member of one of the original lines dies, their powers don’t die with them. They split and are shared equally with every other being in that bloodline. Sacrificing one benefits all.”

Jinx froze, forgetting about escaping as she tried to take in what Z was saying. “Bullshit. That’s not a thing. People would have noticed.”

“People are idiots,” Z stated blandly. “Why would they notice a tiny blip on their radar? Their eyesight improving, their shift getting faster—too minor to care about. It’s only when there are so few left for the power to split between that it’s noticeable.”

“Like the line of Cerberus,” Jinx breathed. There were so few of them remaining.

Z smiled and nodded. “Just so. Thanks to my mother’s little plan,” his voice dropped to a reverent whisper, “I've tasted abilities I never dreamed possible. I can control people with my mind now. It’s why Perran licks my boots like a dog. He is mine to command.”

The information dropped between them with the weight of an atomic bomb. Z had mind control? If it were true, he would be practically unstoppable. “That’s not possible.”

“Don’t you remember the little demonstration I just gave?” He grinned coldly, his eyes taking on a manic light. “I could give you another one.”

“That’s okay,” Jinx said quickly. “I believe you.”

Z chuckled smoothly. “When I was a boy, listening to my mother’s stories, I could only dream of such abilities. And now, I’m living it. And these powers are only the beginning. When I kill my brothers and the few cousins that are in hiding, I will be omnipotent.” He raised his hands and spun in a circle. “I will beGod!”

It sounded like fiction, but Z’s reverence when he spoke of his newfound power rang with truth. She shuddered, afraid for the world and everyone in it. She began to inch toward the cave exit, one millimetre at a time, keeping her eyes glued to Z. “But why kill other lines? You’re making them stronger, too.”

“And do you know how many downtrodden and over-looked beings there are in Purgatory?” Z asked, pinning her with his gaze. She stopped moving. “I have crowds of people begging me to make them stronger. And those whose values don’t align with me, I can control them with a few words.”

“If it’s that easy, why haven’t you taken over Purgatory before now? Why do you need to use me as bait?” Jinx questioned.

“The merging of powers is a gradual process,” Z revealed easily enough. “Magic is like a muscle; you must work it for it to grow. I can control one mind at a time for now. But soon, very soon, I will be able to control whole armies.”

“And your mother gave you this plan?”And I thought my abusive, druggie parents were fucked up.Z grinned at her in response, and Jinx snorted. “She sounds like a real peach.”

Z got all up in her face. “When my brother comes to rescue you, the damsel in distress, I’m going to make popcorn and watch as you take him apart piece by piece. You’ll be aware,” he revealed softly. He touched her cheek under her blue eye. “You’ll probably be crying. But you won’t be able to stop. Not until your mate is nothing but bloody crumbs on the ground.”

Jinx felt her tiger’s back arch, hissing at the words. Anger raced through her, and she knew now was the time to act. “Who says I’m a damsel in distress?” she queried mildly before head-butting Z hard in the nose.

She heard the crunch of his nose breaking as he reared back with a shout. With a burst of strength, Jinx began to shift. Her bones cracked and reformed, muscles bulged and stretched, and white and black fur sprouted over her entire body. Not wasting any time, she lunged at Z, her claws extended and ready to rend and tear.

She crashed into Z, her powerful jaws snapping inches from his throat. Z cursed, and his form shimmered and morphed, his body elongating into a massive serpent with gleaming scales. Hecoiled around Jinx, attempting to crush her. She dug her claws into Z, ripping through his scales as if they were tissue paper. Z hissed in pain and transformed again, this time into a towering werewolf with razor-sharp fangs and wild, glowing eyes.

The cavernous space echoed with snarls and roars as they clashed. Shelves toppled, and objects shattered as they careened through the cave, locked in a deadly battle Jinx wasn’t sure she could win. Z's werewolf form swiped at her with massive claws, leaving deep gashes in her stripes along her right flank. Jinx snarled and swiped back with her own claws, her tiger’s instincts taking over as she fought for her life.

Z let out a furious howl as he launched himself at her, his claws raking across her face. Jinx roared in pain and fury. Ignoring the blood that dripped down her cheek, she lunged at Z again, this time sinking her teeth into his shoulder. Z let out another howl, this one filled with pain. He flung Jinx off of him with all his strength, sending her crashing into a shelf filled with books. She let out a groan as she pushed the books and wood off of her. She could feel bruises forming on her body, but thankfully, nothing seemed to be broken. She quickly got to her feet as Z's form shifted once again.

This time, he transformed into an enormous dragon, his scales shimmering like molten metal. The beast filled the cave almost completely. His massive wings unfurled with a crack, and he let out a deafening roar that shook the very foundations of the mountain. Fire burst from his jaws in a torrent towards Jinx, who threw herself to the ground just in time to avoid being incinerated. She was good—trained by the best in Sabre and Gage—but she wasn’t that good. No way could she take on a psychotic dragon and live to tell the tale.

Her tiger roared, defiance and fear mingling in every inch of her striped body as the heat of the flames singed her fur. If she didn’t act, she would be burnt alive. It was risky—and very likelystupid—but she shifted back to human form. “You need to be a dragon to take on one teenage girl? I thought you were an Ace?”

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