Page 104 of Ava: Part Three

But even if she had believed them, the choice had been taken out of her hands when her father had been suspended in the air, moments from death. There was no choice but to fight.

“I was making sure—”

“I’m not an idiot, Andrei. You forget that I know you better than anyone. I have given you enough chances.”

There was a flash of light and then the sound of harsh breathing before Andrei fell to his knees.

He fell right in front of Zeke with his eyes open. She couldn’t hear a heartbeat. The insane power that she always felt from him was just gone.

And then the scream. The scream from Iulia forced her to step back as a massive wave of magic was released. There was so much pain in that scream. So much anguish and hate. So much guilt. There were so many unfiltered emotions that she couldn’t make sense of.

Iulia fell to her knees beside Andrei and pulled his head to her lap.

Nyx’s anger disappeared as they both tried to figure out what the hell was going on. It wasn’t just Iulia’s pain in the air; Alpha Diego was hurting, too. He stood watching the two of them on the floor, his fists clenched and his eyes glowing red.

Hansson had felled the three untouchable councillors with that one move, but he hadn’t even touched them.

“Do your jobs, or you will be next. End them!”

Hansson said that and appeared at the back of the stage, right behind her father, who’d been tending to Mr Patrick.

No!

She started running back across the stage the moment she realised what he was going to do. Mr Hansson grinned at her like he was enjoying himself just before his magic snatched her father back to his feet.

She shifted back before she reached them, not caring that she was now naked in front of everyone.

“I’m okay, sweetheart. Finish the job. You can do it,” her father said.

Hansson didn’t like that because the grin left his face, and her father hissed as if the magic was tightening around him.

“You can try, Ava,” Hansson hissed.

And then he was gone.

It was just Jared left on the stage next to Mr Patrick.

She fell to her knees, and it was her turn to scream. She’d failed.

Chapter 61

There was a shift in the air.

Zeke guessed it was because Iulia was not focusing her magic as she wept over her lover. Was he dead? It felt like it, but he didn’t give a shit. What caught his attention was that the councillors’ strength was noticeably reduced.

‘We can take them now,’ Shadow growled.

But there was another scream, and this one hit him in the heart again.

He shifted and was by Ava’s side in seconds, taking her into his arms as he tried to figure out what happened. Mr Patrick was struggling to sit up with Jared’s help. But Alpha Roland was gone. He knew what had happened, but they had to be still at the academy. Hansson was a sadistic asshole; he would make sure Ava witnessed whatever he had in mind for Alpha Roland before he killed them all.

“We’ll find him,” he whispered, tightening his hold on his mate.

They had to go before Iulia and Diego calmed down and did as they were told.

He looked back at the trio and saw Alpha Diego was still standing over the other two. What sort of bond did they have? It couldn’t be a true mate bond because Hansson would have killed them long ago.

“He’s not an Earth Fae,” Mr Patrick said. “I tried to attack him when they caught me, but he absorbed everything.”

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