“You will never win!” Asmodeus shouted. I flinched, straightening as much as I could and trying my best to block Wolf from his father.
“You should have died a long time ago.” I returned my gaze to Wolf, whose eyes fluttered closed as his body collapsed to the ground.
No, no, no.
“Don’t be too upset,” Asmodeus said. “You two will be together again soon.”
I knew what was next. I knew what came after this. Asmodeus would blast us both with his power before he blasted the entire damn kingdom, taking over the vampyres and using them as weapons in whatever plan for dominance he had.
He would never stop. These people would never know peace.
Wolf would never know peace.
Wolf pulled on our bond, and I focused on him enough to feel the love, the light, the hope that radiated from him. He was lyinghere, bleeding out and ready to die, while putting the fate of the world in my hands.
And his father was about to ruin everything.
So, I did the only thing I could think of, the only thing that would give me a chance to get us out of this mess.
I held my hand out to Asmodeus and met his flash of magic with a storm of my own.
Since Moira, I hardly learned the extent of my own power. I had no clue what turning into a vampyre had truly done to me, to my blood, to my magic. But light rippled against light as my magic battled his. It stopped his flash of light, freezing it in the air.
The power of an archangel.
He screamed out in frustration, but I didn’t stop pouring everything I had at him.
It has to be you, Wolf said.
This madness, this absolute chaos Asmodeus brought into this world, it ended now. He deserved to pay for what he did. He deserved to pay for what he put us through, for what he put Wolf through.
I did not worry about how much power I was throwing out, did not worry for my own health, for the consequences of draining myself.
And when I felt as though I had nothing else to give, I felt the pull of the bond, the nudge of Wolf’s magic ready to replace mine.
Ready to finish the damn job.
I let my free hand fall onto Wolf’s body as I took a deep breath, mustering the strength to pull, dragging everything that remained through that dwindling thread of a bond.
A scream left my mouth as I was filled with the electrifying strength of Wolf’s untapped magic. I knew he was strong—hells, he was half angel—but this was unlike anything I could have possibly prepared for. Wolf’s magic ripped through me, taking hold of every muscle, every instinct. I could not have contained the flood even if I wanted to.
All that magic—that beautiful, painful elixir of pure violence—catapulted toward Asmodeus. The scream ripped through my throat, tore at my lungs, but I kept pushing. My hands burned with the new magic that fueled me, but I didn’t stop.
Die.
Die.
Die.
Die for what you’ve done to us. Die for what you’ve taken from me. From him.
Pain ripped me apart, but I hardly noticed it. I poured everything I had, everything Wolf had, into Asmodeus.
Something snapped deep inside me, something that ceased my entire body, halted any magic.
I realized instantly what it was—what that void meant.
The bond. It broke.