Page 89 of The Stone Survival
“What is it?”
“The cosmic taint. We’ve seen it infect many worlds in many forms. Sentient in some places, dormant in others, it feeds on mystical energy and the life force of all things, and it seems in this case it has infected the weave somehow.”
“Then we take him down,” Enron said. “Now.”
“Only the elites can kill him.”
“These bodies are from the elite bloodlines, are they not?” Sazon said.
“Yes,” Ubron replied.
“Then we do this.”
Ubron dropped me a nod then turned to his team. “Attack!”
They rushed Yarrow, converging on him in force, and for a moment, hope bloomed inside me, but a shockwave had the graynites spiraling away from him. They hit the ground, shook off the effects of the mystical blow, then rushed him again.
Once again, they were expelled.
The doors opened, and several cloaked figures ran into the room.
Alchemists!
And they were led by Yolina. The bitch.
Rage bubbled up and stole my reason as I ran at her. I caught her on the side of the head with a solid blow before claws dug into my mind and agony stole all reason.
Feminine laughter rose over the sizzle and crackle of magic, and the talons of alchemist influence sliced deeper.
“No!” a male voice yelled.
The alchemist control on me snapped.
Derek stood in front of me, his body brimming with power as he faced off against the alchemists. They moved closer, forming a circle around us.
“The woman…” I stood slowly, my beast rising to press against my skin. “You keep the alchemists busy. I want the woman.”
Derek attacked the alchemists with a jet of power, and I dove at Yolina.
She tried to make a run for it, but I grabbed her by the hair and hauled her back.
“Let me go, you bitch!” she squealed.
I gripped her throat and slammed her into the wall.
Her eyes widened in panic. “Don’t. Please. Don’t. I’m like you. I need sex to survive. I was just trying to survive.”
Like me? A fae blood? A Baboahan sidhe? Yes…I felt the kinship now. But that was where the similarity ended. “You’re nothing like me. I would never take what wasn’t freely given.”
“You would if you were starved. If fire ants were crawling beneath your skin.” Her words meant nothing. All I saw was Serath’s face. All I felt was his pain.
“We’re not the same, Yolina. Because faced with the same choice, I’d rather fucking die.” I snapped her neck.
“Cameron,” Derek said. “More alchemists are coming.”
And Yarrow was still channeling. “We have to stop Yarrow.”
The graynites were flagging.
