Page 5 of Branded By Shadow
I wasn’t beneath taking advantage of that, or of his stupidity. “Enough lies, and enough nonsense. Time for a lesson in reality, Alexander. Wherever there is light, there will always be shadow.”
He’d been so busy trying to fool her and keeping me at bay that he’d missed the obvious. His own powers had created more shadows than he could ever hope to fight. Tendrils of darkness lunged from every corner of the hallway, striking from angles his frontal assault couldn’t reach.
Alexander spun quickly, trying to redirect his power. But his arrogance had cost him. And the reality was this. House Apollo light might have posed a real challenge. Their abilities disrupted the very nature of my darkness manipulation. But Alexander’sraw electrical discharge, for all its intensity, lacked Apollo's unique purity.
“Even the gifts of the gods can’t change physics, Stormwright. Maybe you should have spent less time hunting Omegas, and more time in school.”
Alexander broke free of my attack, electricity blazing in all directions. But each new blast of light only gave me more material to work with. We circled each other in the narrow hallway, our gifts meeting in silent, violent explosions.
“Clever,” Alexander admitted, his jaw tight with tension. “But your tricks aren’t nearly as strong as you think they are.”
He created a barrier of crackling energy, electricity forming a protective wall between us. Lightning danced along its surface, bright enough to eliminate most shadows in the immediate area.
I feinted left, then struck from above, dark tendrils dropping from ceiling corners his barrier couldn’t protect. Alexander rolled sideways, his shield collapsing as he focused on evasion.
“Dr. Ellis, stay back,” he called as our battle intensified. The void living inside me snarled in anger. How dare he act like he was concerned, when he’d been trying to manipulate her the whole time?
In an ideal world, I could have gotten closer and ripped that lying tongue out of his mouth. But as longtime experience hadtaught me, there was nothing about my life, or my world, that was ideal.
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the main corridor. Three security guards rounded the corner, their radios crackling with urgent communications.
“What’s going on here?” The lead guard asked, already scanning the scorch marks Alexander’s power had left on walls.
Alexander and I stepped back simultaneously, our abilities fading as we faced civilian witnesses. Olympian authority was stronger in all conflicts, but if at all possible, it was better to not make a mess.
“Just a professional disagreement,” Alexander said smoothly, his politician mask sliding back into place. “Nothing that can’t be resolved through proper channels.”
The third guard moved differently than her companions. Her eyes flashed from me to Alexander, then to the damage we’d already done. Her fingers twitched, as if already responding to the hostility we emanated. As if she wanted to reach for a bow. She kept her silver hair tied in a tight knot, but I didn’t need to see it to identify what she was. House Artemis.
In the end, she settled on resting her hand on her gun. Not her favored weapon, no doubt, but something that intimidated a regular Alpha. “Doesn’t look like a professional disagreement,” she commented. “Looks like two Alphas fighting over an Omega who doesn’t want either of them.”
Dr. Ellis pressed harder against the wall, her scent carrying increasing distress. Our brief battle had accelerated something in her biology that suppressants couldn’t control.
“Dr. Ellis is visibly uncomfortable,” the guard continued bluntly. “Perhaps both of you should give her some space.”
Alexander nodded and took a step back, once more the consummate politician. “Of course. Dr. Ellis, I apologize our discussion led to this unpleasantness. House Zeus simply wants to ensure your research receives appropriate recognition. Perhaps we can shelve it for a later date.”
I didn’t believe for a second that he’d let it go. If he’d been interested enough in Dr. Ellis to corner her here, he’d keep pushing. Dr. Ellis might have refused him now, but she wouldn’t be able to. Not for much longer.
But I could smell the change in her scent. Her heat was beginning, and soon every Alpha in the building would catch wind of it.
An unclaimed Omega entering heat, surrounded by territorial Alphas and inadequate security. Alexander’s resources, his political connections, his willingness to scheme and manipulate.
It wasn’t difficult to make a decision.
Alexander made his mistake when he turned toward the guards. “Officers, I can assure you that House Zeus takes these mattersvery seriously. We’ll file appropriate reports with the proper authorities to ensure—”
His attention was elsewhere. Foolish, but perhaps he didn’t think I’d be willing to make a drastic choice with the Artemis Alpha right there. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Shadows erupted from every corner of the hallway, vicious and feral now that lightning wasn’t trying to fend them off. Alexander let out a vicious curse. “Blackwood, you bastard!”
Normally, I might have reveled in the realization that I’d cracked his prized mask. But now wasn’t the time for that. Hidden by the chaos, I covered Dr. Ellis’s eyes with my hand and wrapped her in waves of darkness.
Holding her, I felt it more clearly. A flicker of raw energy pulsing from her, a desperate seed of life in the absolute nothingness. So Cassandra had been right to send me here. This was about far more than a formula.
My power reached into spaces between dimensions, finding pathways in the void beyond existence. Even with her eyes shielded, Dr. Ellis couldn’t cope with the shift. The moment the dimensional transition began, she went limp in my arms.
It was just as well. After all that, she’d probably need time to adjust to her situation. And I’d need to make arrangements to ensure she was as safe and comfortable as she could be.
