Chapter 269

I scream as the boys come through the door, as Alvez hauls hard on my arm, pulling me up and spinning me around, clasping me to his chest with one arm while the other shoots out towards Jackson and Luca, who barrel forward.

I feel the dark power streaming out of Alvez and heading towards the boys. Desperate, horrified, I press my eyes shut as my scream rips from me, as I send all of my own heart after Alvez’s magic, all the heat I have in my body and my bones racing to meet it, to trace through Avlez’s power, attempting by some instinct to singe it, to burn it, to destroy –

My eyes fly open again when I hear Luca shout in pain and I watch as the magic hits him, knocking him backwards off his feet and flat onto his back.

Jackson flinches in pain, shouting as the magic pulses over him, his canines extended in his rage. But he pounds forward unharmed, continuing on his path straight for me.

Alvez growls, looking down at me as he figures out that I had something to do with the interruption to his magic, but before he can do more than adjust his grip on me a fist lashes out through the air, connecting solidly with his face.

Alvez groans, stumbling backwards, his arm loosening around me –

Suddenly there’s a hand fisted in my shirt and my body is ripped from its place held tight against Alvez. I’m hurled forwards, past Jackson, and I stumble, trying to catch my balance, only to be caught in Luca’s arms as he pulls me close.

Still, I whip my head back in time to see Jackson delivering his second punch, and then his third, all solidly to Alvez’s face, knocking him nearly senseless. I see the magic welling at Alvez’s hands but with every punch it flickers, dimming slightly before regaining power.

“Jackson!” Luca gasps out, pulling me tight to him. “What the – what the fuck are you doing – he’s a professor –“

“He’s not,” I stumble out, looking up desperately at Luca. “He’s –“

“Luca!” Jackson shouts, “fucking help me!” He still delivering the blows desperately, though I can see Alvez grabbing at Jackson now – and where he grabs, Jackson’s clothing starts to disintegrate in patches –

I gasp, instantly moving for Jackson now, reaching for him.

But Luca pushes me backwards, dashing forward.

“Don’t let his hands touch you!” Jackson says, shoving Alvez away from him and towards Luca, who winds up his right arm and delivers one hell of a punch to Alvez’s jaw, sending him stumbling away.

I watch, terrified, as my two mates work together to incapacitate Alvez – but even as they do, I see Alvez begin to grow stronger.

A shout of fear and rage at the door makes me spin and suddenly two more Alphas are rushing forward – my brother, my cousin –

Jesse drops an open laptop on the floor as he dashes in at Rafe’s heels and it lands with a sickening crack. Still, I ignore it –

“Don’t let him touch you!” I scream, a little senseless with my helplessness as Rafe dashes into the middle of the mess and reaches for Alvez.

Alvez, grinning through his bloodied teeth – through an eye already swollen shut – turns to my brother and smacks his hands hard against his chest. Rafe screams – a horrible sound of fear and pain – and I scream too, dashing forward, desperate to help –

But Jesse, he gets there faster than all of us.

Jesse lets out a mighty yell and throws his body into Rafe’s, knocking him aside. As Alvez’s arms fall slightly, Jesse’s hand snaps out, wrapping around the other man’s neck.

And as Jesse’s fingers tighten, shadows burst from him, all of them wrapping themselves around Alvez as well.

Rafe falls coughing to the floor as Luca stumbles back, gasping in fear and surprise, going to the ground next to Rafe. Jackson stands panting as I dash forward, his arm cocked high, ready to deliver another blow whenever it’s necessary –

But it doesn’t seem necessary.

Jesse moves forward, his teeth bared, his canines elongated, pushing Alvez backward until his back slams against the far stone wall. All the time Jesse’s shadows writhe, twining around Alvez’s limbs, seeping into his mouth, sliding into his throat. Tendrils of Jesse’s darkness are everywhere around Alvez, and as I fall to my knees at Rafe’s side, my hands wrapping around his heaving shoulders, I gape to see that the shadows – they’re not just tricks of light anymore.

No, they’re tangible things, wrapping hard around Alvez’s neck, his limbs, his body, extensions of Jesse’s will.

“Who are you,” Jesse growls, his voice echoing in the room, bizarrely doubled so that it sounds like there are two of him – one his normal voice, one much deeper – a dark purr. “What the fuck do you want?”

Jesse tightens his fingers around Alvez’s throat once more and Rafe and I go rigid with shock when we see Jesse’s hand slip, somehow, inward –

Not because he’s ripped Alvez’s flesh open but because – because…

My mouth drops open and I stop breathing – I have no explanation.

But Jesse’s snarl deepens as he begins to pull, drawing something forward towards him.

A great shadow begins to emerge from Alvez’s form, held tight in Jesse’s hand. At first it’s Alvez’s double, but as Jesse steps back and pulls it further forward, it becomes clear that the man who emerges is…

Is not Alvez at all.

Is someone much, much worse.

Alvez’s eyes roll back in his head as the shadow is pulled free and he collapses to the floor in a heap of flesh.

But none of our eyes are on him. Instead, they’re on the incredibly tall shadow of a man whose throat is still held in Jesse’s fist.

“Well, little demigod,” the shadow man snarls. “Looks like my girl has found you at last.”

“Who are you!?” Jesse demands, his voice still echoing in that uncanny, two-throated way. I gasp in a breath, what feels like my first in minutes, as my eyes dart around the room to see that Jackson is still standing with his fist cocked, and Luca is on Rafe’s other side, just staring in shock. In my hands, I can feel Rafe panting, even though each breath makes him wince in pain.

My eyes fly back to the shadow man when he speaks. “Do you not recognize me, child?” the shadow replies, taking a step towards Jesse, forcing Jesse to take a step back, even as his magic writhes, still trapping the man.

The man’s voice booms out, echoing through all of us, and a shiver goes through me as I realize that I know exactly who it is – know it in my bones, even though I’ve never seen him before.

“You’re…” Jesse breathes, his eyes going wide.

“Yes, I’m the one your grandmother created you as a weapon against,” the God of Darkness says, his lips pulling back in a snarl as he glances down at Jesse’s shadows. “That bitch, my wife. She is clever, I will give her that, to imbue her grandson with power equal to mine, to hold me back.”

The man flicks his eyes to me now, and to Rafe.

“Even if she left the others vulnerable.”

A slow smile takes his lips.

A snarl takes mine. “Tear him to pieces, Jesse,” I command, rising to my feet, livid and finished with this god’s threats, his deception, his insults to my family.

“I’m fucking trying, Ariel,” Jesse grinds out, and as he does I see his shadows tighten, almost…sharpen somehow.

But the God ignores him, his eyes now on me. “Look at you, little goddess,” he says, shaking his head, a look of obscene pleasure now on his face. “I haven’t seen you with my true eyes since you were an infant - and look how well you’ve grown up. You’re even more beautiful now that I see you with my own eyes, not through that…” he glances back now at Alvez, “that wretch’s miserable mortal flesh.”

I growl, ignoring his words, stepping towards him. “Can you kill him, Jesse?” I ask, livid. “If you can, do it.”