Page 12 of The World Undone

“Now!” Seamus’s teeth elongated, his dark eyes flashing bright with swirls of yellow and thick black ropes. Those eyes locked on me, the familiarity warped and angry. “You. You did this.”

The metal of his chains clanged in vicious strikes, echoing around the room with his snarls.

“Fuck.” Eli stepped in front of me, shoving me back a few feet. “Dad, you’re okay. It’s okay.”

But by the tremor in his voice, I knew that even Eli didn’t believe these words.

Strings of spit flew from Seamus’s mouth as he screamed, the sound more animal than human.

Deep circles of red cut into his ankles as he strained against his restraints, his skin peeling back as it tore. Bones bent and broke at angry angles, skin and fur warring for real estate they couldn’t both share.

My eyes watered as Seamus screamed in rage, in pain—the agony of the shift violent and loud.

“Dad,” Eli held his hands up to his father, took a step closer. “It’s okay, you’re okay. Breathe with me, okay? One big breath in.”

But he was too far gone, barreling on a path of pain that Eli couldn’t reach.

Seamus’s response was an ear-splitting scream-turned-roar as he lunged for his son. Any flash of recognition he’d had before now was eclipsed by a violent desire to tear his own flesh and blood to pieces.

The skin around his ankles ripped to shreds, peeling back even more as he used the force of his weight to free himself. It was enough to crack the bone, but I doubted he noticed it much anyway when his entire body was breaking and contorting, limbs elongating and shrinking, caught and confused in the shift.

I spun around to Levi, whose face was in shadow as he studied Seamus—half horror, half curiosity. “Is it always this bad?”

Levi shook his head, as Eli grunted out a soft, “No.”

Levi’s eyes widened as he took a step forward and reached for me. “Max, look out.”

Eli fell back on his ass as Seamus ripped his chains free. “Holy fuck.”

Seamus’s feet were broken and bloody, but he didn’t seem to mind. Instead, he lunged towards us, spit flying from his mouth like a rabid animal.

I shoved Levi off of me and jumped in front of Eli, conjuring a ring of hellfire around Seamus in one fluid movement. I had more control now and knew that I could keep the fire contained without burning anything too badly.

His eyes rippled, reflecting the crackling flames. For a moment, it looked like he might try to jump through them, but something about the shock pulled him out of it, woke him up.

The bright light from the fire highlighted the contusions and bruises along his body until it hurt to look at him. I narrowed my eyes and took a step closer to him, my face nearly touching the flames.

“What the fuck is she doing?” Levi’s voice was hollow and low, dimmed by the low roar of the flames licking against my skin.

“Max, get away from him.” I felt Eli at my back, his presence solid and unwavering as my flames shielded him.

My focus was drawn to the veins on Seamus’s forearm—black, like ink, and rippling as if alive.

It was similar to what I’d seen in The Guild labs, identical to the magical energy moving underneath the council member’s skin before he disappeared from sight.

“Is that—” I glanced up at Seamus’s face, his eyes blown wide with horror at what he’d done. He took a few steps back, panting as he watched me, shame etched into every line of his face. I pulled the fire back, just as it would have swallowed his leg. The room grew dark and quiet without it.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Seamus repeated the phrase like a prayer, his body trembling as it shifted and locked back into his human form. “Please just kill me, just kill me, just kill me?—”

His pleas echoed, ragged and anguished around the room.

I took a few steps closer to him, no longer afraid of what he might do to me, but I could no longer see the dark lines threading underneath the clammy smooth casing of his skin.

“Max, careful.” Eli’s arm pressed against mine, his blade hanging limp at his side. A small tremor ran through him before his body shifted into a fighting stance.

Seamus fell back on his butt, scurrying away from us like a crab. “Max? Who’s Max?” His focus flung to Eli. “And you? Who are you?” Panicked breaths lifted in his chest in short, uneven gasps. “Where’s Levi? Levi—do it, just do it. Plea?—”

A low whistle flew past us, a dart landing deep into Seamus’s arm. An almost smile pulled across his face, as his body relaxed, then fell into a slumber. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I heard him mumble a breathy “Thank you,” before his eyes rolled back in his head and he stopped moving altogether.

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