Page 84 of Called By Fate

Sensing my distraction, Hemsworth leaps, his powerful jaws wrapping around the dead Elite’s throat as he rips it out and I do the rest, cutting his head off his body. It’s harder than it looks, but it’s easier this way. The body still fights but they can’t see anything and are more clumsy.

Another wave of the dead surge on us and it makes me feel helpless. And I fucking hate feeling helpless. I’m supposed to be the happy-go-lucky guy, but nothing about this is fun. It’s fucked up in so many ways, I know it’s going to scar all of us.

The only thing on my mind is getting to Sadie, but I don’t know how we’re going to because if we turn our backs for a second, we’ll die.

I love you,Sadie projects to us, and I know she’s about to end this. The need brewing in my chest to get to her amplifies and a blast of my orangish-blue fire erupts from my core with a battle cry and a roar. I will my fire not to harm anyone who is on our side, and it does the trick, but we need more… and I’m running out of juice.

I love all of you,Sadie says again, and my heart squeezes painfully.

This can’t be happening.

* * *

Sadie

Tears leak downmy cheeks as I force one foot in front of the other. My vision is turning black around the edges, wonky from lack of air, but I put my trust in my magic and my intuition because they’ve never steered me wrong.

Mickey is levitating, cackling like a complete madman, but it doesn’t matter.

One foot in front of the other,I tell myself.Right foot, left foot, right foot, stop.

I slam my hand into the power stream that he’s feeding into the undead. The spark inside me ignites, bursting to life with a brightness that’s almost blinding. I completely unleash my magic, trusting it to do whatever it needs to do to stop the flow.

Like a rising wave crashing into a shore, it bursts out of me in a tsunami that smacks everyone. Still, I let it go. I open myself up completely, letting wave after wave crest out across the battlefield. The undead stumble, and Mickey's power stutters. I feed more into taking it down. My insides feel like I’m sticking them in a live socket, but I continue despite the agony.

It's not enough.

Using the rest of my energy, I trust what my instincts are telling me to do and call a burst of shadows to lift me from the ground until I’m standing at Mickey’s height. I scream as an overwhelming blast of light erupts from my chest and an equal parts light and dark spectral wolf bursts free.

The wolf—mywolf, I realize—clamps its teeth around the green magic Mickey is pouring into the ground, effectively cutting off its flow, and then sends her own power storming through him.

Mickey bellows a roar and jerks against the foreign magic inside him as it flickers from green to black to white.

“How?” he roars as he crashes to his knees. I'm not entirely certain either, but I'm guessing it has to do with the magical resistance of shifters.

All of this happens within a few seconds, but when you can't breathe, it feels like hours.

Elian suddenly appears behind my uncle and claps his hands around his head just as my vision darkens around the edges, and I collapse to the ground, clawing at my throat. My heart is thundering, roaring in my ears.

Pounding agony is all I can feel as my wolf absorbs Mickey’s power. I need air. I need this to end. I need it to be over.

Distantly, I hear someone, or several someone’s screaming my name, but I don’t take my eyes off Mickey, relishing at the horror in his eyes as Elian pours his fear into him. All of it. He looks fierce and badass as my savior.

So many times, I’ve wished for Mickey to know the fear he instilled in me and Skylar and he’s finally getting his fucking comeuppance. If I weren’t dying, I’d take more pleasure in the thought.

Someone—Kaos, I think—is standing over me with his calm but collected energy. My other mates are here too. Reed with his quiet but resilient presence. Vinson with his strong but sweet personality. Dante with his firm but funny attitude. I feel every single thing they’re feeling through the bond, and our love is strong, despite my magic waning.

Elian crosses the distance between us, my uncle face down on the ground behind him, staring at me in that way of his—concern and panic etched on his face.Finally, all my mates are with me,I think to myself as they place each of their hands on me and connect us as a Circle.

My vision darkens further, my energy fading, barely able to keep my head up, but I feel more than see the glow surrounding us. All our magic twirling and intertwining... it causes a small smile to form on my lips. It's so beautiful. They’re all so beautiful. My mates. Mine. Even if it wasn't for long.

There’s a black glow emanating from Kaos' hands that overshadows the rest of the light, but the dreaded darkness takes over, and I’m lost to it completely. The last thought I have before all the fight leaves my body is,we did it.

We fucking killed them all.

But at what cost?

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