Page 1 of Mastering Mayhem

1

MAYHEM

My soul, my life, my reason forbeinglay limp in my arms, her stillness carving a crater in my chest and hollowing my stomach until nothing but blind rage remained inside me.

Rage I could not contain.

“Is she…?” A tear slid down Ash’s cheek as I moved Ember from my lap to hers.

“She’s alive. Barely.” I rose to my feet, my eyes heating, my irises undulating as the fury built. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“Mile—” She choked on a sob and rested the back of her fingers on her sister’s forehead. “Give me my satchel.”

Ember was in expert hands with Ash and the others, which allowed me to focus on the Formorian dangling from my brother’s clutches…the reason my beloved barely clung to a frayed thread of existence.

“You will return her life force to her body,Donal.” I spoke the culpable creature’s name with such force, he flinched.

The vile beast kicked, flailing his arms and legs. My brother squeezed his throat harder, yet Donal did not obey. He was a son of Balor, after all. When his race ran rampant, his power matched my own. Even using his name, he was difficult to control.

My fury boiled over, hellfire heating every inch of my skin and threatening to erupt.

“She’s not breathing.” Ash laid Ember on the floor and blew into her mouth, making her chest rise and fall. “How is she alive if she’s not breathing?” Her voice took on an edge of shrillness as she placed her hands over Ember’s heart and repeatedly compressed her chest.

“Alive, alive for the time.” Donal grasped Chaos’s arm with both hands. “Let me go, and I’ll send her home.”

My brother lowered him to the floor but kept a firm grip on the beast’s throat. “You will not disappear, Donal. You will do exactly as we say.”

“You want me to send her home, yes?” His voice was thin, his breath barely escaping his compressed throat.

“Yes,” Chaos growled.

“Release me, and it’s done.” Donal patted his hand. “Let go, big guy, and I’ll send her on high.”

“No! He’s a trickster.” I grabbed the creature’s arm, wrenching it behind his back as my brother released him. “You will not send heron high, Donal. You will return her life force to her body.”

He strained, the grinding of his teeth audible as he fought my command. “We should be equals. Tell me your name since I’ve done the same.”

“You didn’t tell us anything.” I twisted his arm up his back, wrenching it harder. “And we will never be equals, you sniveling, rhyming imp. Now, return my witch’s life force.”

He hissed through his teeth. “Father needs it.”

“Ember needs it.” Grabbing the back of his neck, I swung him toward my witch and shoved him to his knees. “Give it back to her, Donal.”

“Do it, Donal,” Chaos said.

Ash stood, allowing Miles to continue breathing for Ember, sparks gathering on her fingertips as she loomed over the vile beast. “Donal, you better do it right now before I beat you to a pulp and burn you beyond recognition.”

He groaned, his body tensing as he ground out, “No.”

A fireball formed in Ash’s hand, and she hurled it at his chest, setting his shirt ablaze. The Formorian squealed and writhed in my grasp, but I held him firmly, forcing him to feel Ash’s wrath.

“If you want her to stop, you will do as we say.” I twisted his arm again, and his shoulder dislodged from its socket with apop.

“Enough.” Chaos placed a hand on Ash’s shoulder.

“Don’t you dare try to calm me down.” She shrugged him off and grabbed a handful of Donal’s hair, angling his head upward and forcing him to look at her. “Do. It. Now.”

Smoke rose from her fist, the stench of burning hair joining the reek of charred flesh.

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