Page 137 of Fated

Xanth ran out of the cabin, positioning himself next to Ash.

I felt it then; the body behind me was no longer Ash. The shift was unmistakable as the imposter’s form twisted and morphed into Calyx, pistol still pressed firmly to my head.

“CALYX!” Ash’s voice thundered with a power that shook the earth beneath us, the sound reverberating through my bones. Ash’s eyes turned an obsidian black, darker than the deepest night, and in an instant, the twelve rippers flanking us disintegrated into dust, blown away by the wind as if they had never even existed.

My entire body trembled uncontrollably.

The sheer magnitude of what had just happened was too much for my mind to process. Ash had obliterated them without even lifting a finger.

“Fuck, Ash! What the fuck, man?” Calyx’s voice wavered with panic, his pulse hammering against my back. His hand trembled, the gun shaking slightly as genuine fear washed over him. “He only ordered me to bringherin. You can go, Ash. Get the hell out of here,” Calyx pleaded.

Ash didn’t budge, his voice low and lethal.

“Calyx, I don’t want to hurt you, but if you don’t take your fucking hands off of Areya right now, I swear to God I will incinerate you like the rest of your friends.”

Calyx’s entire body was shaking now.

Ash’s voice softened but maintained its edge of steel. “You can fight this, Calyx. I broke the sire bond. We are not your enemies; we are your friends.”

Suddenly, it felt as though everything slowed down.

Out of nowhere, Greyson came barreling out of the cabin, his clothes torn and disheveled as if he’d just walked out of a fight. His eyes were wild, and he shouted something to Ash, but words didn’t register in my mind. All I could focus on was the sudden horrifying shift in the air.

Xanth moved with a speed I hadn’t even known possible. One second, he was standing beside Ash, and the next, a dagger gleamed in the sunlight as he drove it into Ash’s back.

The world went silent.

My breath caught in my throat as Ash’s expression twisted in shock, then pain. He stumbled forward, collapsing to his knees, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think.

And then I screamed, loud, raw, and filled with a terror that clawed through my chest.

Suddenly, I was thrashing, shrieking, fighting with everything inside of me to get to him. My vision blurred with tears, my muscles aching with the frantic need to reach Ash.

Calyx had dropped his gun to his side, now using both arms to hold me back.

Xanth’s form shifted, warping into something that made my blood run cold. His body transformed before my eyes into a tall, black-haired woman wearing a vicious, predatory smile.

She was devastatingly beautiful and positively awful to look at; her features were too sharp, too cruel. Dark, cold eyes glinted with wicked intent as they locked on me. She wore a black, intricately designed low-cut corset and black leather pants that seemed to absorb the light.

“Cynthia.” I spat her name, each syllable laced with venom, like acid burning on my tongue as I faced the evil Queen of Ellington.

Her eyes roamed over me, studying me with an unnerving detachment. “Somebody’s done her homework.” Her voice was sweet, almost melodic, yet dripping with malice.

I glared at her, tears streaming uncontrollably down my heated face. I struggled to move toward her, but Calyx had a death grip on me. I shot a desperate look to Greyson, pleading with my eyes for him to do something, anything, but he stood frozen, caught between fear and uncertainty, his expression tortured.

My gaze snapped back to Ash.

His chest rose and fell with shallow, labored breaths. No ordinary dagger could keep him down. Slowly, he managed to turn his head slightly in my direction, pain etched on his face.

“Calyx, get Areya away from here,” he growled, his voice hoarse yet commanding.

“NO!” The word ripped from my throat in a savage scream. “LET ME GO! LET ME FUCKING GO!” My voice cracked as I struggled harder against Calyx’s hold, my soul feeling as though being torn apart with each passing second.

“ASH!” I sobbed his name, every syllable thick with despair as my body shook uncontrollably, the weight of helplessness crashing down on me.

“Please, Calyx …” Ash’s voice was raspy, desperate, as if it were taking everything in him just to speak.

Cynthia turned her cold gaze to Calyx, her expression one of sickening amusement.

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