Page 6 of Reign of the Beast

Ryker scrubbed his hand over his face, clearly frustrated with my answers. And then he said something that had my blood boiling. “So, the once almighty Mia Snow is nothing more than a coward now.”

His words sparked an instant anger in me and before I could check it, I was bolting from the log unsteadily, fuming at him, “How dare you? Say that again and see what happens!”

He kept his gaze steady, unflinching as he pointed out, “Nice to see your feisty edge is still there, but you threatening me means nothing now.”

“Excuse me?”

“You just told me you’re no longer using magic.”

“I meantheavymagic. A flick of my fingers would still have you on your knees.”

His gaze shot to my hands and he stepped back abruptly.

I followed his gaze to see that my blue fire was sparking.

Drawing in a deep, centering breath, I strained more than I’d ever had to do before just to call it back.

“You had no idea you’d invoked your power,” Ryker said.

I turned away. “Go home. This discussion is over.”

I growled under my breath when, instead of heeding my words, I heard his footsteps following after me.

“We have a shitload of work to do,” I heard him say, more to himself than to me. “This is unprecedented. It’s going to delay us. Dammit.”

“Delay what?” I muttered over my shoulder, hating that I couldn’t just ignore it, that I needed to know what his cryptic comment meant.

I was so used to taking point, to being in charge in basically every situation that it seemed to be ingrained in me now.

“Preparations for war.”

I spun back around, shocked. “War?”

“Draco has stepped up his game,” he said, his expression grave. “We need to respond with a decisive show of force.”

“A suicide mission, Ryker.”

“There’s no other choice.”

I scrutinized him for a moment. “You’re not telling me the whole story.”

“And if I’m not? You’ve refused to come back in anyway.”

“After what happened… as I am now… I’m dangerous. A risk to you all.”

His eyes narrowed. “Like father, like daughter.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“All this trouble started when Cornelius turned his back on his duty as an Immortal. Draco’s power grew so quickly because of it, because there was no one to stand in his way. Sure, Cornelius has tried to make up for it over the years, forming the Guardian Movement, for one. But his mistake still stands. A mistake that his own daughter is now making so many centuries later. Wow. Talk about a legacy.”

I couldn’t actually believe he’d uttered those words. Throwing all of that in my face? “Get the fuck away from me! We’re done here! Go!” I yelled, irately.

He held up his hands in an overly sarcastic way, as he called his green fire forth, preparing to teleport.

As usual, though, he couldn’t resist having the last word. “You can’t hold your power at bay for much longer. It will either eat you alive, or you’ll snap and lose control, becoming the very thing you’re so afraid of.”

He was gone in the next moment, but his parting shot had me frozen to the spot long after he’d teleported away.

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