Page 34 of Luna Ascending

“They're here. They're attacking the estate...”

What the fuck? Was the fight we just won a fucking decoy? Something to draw us far enough away for the Coven to get to the estate, to get to Tavey? How the hell did they know he'd stay behind?!

“Aaron... Fucking get here now. We can't...”

Tavey's mind-link cuts off, mid-thought. Mind-links don't do that. Not unless something has happened to the sender.

Anger escapes me in a tormented howl.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Freya's POV

Slowly, I become aware of myself. Am I dreaming? I'm running, and I'm going fast, really bloody fast. It dawns on me - I'm fast-flowing and I'm doing it really, really well! Trees and rocks fly past in blur, and I've no idea how I'm avoiding hitting them. I glance at my hands and, shocked, come to an abrupt halt.

My hands are filthy, and the nails are torn and bloody. Alarmed, my hands fly to my face. I can feel drying rivulets of caked, cracking blood.

My tongue flicks over my teeth, expecting to find some missing, but they're intact. The rich metallic taste of blood fills my mouth, making me retch. Is all this blood mine? Fuck, what if it's someone else's? What the hell is happening? This doesn't feel like a dream any-more, it's far too real.

My memories filter back slowly; I remember Liz's panicked phone call, her telling me where she was, something about being attacked then the line getting cut off. Without thinking I'd set off - fast-flowing towards Liz. Then what? I'm struggling to put things in the right order.

I was disorientated after my first ever long-distance fast-flow. I arrived, to find the Coven surrounding Tavey, Liz in cougar form, and a few young wolf-shifters. The cougar looked pissed, hissing and clawing at a sinister collar clamped around her neck.

My head swims, and I have to fight to focus on my memories. Just as I arrived, a spell was being cast, but I was way too slow to stop it. The shifters and the cougar took the full power of its blast and froze on the spot, before they crashed to the floor.

I recall trying to use all of my powers to protect Liz, Tavey, and the fallen shifters. With piercing clarity I remember more Coven members arriving, and amongst them Marc... fucking Marc.

He sneered at me, his face contorting like some awful mask.

“You're fighting on the wrong side, you stupid bitch. You're mine, you fight on my side” he snarled.

I feel proud of myself, watching the scene play out again in my head. “I'm not yours Marc! I've chosen the right side, and it's certainly not fucking you!”

I brandished my ring-less hand at him. A flash of indescribable alarm crossed his face and he shrieked like a banshee.

Looking into his panicky face, realisation had finally dawned on me. Could it really be that the fucking ring was important? Was he somehow using it to control me? Of course - the few times I'd had it off my feelings for Marc dissipated, rapidly. That old crone had almost told me as much – why the hell didn't I listen?!

Seeing his utter dismay, a calm clarity washed over me - my suspicion was fucking awful, but it was right. Those feelings I had for him... they were nothing more than a nasty conjuring trick. The calm lasted mere seconds before anger took over. How the hell could I have been so blind?!

I broke inside, and a wave of wrath rolled through me with a furious darkness I'd never felt before. I directed it at the Coven.

I feel like I'm forgetting some vital bit of information. I remember seeing a terrified witch, then the sensation of my face buried deep in her neck, a rip of flesh and a gush of blood down my jaw, accompanied by a vicious elation before I sprang at my next victim.

What the hell am I? What have I done? I killed people, I pulled their throats out with my fucking teeth, who does that? I've completely tipped over the edge. I killed them.

Then it hits me, even worse, I killed in vain.

The last memory I have is of Marc grabbing Liz by that fucking collar, and fast-flowing away while the remaining Coven members blocked me from following. I killed them, every last one of them, but it was too late to save Liz.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Aaron's POV

My sides heave as I skid to a stop in the clearing, my nostrils flaring. The smell of blood hits me first. I'm too late. The juniors are scattered on the cold ground, unmoving, fur matted with red. They've fought valiantly - Coven members are sprawled between them with viciously torn out throats.

I turn away distraught, and catch sight of Tavey. How the fuck did I fail him so badly? I take a hesitant step towards him, grief catching in my throat. He's slumped over a rotting tree stump. Another step closer and I see his chest rise, it's barely moving but he's alive!

I run toward my friend but, just as I reach him, a familiar piney scent hits me, stopping me dead. Freya. It smells of Freya. She's been here with the Coven. She was part of this. A cold fury engulfs me.

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