Page 13 of Centaur Bolt

“HELLFIRE.” Rafael shouted the word, spinning to open the inner door. “He’s transformed.”

From what Isobel had hinted at, that was all kinds of bad. I sensed the energies now, pulsing from the depths of the cave. Bellatis, Isobel, and the coven all had distinctive life essences. But there was another that pulsed unlike anything I’d ever sensed before.

Whatever it was, it was powerful. “If he’s transformed, how are we going to get him out of here?”

Rafael paused, laying a hand on the outer door. Then he turned back to me. “We might need the Deranger.”

I supposed there were worse ways to die than letting one’s temporarily incapacitated inner monster fight for one’s freedom. If I ensured that someone died quickly, it could feed and maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t die at all.

Judging by the commotion, someone dying shouldn’t be an issue.

“I’m in,” I said.

7

Rafael

When I swung open Havoc’s outer door, both Bellati guards were already halfway down the hall, clearly torn about where their duty lay.

I immediately changed my plans to something much easier than convincing them that they didn’t see a seven-foot Dragon shifter walking past.

I sucked a pulse of energy from my crystal. “Go!” I called to them. “I’ve got this!” Along with the words, I pushedreassurance. Of course,they trusted meto keep an eye on the Dragon while they joined their comrades.

It was much easier to reinforce a concept that they were already half sold upon. Both waved to me and pelted up the hall.

I turned to Havoc and whispered, “Stay back, and keep your head down until you see an opportunity. Do you know where the gate is?”

He nodded, and I shivered just looking at him. Every muscled, red-scale-clad inch of him was lethal. His eyes gleamed like copper in the dimly lit cave.

“Wait until I engage Isobel,” I cautioned. “Then get Marcus through that gate.”

His only answer was to lift lips away from teeth already growing sharp.

Isobel reached again for me, her energy laced with outrage that I wasn’t already there. It touched me and acknowledged I was near.

I headed toward the commotion. The plan now hinged on my ability to keep Isobel distracted.

Another shriek pierced the air. I rounded the corner and froze as the ground trembled beneath my feet.

I knew what Isobel had done to Marcus, and I still had no clear explanation for what I saw. Because, from what I knew, what he’d turned into did not exist.

His eyes blazed emerald in a wicked head with long, savage teeth, but his muzzle ended in a hooked beak below a face covered in dark-green scales banded in gold. His neck and part of his wings were wreathed in feathers that shone iridescent purple.

The creature snapped viciously at the Bellatis and reared up on its scaled hind legs. Much larger than a Wyvern should be—his arms were now wings that collided with the cave’s ceiling, and then lowered to knock Bellatis aside like they were twigs. His long tail lashed out and sent one of the Dragons crashing into the cave wall.

Marcus was terrifying and magnificent, all at the same time. Somehow, two of the beasts inside him had merged, and I could only hope that the one I most feared stayed buried. The ground trembled again, and I thought I heard the crash of thunder.

Bellatis and Dragons desperately attempted to throw a net over Marcus’s thrashing form. Isobel spotted me, and in an instant, I was engulfed in the bloodmagic. However, this time, when she reached for my ability to control Marcus, I gritted my teeth and repelled her.

I sensed first her astonishment, and then her rage. She raised both hands to gather the power from the coven. The air lit with pulsing red as it swept toward me.

For my beast to claim that energy, I needed contact—it had always been Aurora’s job to gather it and feed it to me. However, as it surged, I clutched my crystal and imagined my life essence flowing over me, as though I’d built a shield of my energy.

I’d never tried it before, and amazingly, it worked—the red energy bounced off rather than impacting.

Isobel’s gaze narrowed in fury, and this time when she reached, she made a grab for control of my mind. As she tried folding her power around me, I used the very talent she strove to control.

“You will stop!” I shouted. I put the full power of my talent behind the words, forcing my will against hers. For a heady instant, as she took an involuntary step away, I got a glimpse of what true power would be like.

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