Page 56 of Blood and Reign

But with the shaky rumble comes a large crack that splits the ground open, heading straight for Luka.

Instincts take over and my powers snap out, wrapping around his wolf, yanking him out of the way.

The large crack grows wider, cutting through nearly a third of the arena. Luka’s wolf moves beside me, sliding his body along mine in a‘thank you’before maneuvering around the large hole.

I keep my eye on him as he quickly makes his way toward the large demon, its size at least three times that of Luka’s wolf.

Just as Luka’s wolf reaches the demon beast, flames light up his entire body.

With my power right at the surface, I let the energy slide over my skin, building to a peak before focusing it on the demon now eyeing up Luka.

As soon as the beast makes a move, I let go.

A mass of shadowy tendrils lashes out, coiling around the beast before dragging it upward and slamming it on to the ground.

Luka’s wolf whips forward with his flames alight and rushes through it over and over, making the demon nearly encased in his flames.

A slice of panic spears through me as Luka slows down, his flames dimming.

The beads must be losing their energy.

Needing to end this, I tighten my shadows on the demon, and with Luka’s flames already burning through it, I push more power into them. It speeds up the process, burning through the large demon, leaving nothing but embers behind.

The embers fall to the ground as everything around us turns silent.

Luka’s wolf turns and shifts back before slowly making his way over to me. I catch a slight movement from the dark remains of the demon beast. My eyes stare unblinking at it, wondering if it was just my imagination or a breeze. Then I remember, there is none. The air is stagnant and stale.

Like thousands of crawling ants, the dark spot spreads backward, moving until it’s covered the entire arena behind it.

Once it reaches the cave-like walls, it starts moving forward, straight for us.

“Luka.” I take a step back and glance over my shoulder at the cave with the bars still up.

Fuck. I guess that’s our only option right now.

The ground rumbles again, but this time it starts collapsing in on itself, with the crawling darkness still moving closer and closer to us.

Luka makes it back to me, and we make a run for it. We make it into the cave just as the ground we stood on seconds ago collapses, completely disappearing into a black hole full of spiraling shadows.

The bars shoot down, locking us in once again, but I’d rather be locked in here than the alternate of what’s outside.

I bend over trying to catch my breath, feeling completely drained. The energy that was flowing through me a moment ago, now completely dulled.

I look over at Luka, my eyes drawn to his bracelet, where nearly all of his beads are drained. But it’s his clenched fist and stiff body that tells me something isn’t right.

“Luka?”

Luka’s head whips up, his eyes glowing as he growls. “Mate.” He takes a step toward me, tilting his head.

My eyes widen when I realize it isn’t Luka talking, but his shadow wolf.

“How?” I take a tentative step toward him and when he doesn’t growl at me to stop, I continue until I’m in front of him.

The veins in his neck bulge as he clenches his jaw. “Mine.”

His mouth moves again, but no words come out, as if he’s finding it hard to speak.

“Are you okay? Is Luka…”

---