Page 110 of Alpha Power

"I'm sick of this shit," Darius bit out, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm always getting picked on around here."

"You're the youngest, whaddaya expect?" Maddox shrugged.

"I am not! She is." Darius pointed at Zamorra and she snorted.

"If we weren't counting your vampire years, I'd have you beat. You were what. . . just a little tween when you turned?"

"Has the mind of a teenager, that's for damn sure," Maddox mumbled.

"Hey! I heard that," Darius barked.

"Considering you've got supernatural hearing I'd be surprised if you didn't," Maddox snapped back.

"Yeah? Well... at leastIdidn't get my ass handed to me by some stupid little pixie."

Maddox narrowed his eyes. "I'll show you an ass kicking." He went to stand and Darius shot to his feet.

"You wanna go Legolas? Let's go then!"

Maddox dived across the table and tackled Darius to the ground with a savage growl.

"Ah, you fucker!" Darius cursed as he tried to block the rain of punches aimed at his face and body. He grunted and tried to shove Maddox off but the vampire held on tighter than a bull-rider.

Through gritted teeth, Maddox growled. "I'm gonna fuck you up."

"Bring it, wart face."

Snarling and hissing like a bunch of toddlers fighting over the same toy, they wrestled with one another. Biting, kicking, scratching, while everyone else watched on.

"Ah! Watch the face!" Darius shrieked.

"My hair! Stop-let go!"

"Shitfuck, no biting!"

"Claws! Sheath the claws, you idiot!"

Rolling his eyes, Luther waved a hand at the tumbling vampires on his floor. "Thaddeus," he boomed, "deal with that."

The mage smirked. "I would love to."

Dark magic rolled over Zamorra's skin, flooding the atmosphere around them and making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Red lightning sizzled in Thaddeus' palm, slithering around his fingers and forming an orb of pure magic right in his hand.

With a flick of his wrist, he launched the orb. It split in two, one shooting into Maddox's back and the other swerving around him to hit Darius directly in the chest.

They both froze, their bodies locking up and seizing in place. It was like someone had pressed 'pause' on them and they couldn't move a muscle. It reminded her of something her mother used to say all the time whenever she pulled a silly face.

If the wind changes, your face will be stuck like that forever

With their limbs stuck in the air, faces frozen in angry expressions, it was like time had completely stilled for them.

"So, you two planning on attending the Regent Meeting tomorrow?" Thaddeus asked casually, looking at Zamorra and Void while he continued eating like there wasn't a pair of vampires frozen on the floor thanks to his magic. "A little birdie told me something quite interesting. Barnabas Baxter is rumoured to be on the docket. Apparently, he's trying to get the Exposure Law revoked," he scoffed. "Good luck with that."

Zamorra and Void shared a look. Truthfully, she was dying to go. To finally put a face to the man who murdered her parents. Oh, she had been tempted over the years to just look him up online. You could find anyone online these days as long as you had the right information. But she could never bring herself to do it.

Part of her was angry. So, so angry that she was terrified of what she would do if she actually saw him. There was so much pent-up rage inside her, towards Barnabas, the man that quite literally ruined her life.

Another part of her, as much as she hated to admit it, was scared of him. She couldn't help the icy, cold fear that trickled down her spine every time she heard his name. None of that mattered though, because Luther answered for her.

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