Page 52 of Reaper's Reward

I didn’t have time to laugh. Now that Tom and his witch of a wife were safe from my power, I unleashed it once and for all. Some of my arcana poured into Maddox. He shook his shoulders like he was settling into a new form though I saw no change from the outside.

Even after all that, I still had plenty more power left. I used it to reach for all the lingering fate threads flapping in the wind around me. I barely got ahold of them before Fenrir slammed me in the chest. My breath rushed out of my lungs. A burning sensation enveloped my chest when I tried to inhale.

My grip on the fate threads faltered. I had to keep ahold of them. If I let go, then everyone would be in danger. There was no way that I was going to let Fenrir win.

Maddox

Fenrir putmy family in danger.

I was going to drag his ass back down to the underworld and chain him up myself. I would have opened a portal and shoved him through it were it not for my human family behind me. They didn’t need to know what I’d become. For their sake, it was for the best that they remember me as a human man.

Fenrir hit Addie in the chest. I caught her before she could hit the ground, but the force of the impact nearly knocked me to the ground, too. I pushed her back onto her feet. Eyes wide and panicked, she clutched her chest and gasped.

I twisted back to my family. “Run!”

Aunt Kelly had Uncle Tom by the front of his shirt. She dragged him back into the house. I could hear Uncle Tom mumbling about his shot gun, and I hoped that Kelly could talk him out of it.

I needed them safe. If I lost them…

My beast snarled and clawed at me to let it out. Instead, I spun back towards Fenrir. Once the door to the house closed, and I was sure that the two were out of sight, I rushed the insatiable wolf.

I threw a punch only for Fenrir to catch it in his palm. The impact made the air around us burst. My stomach chose that moment to growl greedily. Fenrir smiled and laughed.

“Are you starving? There’s plenty to eat. All you have to do is take it.”

I felt the sucking sensation along my skin and moved to jump away from him, but Fenrir gripped my hand. My attempt to escape left him slightly off balance, but that was it. We grappled while the air turned into invisible claws that raked through my skin and flesh.

There was a way to counter this, I thought to myself. If I used this same power against him, then maybe I could cancel it out.

I didn’t have time to try. Addie let out a war cry just as the asphalt at Fenrir’s feet started to crumble and rise. She struck out at him with something that I couldn’t see. Hands over both his shoulders, she yanked back. I watched a fine line press into Fenrir’s throat.

I took the opportunity to turn the grapple against him. I caught his other hand and pulled so that the invisible thread around his throat tightened. He’d come for us on the wrong day. Addie and I were working in unison.

Fenrir locked eyes with me. “Do you want to be her pet for the rest of your free life? Or do you want to take control of your own destiny?”

He could try to sway me all he wanted, but I wasn’t going to take his bait. He couldn’t tear me away from everything that made life worth protecting. He wanted to destroy, but my only mission was to protect.

“You’re willing to starve yourself? You’re willing to give up your own power to everyone around you?” Fenrir shoved back despite the binding around his neck.

Behind him, Addie pulled. She reached out, wrapped her hand around something that I couldn’t see and proceeded to tie it around Fenrir’s arm. He jerked away from it, but it was too late. Addie already had him bound. She grabbed the invisible rope and yanked. Fenrir faltered and gave me an advantage.

I pressed forward. “You think I’m giving anything up? I’m keeping what’smine.”

To that, Fenrir laughed. It was a hearty chuckle full of challenge. He saw my resolve and must have been looking forward to breaking it. I wasn’t going to let him get the chance. Addie already had his neck and right arm bound. I just had to buy her enough time to get his other arm and legs.

I thought we were going to win this one. Things were looking good. I tightened my grasp on Fenrir’s fists and shoved him back so that his knees buckled, but when he looked up at me with a spark in his eyes and a smirk on his lips, my confidence wavered.

Then I felt it. The pulling sensation crept up on me. It didn’t come from ahead of me. It came from behind…

Fenrir cast his devour ability out in the widest net I’d seen so far. The walls of the shack buckled and groaned. The food on the counter came flying towards us only to dissolve in the air. Grass fluttered and trees bent.

Addie shouted something, but her voice was devoured, too. I didn’t know how to stop it. I couldn’t counter Fenrir’s ability with my own when Addie was right behind him. She would get hurt, and it would be all my fault.

Fenrir was not allowed to hurt my wife. I snarled. My beast rose and pressed against the inside of my skin. The creature had taken on a wealth of Addie’s magic. It empowered me and gave me the ability to partial shift. My fingers bent into sharp claws. Long teeth pressed into my tongue and threatened to break the surface.

“No,” I growled as I shoved Fenrir into the ground.

He cackled, the sound ricocheting off every surface. He rolled his shoulders back and tossed me. My feet left the air, but my beast’s instincts were already kicking in. I pulled on Fenrir’s fists to bring my body back upright and brought my legs between us to hit him in the chest.

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