Page 5 of Madness Behind the Mask
I’m liking these guns the humans made. The previous alpha of the Death Hunt, my gang of wolves, thought they were useless, un-honorable.We should only kill people with our teeth and claws and natural strength.Blah, blah, blah.Pathetic thoughtsfroma pathetic man. There is no honor in war.
I learned that the hard way when I once thought I could bring peace to the threegangs of St. Augustinejust by talking through our differences. But there is too much hatred on all our sides. Too many vendettas unpaid and uncollected.Alleveryone wants isto fight and kill, and so I will join them in their madness.
I will end this war with their corpseshangingin my halls and splayed out on mydiningtables. Perhaps then they’ll realize the folly of theirmockeryovermy attempts at peace.
Nestling the butt of the rifle into my shoulder, I aim for the little girl.She is the only daughter of Delun Shadow, and although the Shadow Domain does not allow theirfemalesto fight, she is more important than any of his sons;with her marriage,their Familywilleasily doublein sizeovernight.
So despite how much effort they put into her white dress and veil,despite the armed men there to protect her, SauShadow will never know a man’s kiss.
My finger on the trigger, I follow her down the aisle.
Then I exhale.
And fire.
She lifts her head just as the bullet hits her, coloring her white dress red. Her eyes fly up to mine as she falls to the ground right in front of the altar. The venue explodes into action. Her father throws up a shield around her, a shimmering blue that is as useless as it is pretty given hermother is running towards them, white healing magic flowing around her hands, and I’m training my gun on her.
With inhuman speed, I fire.
She falls to the ground, a river of life flowing out of her head. The light fades from her hands… Is gone completely. She lies on the floor with one arm out as if reaching for her daughter, who is on the ground in her father’s arms, bleeding out from the wound in her neck. They will soon be reunited.
Their soldiers rush around, trying to figure out where I’m shooting from, wondering why their wards never activated to tell them of my presence. But the invisibility charm hanging around my neck hides me from magical sight as well as from normal vision.
DelunShadow should have been a bit more observant when Ikilledhis youngest brother three weeks ago. He should’ve noticed Jack’s magical charm was missing from around his neck.
I feel the little translucent stone pulsing with power against my chest, consuming the magic thrown at me as the Shadows search with their useless scries. I dart around the roof, firing into the venue at different angles, taking out every woman and girl in attendance.
The men might be soldiers, but the women are their breeders, and with their deaths, the ShadowFamilywillstagnate,then finally fall.
It’s dirty tactics,but as the alpha of my pack, I do nothave the luxury of keeping clean.
Aiming my rifle, I blow out the brains of a little baby in pink. I jump onto the next roof,skidding across angled tiles,working my way to a new vantage point to target those now hiding behindthe cover of the pews. I skid to a stop at the edge of the new roof, line up a shot through a new window, and then freeze, my senses blaring.
For just a moment, for the barest of seconds, gone too fast I wouldhave missed it if not for my heightened wolf awareness, was a glimmerinside the wedding venue. Like a heat haze that disappeared as soon as I really looked.
Like a mirage created by fucking magic…
To keep me distracted while someone –
Cursing, I swing my rifle around, having just picked up the scent ofaman behind me. The charm around my neck suddenly burns white hot against my chest, and I hiss in a breath as it brands my skin,overheating with magic.Thebastardcan see me. I yank it off,snapping the chainjust as I clock the ball ofgreenfire being thrown at my head by Delun Shadow.
Falling backwards, I tumbleofftheroofas flameslick the air above me. The rifle falls to the ground as Iflip in the air,my bones breaking, my skinand tendonstearing. Claws rupture from my fingertips as canines extend in a newly formed muzzle.Long redfursprouts across my body everywherebut my chest, which fills in with white.
My claws dig into the edge of the roof as I catch myself from falling. Slamming both furred feet into the side of the building, I launch off the wall, jumping back onto the angled roof, my maw open in a snarl.
Delun throws up a wall of blue magic just as I reach him. I bounce off it, my neck snapping to the side as my teeth close over air frizzling with magic.
Standing upright, Ibaremy teeth as he readies another spell. His fire is a painto deal withas it doesn’t just burnone’s skin, which would be easy enough to ignore given how quick my body is to heal and how naturally resistantwerewolves areto most magic. His fire,though, burns one’s soul, and if it hits me, I’ll be crippled in an instant. There is nodefense against soul magic.Only black-out agony.
I dart forward just as Delun’s infamouswhip of flames extends from hislefthand.It barely grows a few inches before I’mon him, the slope of the roof making him react slower than usual as he struggles to keep his balance.His shield goes down. His whip goes up, growing another few inches in the time it takes me to snap my teeth around his other arm as he fights me off. The coppery taste of his blood flows across my tongue as I jerk my head, wanting to throw him off balance so he doesn’t have time to –
I release him on a howl as his fucking whip hits me in the back. I drop to my knees,my vision narrowinginto pinpoints of black as the pain resonates in every part of my body.Lurching down the side of the roof, I roll off it just as his whip slams down where I was.I tumbledownthe three stories, my normal grace stolen by the flair of agony ripping apart my soul. The ground hits me in the face, and I want to take a moment to breathe, but I know if I do, I’m dead. Delun can jump from the roof and shift into his shadow form, taking no damage. And once he shifts back, he’s going to kill me with that damn whip.
So I force myself to my feet and stumble forward. A witch tries to stop me, standing in my way as red light builds aroundhishands, but my attention is overhisshoulder, on the gray wolf that follows me everywhere.She’s my own little shadow, mylifelongmate,and the love of my life.
I growl at her, ordering her backto her positionon the perimeter watch, butSiomelaunches herself at theback of the witch. Screaming, he falls beneath her weightas her teeth close around his neck.
My ears twitch at the soundof flames crackling behind me. Lunging to the left, I catch the sight of green fire whipping through the air. But it isn’t aiming for the position I was just atnor the position I am dodging to. My heart stutters as the whip of soul fire lands fully on the back of my mate.
