Page 45 of Tasting Darkness

She isn’t touching darkness.

She has become the darkness.

Gold tendrils sliver down from her face when she digs her fingers in the ground, the gold streaking out and splitting the earth, making the ground shake with the power of an earthquake. In a blink, she is standing, and I gasp when I see her wings spread out on either side of her arms.

Wings.

Aleera had wings!

Wings are something I have not seen on a fae since before the plague. Yet, these wings aren’t like any wings I have seen before. White Fae used to have wings, crystalline or white. But, Aleera’s wings are black with gold and red streaking through them. Aleera, also shocked at her new appendages, gasps before flexing them and blinking, regathering herself before turning her gaze to her victims.

Before I have a chance to blink, she is running straight at the power hunters while they run at her. They want her power, and she wants their lives. And their lives are exactly what she takes as she manifests magic I have never seen before.

Monsters, things of nightmares, creep from the crevices out of the earth as she casts them into this world. She creates hell on earth. Hell hounds come up from the pits she creates, tearing into the power hunters.

Ghostly figures claw up from the ground and attack them alongside her, fighting for her. Ryze, who is still on her shoulder, jumps off, joining the fight as she hurls magic everywhere. Power hunters fall while others run for their lives.

The power hunters run, opening portals and escaping the massacre. I can only stare in shocked horror at what Aleera has become. Her magic flows freely from her fingertips while she uses her wings as weapons, sharper than swords and stronger than titanium. They tear through the power hunters like hot knives through butter while her magic burns their souls from their bodies.

Darius, undisturbed by what Aleera has become, moves to help her, along with Tobias. Aleera, feeling them, turns on them, tossing her hand in Darius' direction, throwing him backwards. At first, I think she has turned on him, when she throws magic at Tobias too. Yet as they stand up, I realize Aleera has recharged them and empowered them, without even touching them.

Yet, that momentary distraction costs her. A blast from her right knocks her sideways causing her body to lift up into the air. Darius gets to his feet in an attempt to help her as I begin running toward her.

“Aleera!” Tobias and I scream at the same time. Darius kills the power hunter holding her in his magic, Darius hot fire magic engulfing them, melting the flesh from their bones when she hits the ground.

That momentary diversion, I realize, is a ploy as portals open up everywhere, giving the few power hunters left a chance to escape. I rush to Aleera’s side and grab her, only to let her go, her skin burning hot to touch. She pushes herself off the ground with a groan and turns, looking for the power hunters. She wants to kill them, she wants them to suffer the pain she feels. A sob tears from her lips when she realizes they have escaped, making the bond turn ice cold.

ChapterThirty-Five

Aleera

They killed Kalen. They killed my mate. The realization makes me return to my senses as I hit the ground. I have lost all control, driven by anger so hot I think I might combust.

“Aleera,” Lycus murmurs. I try to clear my vision as my anger dies down being replaced with immense grief. That cold sinking feeling makes my entire body ache as the hunger and need to kill the power hunters turns quickly to sadness and a hollowness that I know will never be filled; I am dead inside. I feel my magic crashing into the ground as I just did, seeping back into the earth. Yet at the same time, my magic is recharged, energized, and simultaneously ice cold in my veins when I hear Ryze screech.

The fighting has stopped. The bodies of our men and the power hunters lay scattered on the ground. Few have survived and I know I should feel sorry for them, yet all I can think about is Kalen being gone. An icy, sinking feeling makes my bones ache and my heart palpitate as it settles over me.

The weight of my sadness is heavy. It feels like I am drowning in despair. Is this what my mates felt every time Kalen killed himself? No wonder they hated me. I can’t live with this feeling, it's unbearable, torturous. My eyes search for his body amongst the hundreds of others. All I can see is carnage.

“Kalen,” I whimper. Ryze screeches again, making me look for him. My eyes search, only to see what is left of my phoenixes huddled where Kalen’s body lays. My eyes widen, and I choke and sputter at what I see. He is being eaten by them. I scream at the phoenixes, getting to my feet and running toward them.

“No, stop! Stop!” I sob, racing to stop the giant birds from mutilating him even more. Lycus and Tobias also begin running toward him too. I lift my hand and blast the phoenixes with my magic, only for it to hit some invisible barrier and be deflected back at us, knocking us all on our asses.

Fury courses through me at their betrayal. I drop with a wailing scream when I see one phoenix collapse.

Then another.

The huddled birds, ruffling feathers and chirping screeches, flutter over Kalen’s body, making only his legs visible as they cover him. Suddenly, the phoenixes keep dropping one by one and burst into flames around him.The topmost one squawks loudly and erupts into flames in an awful finale. My heart becomes pulverized as Kalen’s body burns along with them.

Or so I thought.

My infinity mark burns, erupting with power, making warmth flood through me. I gasp, looking down at my mark to see Kalen’s name flashing like an SOS.

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

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