ownership of you? Why does our mighty father protect you? Why, sister-mine, did Mammon keep you close, a half-blood nothing? He knows you, as do I. You cannot fight the future. You are the Mother of Destruction. I see the world reduced to rubble beneath your feet, and as much as I despise you,” he turned his fingers on my face and sank his claws into my cheek, “you will be magnificent.” His eyes shone as my memory clawed at those words, words from my past, words from Akil’s lips when we’d first met, You, little half-blood, will be magnificent.
My demon blasted through me, chasing away all traces of humanity. I screamed, even as pleasure strummed my senses. Yes, freedom, at last. My entire existence, my mind, my past, my thoughts, all funneled into that one precise moment. The answer for what to do with my brother was simple: fuck him or kill him.
Val danced back, wings and arms spread. A malicious grin distorted his face. He wanted this. An aura of white pulsed around him, but his wings were a consuming dark. I flung out my one ruined wing and summoned the heat, but it spluttered and waned. Something was wrong. Inside, I was wrong. Not yet complete. Not ready. Damien… Rabid thoughts emptied into my mind. Slaughter, blood, madness. Crimson insanity.
“Yes, sister-mine. It will not be long now. Embrace what you are. Come back to us.” The choking presence of my brother’s lust recoiled, and he vanished.
A hollow whine cut from me. I sank to my knees, throbbing with need, wretched with disgust, and riddled with fear. Yes, I wanted this. I was destruction. It was my purpose, my right. I’d lay waste to all in my wake.
Boots hammered nearby.
“What did you do to her?” Stefan. The tentative touch of ice pulled at my heat.
“She was fine when I left.” Ryder, distant, concerned.
Don’t let it win. Fight it. All of it. I doubled over, jaw clamped tight. My brother had hurt Jenna. She was hurt, dying. I had to get through this. To tell them. I had to get to Dawn. My time wasn’t over. Not yet. Not yet, dammit. Don’t let chaos win.
“Stay back.” Ryder ordered.
Stefan’s chill encircled me. He was close enough that I could taste the bite of winter on my lips. “Stefan…” I reached for him, demon fingers dripping flame. “Soul-lock.” I spat the words, trying to rid this hideous thing from inside me. Dragging my gaze up, I saw him on his knees beside me, concern pinching his features.
“Fight it.” He glanced at my hand, wanting to reach in, but wary of the heat.
I’m trying, I mouthed. A storm raged, tearing me apart. Human and demon. I clamped my hands to my head and bowed over. I was losing, slipping free. A gut-wrenching scream burst from me. It went on and on, tumbling over, echoing into forever. Stefan’s touch settled on my shoulder. Icy quivers shivered through my flesh and tingled deep inside. His element followed, rippling over me before sinking through my skin and flowing deeper. The shock and wicked relief silenced the insanity. Moments passed, and with every shuddering breath, the heat subsided and the madness dissipated. His hand slipped down my arm and drew me up. He was demon, his eyes like diamonds, iridescent skin marked by fractals. I searched his eyes for the spark of humor I loved, but found only hard, soulless ice. It was too much. I twisted, and tumbled against him, slipped my arms around his waist even as our opposing elements clashed. Fire vied with ice, tugging, waning, but I buried my head against his shoulder and shut it all out, all but the quieting effect of his ethereal touch as it wove through me, dousing my fire and quenching the madness.
A growl rumbled through him. I tensed but heard movement behind Stefan. Someone had ventured too close. I was safe. All was still. I was going to be okay. Not yet lost. But for how long? If I let him go, would it all flood back again?
“Val…” I whispered. The things my brother had said to me about fate and destiny and how he’d already seen my future. I read the past in metal. It made sense that my brother would see the future in flesh. He’d spoken as though he admired what I would become and said our father protected me because of it. It was why Akil kept me close. Akil knew.