on mine, and I felt the guys’ eyes on me.
I love you, I declared, using our link to keep our conversation private while my anxiety and adrenaline flowed freely through my bloodstream. I love you so much. Stay safe. Don’t make any drastic moves if you don’t have to. And remember, you each have a vial of my blood around your neck. Use it.
It will only take a few seconds to activate since you’re ingesting it directly, Theo added, his eyes seeking his brothers’ before the clock reached its end. It will increase your strength, power, and magic, but the dose is small enough not to activate any new abilities or make the ones you currently have uncontrollable.
I’m going to go for Stepanov, I informed the others, and they tensed, but we’d talked about this. Go for Maldonado and Rahal. Take them out, and Stepanov won’t have his lackeys to back him up. I’ll cut my way to Stepanov and end him.”
I fucking hate this, Killian growled. I don’t want you anywhere near that bastard.
We don’t have a choice, Abra, I said. It’s now or never. I glanced at each of them, pouring my love and determination into them through our mental connection. We give this everything we have. For our future. For Emy. For Molly. For our kind.
“Don’t kill anyone who surrenders. We’re not the Council, and our mercy will be shown,” Damien called out loud, his voice carrying not only to our leaders and troops, but to the warriors on the other side. I saw a few of them shift, their eyes unsure as they stood with Stepanov, debating the truth of Damien’s words. Did they not see that they had another option? They could lay down their weapons. They could surrender. They could join us and pave the way into the future of our kind, for both animal and mythological shifters alike.
The seconds ticked down and time shifted, the magic releasing its hold. The change was palpable, the energy charged against our skin like static electricity. The wind was loud in our ears while everything else was silent around us.
For a beat, no one moved. Maldonado and Rahal grinned wickedly at each other and shifted, signaling for their troops to surge forward. My eardrums rattled from the deafening battle cries, and my heart leapt into my throat. I clenched my hands tightly around Damien and Theo, unwilling to let them go.
I fucking love you. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t let them go. My Phoenix cooed, promising me we’d see our mates again. Strength I didn’t know I had fortified me, and I loosened my fingers one by one until their hands were free.
And we love you. Damien swooped down, grabbed my chin, and planted a frantic kiss to my lips before he disappeared. His wings sprouted from his back, and he took to the sky.
My Phoenix’s raging cry pounded at my temples, and I leapt into action.
Theo’s hands were already shooting bolts of ice into our enemies as I ran to his side, covering him and blasting my fire into the crowd. My eyes were unseeing as I cut down person after person, my flames slicing through them and burning them alive. Their screams were pain filled melodies that rent the air with the scent of blood. The coppery tang was tart on my tongue simply from breathing.
One by one, shifters dropped around me. Rini and her bears were flashes of brown and black fur as they lunged past us, their powerful claws and jaws ripping into those who dared to stand against them, while Ciarán misted behind enemy lines, solidifying long enough to snap a neck or sever a soul from a body, carving through the first wave of soldiers before him with the ease of water.
More of their soldiers poured from the buildings and over the hills to join the fight, overpowering our forces.
The water! Damien screamed through our minds, and I winced, the momentary distraction costing me in blood. A wound sliced through my side as Fenrir barreled past, raking his claws along my ribcage. I pressed a hand against it and applied pressure while I whirled. The creature bared its teeth at me, and my hands heated with the promise of retribution.
Suddenly, a flurry of rainbow colored rabbits danced at its feet, weaving between lethal paws, stunning the creature as it swiped at the illusions. If the fight hadn’t been so dire, I would have giggled from the absurdness of it. As