Tempest Reborn (Jane True) - By Nicole Peeler Page 0,74

I pulled my shield in tight to my body as if it were a suit of armor. ‘The problem with you is that you’re so blinkered by hate. I mean, obviously you’re blinkered by hate, because you let yourself become a great big fucking gecko in order to get power. What do you eat anyway? Shitloads of insects?’

Morrigan watched me, her own shields still crackling with energy now that I’d pulled mine away. But she didn’t advance on me, confused by my actions.

‘The reason your precious White fell is because Anyan fought. He wasn’t an inferior vessel, he was a superior vessel – he fought your mate with everything he had in him. And you know why he did that? Because he loves me. Unlike Jarl, who fought you every step of the way so you wouldn’t pull him into your crazy scheme.’

I knew I’d hit a nerve. When Jarl had died, he’d been running away from Morrigan’s attempt at turning him into the White, and toward me to save him. I’d even been willing to do just that, but one of Blondie’s last acts on this earth was to kill my Alfar nemesis, forcing Morrigan to take Anyan in a fit of panic.

‘He loved me, you bitch. He was confused by you; you forced him away from me…’

I could feel Anyan’s powers growing from behind her, and I tapped into the water I kept in reserve…

‘You know that’s not true,’ I said. ‘You were keeping him prisoner. He had to be drugged…’

‘Liar!’ she screamed, forgetting her earlier caution as she lunged toward me.

I was ready, for this was what I wanted. It was my turn to affect a power stance, my labrys pointing forward with all my power and the creature’s borrowed strength poured into sharpening its blade to cut through Morrigan’s shields…

But then she stopped, smiled, and turned neatly on her heel. To sprint directly toward my friends.

‘Fuck,’ I said, and then I did call for the creature.

‘Speed!’ I yelled, letting it know what I needed even as my little legs started churning. Sprinting far faster than I ever could have on my own, I felt Anyan’s coiled power strike, sending up a wall of earth to protect Ryu and Caleb from the Red’s onslaught. I felt them brace the earth barrier with their shields even as I threw power at them. Anyan caught it, weaving it into the earth he controlled. It wouldn’t hold the Red long, but it was enough.

She was running hell for metal, probably expecting the earth barrier to shatter before her. But it held, and she bounced off it with an enraged roar. She then raised her claws to start slashing her way forward, but I was there.

The labrys carved through her shields like they were butter I was so amped up, and I caught her a glancing blow on her red-scaled shoulder. Blue blood spurted and she wheeled around, lunging toward me as she did so. Her claws glanced off the blade of the labrys, only inches from where my fingers gripped the haft. I shuddered, and then I began fighting.

We closed in against each other, her a whirl of claws and distended muzzle, me using every trick in my arsenal, and more than a few of the creature’s, to match her blow for blow. I blocked a clawed fist, then a clawed foot, and somehow managed to pivot fast enough to stop that damned tail from slashing across my back. Unsure how long I could keep this up, I turned to my friends for help.

Anyan was already in action, hauling the fire hose of a nearby firefighter out of his hands and training it on the Red and me. The water blasted with excessive force at both of us, but I met the blast with a laugh.

For while the water wouldn’t hurt the Red as much in this hybrid shape that was as much Morrigan as dragon, it was just the weapon I needed.

The water danced around me as I began flailing at the Red, striking her blow after blow with clubs of water. I imagined it felt like being forced to belly flop, over and over. The water also charged me as I used it, washing away that dangerous moment of doubt that had preceded Anyan’s help.

I may not have put the fear of God into the Red that day, but I did make her retreat. With a growl, she sprang back, shaking herself like a dog as she did