The world seemed to explode into chaos as the demon lunged toward me. Its massive, clawed hand swiped the air, and before I could react, the shadowy force surrounding it stretched like smoke and slammed into my chest.
I screamed as the impact sent me hurtling back, my body crashing against the cold, uneven stones of the chamber floor. Darkness crawled up my arms and legs like living vines, weaving into my skin, cold and suffocating. My wolf instincts rose, snarling for release, but the power invading me drowned them out, overwhelming me with its crushing weight.
“Audrey!” Logan’s voice cut through the haze, raw and desperate, but it felt like it was coming from miles away. I tried to lift my head, to reach for him, but my body wasn’t mine anymore.
“Do not fight it, child,” the demon’s voice echoed in my mind, rumbling through my consciousness like a storm. “You are the doorway, the vessel. Through you, I shall walk this world.”
The dark energy poured deeper into me, wrapping around my heart, my mind, my soul. My own thoughts were drowned out, replaced by whispers-chaotic, ancient, insidious whispers promising power, destruction, and ruin.
“No!” I screamed, my voice raw. I could still feel the wolf inside me, buried but snarling with defiance. It lashed out, clawing for control, but the demon’s force was unyielding.
Mal’s voice cut through the fog, urgent and fierce. “We have to sever the connection before it fully possesses her!”
“But how?” Logan’s voice was hoarse, panicked. “She’s-”
“No time for doubt!” Mal barked, and I could hear the sound of her boots pounding against the stone as she moved closer. “We stop this now, or we lose her!”
The demon laughed inside me, deep and malevolent. “They cannot stop what has already begun.”
I fought harder, clawing for control, but the shadows only tightened their grip. My limbs began to move, jerking against my will. I lifted my head, and Logan’s stricken face came into view. For a moment, our eyes locked, and I could see the anguish and rage burning there.
“Logan…” I managed to choke out, my voice trembling and laced with desperation. “Don’t let me hurt you.”
“You won’t,” he said, his voice steady despite the turmoil etched into his features. “I’m not giving up on you.”
Before I could respond, the demon’s control surged again, forcing my body upright. A sharp, guttural growl tore from my throat, my voice layered with something far darker, far more menacing. My hands crackled with black energy, and without warning, I raised them, sending a blast of shadow hurtling toward Logan.
He barely dodged, rolling to the side with inhuman speed. “Damn it, Audrey, fight it!” he shouted, his tone laced with fury.
“I’m trying!” I cried, tears streaming down my face. But it wasn’t enough. The demon was winning. I felt it reaching for the core of who I was, ready to consume me entirely.
“No more playing around,” Mal snarled. She planted herself between me and Logan, her hands moving rapidly as she traced glowing sigils in the air. “Keep her busy!”
Logan nodded, his movements blurring as he leaped forward, his werewolf strength carrying him into the fray. He didn’t attack me outright-instead, he used his speed to stay ahead of the shadowy strikes the demon forced me to unleash.
Inside, I was screaming, fighting to regain control. I reached for the wolf, for anything I could use to push the demon back, but it was like trying to hold back an ocean with a single hand.
“You are nothing without me,” the demon hissed. “Do you feel it, child? My power coursing through your veins, eclipsing your feeble existence?”
“No!” I roared, my voice shaking the chamber. “I’m stronger than you think!”
The demon’s laugh echoed, but then it faltered, just for a moment. And that was all the time I needed.
I pushed back, pouring every ounce of willpower into the fight. My wolf surged in response, a snarl ripping through me as I dug my claws-figurative and literal-into the demon’s grasp.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Mal finish her sigils. Her hands glowed brightly, the light intensifying as she raised them and shouted words in an ancient language I didn’t recognize.
A beam of searing light erupted from her, slamming into the shadows enveloping me. Pain exploded in my chest, and the demon shrieked, its grip faltering.
“You meddling wretch!” it roared at Mal, but she didn’t waver, pouring more energy into the beam.
Logan seized the opening. He darted forward, his claws glowing with a strange, silver light I hadn’t seen before. Without hesitation, he slashed through the dark tendrils binding my arms, freeing me just enough to regain control of my body.
The demon screamed again, its voice a mix of rage and agony. I gasped, finally able to move on my own, but the battle wasn’t over. The shadows still lingered, thrashing and twisting within me, searching for a new hold.
“You think this is over?” the demon snarled. “You are my vessel. This bond cannot be broken.”
“Wanna bet?” I growled, my voice low and laced with the growl of my wolf.
Logan reached my side, his eyes blazing with determination. “Together, Audrey.”
I nodded, meeting his gaze. His hand found mine, and the warmth of his touch steadied me. We turned toward the demon’s writhing presence, and with one shared breath, we unleashed our combined strength-his wolf’s power and my own inner fire burning brighter than ever.
The chamber lit up in a brilliant blaze of silver and gold, and the shadows screamed as they were torn apart. The demon’s voice faded, growing weaker until it disappeared entirely, leaving behind only silence and the faint hum of energy.
I collapsed to my knees, shaking and gasping for air. Logan was there in an instant, his arms wrapping around me as I trembled.
“It’s gone,” he murmured, his voice soothing. “You did it, Audrey. You’re okay now.”
But as I stared at the fractured remains of the Nexus, the faint glimmer of its power still lingering, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t over. The demon may have been banished, but I knew-deep down-it wasn’t gone.