Kamrynn’s POV
The air between us was thick, charged with an electric tension that prickled my skin. Sherelle’s words still echoed in my mind, but instead of fear, a slow-burning rage settled deep in my chest.
I met her gaze, steel against steel, and let my lips curl into a smirk. “Then bring it on, Sherelle.” My voice was unwavering, the fire inside me burning too bright to be dimmed. “I don’t care who I have to uproot from this world to get my happy ending.”
Sherelle blinked, and for the first time, she looked genuinely surprised. As if she hadn’t expected me to stand my ground, to throw her challenge right back at her. But then… she laughed.
It was a slow, sultry chuckle that built into a full, delighted laugh. She tilted her head back, eyes gleaming with amusement. “Oh, Kamrynn.” She sighed dramatically, shaking her head as if I were a foolish child. “You truly believe you can fight me? With my dark magic?”
She leaned forward, her voice dipping lower, taunting. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
Before I could respond, Sherelle snapped her fingers.
The air shifted.
A dozen black daggers materialized out of thin air, hovering between us, their sharp edges glinting ominously in the dim candlelight. They spun midair like they were alive, waiting for their mistress’s command.
“Let’s see how well you handle this, dear sister.”
With a flick of her wrist, the daggers shot toward me like a swarm of deadly wasps.
Instinct took over.
I raised my hands, and from deep within me, something answered.
A blinding white light erupted from my palms, forming a barrier-a divine shield that materialized just in time. The daggers struck, clashing against the barrier with sharp, metallic clangs before ricocheting off, their dark magic unable to penetrate the wall of celestial energy surrounding me.
Sherelle’s smile faltered.
I gritted my teeth, pushing forward. With sheer willpower, I reversed the trajectory of the daggers, sending them hurtling back at her.
Her eyes widened, and just before they could reach her, she twisted her fingers in the air. The daggers morphed mid-flight-turning into soft, weightless black feathers that rained down harmlessly around her.
She laughed, spinning one between her fingers before letting it drift to the ground.
“Clever.” She licked her lips, dark amusement flickering in her gaze. “But you’ll have to do better than that, Kamrynn.”
I clenched my fists, my power thrumming in my veins. “Don’t worry,” I hissed. “I intend to.”
Sherelle flicked her fingers again, and the ground beneath me rippled like water. Dark tendrils slithered up from the wooden floor, thick and writhing like serpents, each one reaching for me with an unnatural hunger.
I leaped back, narrowly avoiding the first strike as a tendril lashed out where I had been standing. Another coiled around my ankle, its touch ice-cold, burning like frostbite as it squeezed.
No. I won’t let her trap me.
I called upon my power again, feeling it pulse inside me like the beating of a second heart. A surge of light erupted from my body, severing the tendril around my ankle and disintegrating the others before they could reach me.
Sherelle let out a small hiss, her eyes narrowing.
“You’re really starting to irritate me.”
“Good.” I smirked, my breath coming fast. “Because I intend to do a lot more than that.”
She didn’t give me a second to prepare before she lifted her hands, and the air between us crackled. The shadows around the room twisted, gathering at her fingertips. She clenched her fists, and suddenly, the temperature dropped.
A black mist flooded the cabin, spreading like a living thing.
I coughed, my throat tightening as the magic seeped into my lungs, choking the air from them. My vision blurred, and I dropped to a knee, my body growing heavier by the second.
Poison. She’s trying to weaken me.
Through the suffocating haze, I saw Sherelle striding toward me, her lips curling in satisfaction.
“I told you,” she cooed. “You can’t win against me.”
I clenched my jaw, forcing my body to move. Fight back.
Summoning my power, I let out a sharp exhale, releasing a pulse of celestial energy. The mist shattered like glass, the fragments vanishing into nothingness.
Sherelle’s smirk disappeared.
Before she could react, I lunged.
With a burst of speed, I closed the distance between us, grabbing her by the wrist. A golden glow flared beneath my fingertips, and her skin sizzled on contact.
She shrieked, yanking herself free, clutching her burned wrist. “You-!”
But I didn’t give her time to recover.
I spun, kicking her square in the chest, sending her crashing into the far wall. She hit the wooden surface with enough force to shake the entire cabin.
She groaned, pushing herself up, her dark eyes burning with pure hatred.
“You’ll pay for that.”
She thrust her hand forward, and the floor split apart beneath me. Long, skeletal hands shot up from the abyss, clawing at me.
I barely had time to react before they dragged me downward.
My heart pounded. I tried to pull free, but their bony fingers latched onto my limbs, their strength unnatural, their grip like iron.
I heard Sherelle’s breathless laugh. “Let’s see your goddess magic save you now.”
Panic surged through me for only a moment.
Then I focused.
I am the daughter of Selene. The power of the moon runs through my veins.
I called upon the light inside me, letting it surge outward in a violent, blinding burst. The hands disintegrated on impact, turning to nothing but dust.
Sherelle’s laughter cut off abruptly.
I landed gracefully on my feet, staring her down, my chest heaving.
“You’re not the only one with tricks, Sherelle.”
She snarled, gathering more power in her hands, readying another attack-
Then she smiled.
And dread curled in my gut.
She was up to something.
Before I could react, her familiar-her black cat-reappeared.
Except this time, it wasn’t a cat.
The creature shifted, its form stretching, growing-until a long, serpentine body coiled in the air. A snake.
And it struck.
Pain blazed through my arm as fangs sank deep into my flesh.
Sherelle grinned.
“You’re finished.”
I stared at my arm, at the twin puncture wounds where the snake’s fangs had buried into my flesh. My skin burned, the venom spreading fast.
Sherelle’s laughter echoed in my ears, sharp and triumphant. “That’s the venom of a shadow viper, Kamrynn. It paralyzes, then kills.”
I staggered back, my muscles tightening. But something was wrong.
Sherelle’s smile faltered.
I wasn’t falling. I wasn’t gasping for breath. I wasn’t dying.
Because I felt nothing.
The pain had faded almost instantly, the burning sensation gone as if it had never been there. I lifted my arm, watching as the wounds closed before my eyes, the puncture marks vanishing entirely.
Sherelle’s expression twisted in disbelief. “What-?”
I met her gaze, feeling a slow, satisfied smirk curve my lips.
“I’m immune.”
Sherelle’s breath hitched.
I grabbed the snake by the throat before it could slither away and snapped its neck.
It let out a final, pitiful hiss before going limp in my grasp.
Sherelle’s shriek was filled with rage and anguish. “You-! How dare you!”
She raised her hands, summoning more magic, but I threw the lifeless snake at her feet, watching her recoil. “That’s twice now you’ve tried to kill me today, Sherelle.” I took a step forward, and she stepped back. “And twice, you’ve failed.”
I called my power forward, feeling it swirl around me like a storm. Golden light erupted from my palms, crackling with raw energy.
Sherelle screeched, raising a hand to shield herself. “Wait-!”
But I was done waiting.
With a flick of my wrist, I lashed out, sending a wave of power hurtling toward her.
Sherelle crashed into the wall, her body convulsing from the impact. Smoke rose from her skin where my power had touched her, her dress tattered, her face contorted in agony.
She coughed, wheezing, but when she lifted her head, her eyes gleamed with something unexpected.
Desperation.
She dropped to her knees, her hands bracing against the floor.
“Please,” she whispered. “Kamrynn… have mercy.”
I froze.
Sherelle was pleading.
It should’ve been satisfying. It should’ve felt like victory.
Instead, something in me wavered.
I hated her. Godess, I hated her.
But I wasn’t her.
I let out a slow breath, forcing the rage to simmer down. “Undo your hex over the Blue Bell Pack,” I commanded. “Then disappear. You’re done hurting me, my family, and everyone I love.”
Sherelle nodded frantically, her fingers twitching as she began murmuring an incantation. I felt a shift in the air, the pull of dark magic breaking apart.
It was over.
I released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
Then Sherelle moved.
Her hand shot toward her boot, pulling out a hidden dagger.
She lunged.
But before she could reach me-
The cabin exploded.
A massive claw slammed through the wall, sending splinters flying in every direction.
The force threw Sherelle across the room, sending her crashing against the opposite wall with a sickening crack.
Dust and debris filled the air.
And standing in the middle of it all, in his full, terrifying glory, was Lorien.
His dragon form took up nearly the entire space, his ruby-red scales glowing like molten lava in the firelight. His crimson eyes blazed with unrestrained fury, and his chest rose and fell with deep, seething breaths.
Sherelle groaned weakly, trying to push herself up, but before she could-
Lorien opened his jaws.
And breathed fire.
The flames engulfed her instantly.
Sherelle’s scream ripped through the cabin, raw and inhuman, a sound of pure agony as the fire devoured her whole.
She staggered backward, arms flailing wildly, but there was nowhere to run. The flames clung to her like a second skin, melting through fabric, searing into flesh, blackening bone.
She clawed at her face, her fingers blistering and curling into themselves as her body convulsed violently, the heat turning her skin into a grotesque, bubbling mess.
“NO-NO, PLEASE- MAKE IT STOP!”
Her shrieks grew hoarse, her throat burning from the inside out, her lungs filling with nothing but liquid fire. She collapsed to her knees, her body twitching as if fighting the inevitable.
But there was no mercy.
The flames consumed everything-her hair, her clothes, her flesh. The whites of her eyes burst, her lips peeled back in a twisted, skeletal grimace as her teeth charred and cracked.
Her body began to crumble, the fire eating her alive, reducing her limbs to little more than blackened, smoldering bones.
Sherelle let out one last, gurgled gasp before her body gave out completely.
She collapsed onto the scorched floor, her limbs snapping like brittle twigs. The fire raged a moment longer, devouring the last remnants of her existence.
And then-nothing.
The flames died down, leaving only a pile of ashes where Sherelle had once stood.
The stench of burned flesh and scorched evil lingered in the air, thick and suffocating.
Lorien exhaled deeply, the fire fading from his throat as his ruby eyes dimmed.
Then, in one fluid motion, he shifted back into his human form.
The moment he did, my legs gave out.
I barely registered myself falling before strong arms caught me, steady and warm.
I looked up, dazed, into Lorien’s piercing scarlet eyes.
He held me tight, his expression unreadable, his grip solid and unwavering.
“It’s over.” His voice was low, rough, but steady. “I’ve got you.”
A strangled breath left my lips.
It was over.
Finally… it was over.