13. EIGHT

EIGHT

Wren

Theairwastense, and there was a hint of sulfur wafting within the room. Rowan’s tense form rounded his desk and plopped down on his chair. I stood on the opposite side of the desk between Damien and Kian. Lachlan, Alister, Thorn, and Rhett fanned around us.

A moment later, an icy chill slithered down my spine. Freezing hands wrapped around my waist and jerked me back into a hard chest.

Damien snarled, stepping forward as his tail and horns slipped out. “Hands off my little bird.”

Grayson snickered. “And why would I do that?”

I flickered in and out of my incorporeal form, but like Kian had warned, I couldn’t shake off Grayson’s hold.

I whipped my head toward him. “Why do you always do this? I wasn’t good enough for you at first. So what makes me good enough now?”

He let go of my waist and let one hand grip on my arm as he tugged me closer. Something deep flickered in his eyes that looked a bit like humanity.

But it went as soon as it came.

He faltered before his grip on my arm tightened, and his rotten breath fanned over my face as he leaned down. “You are mine. The Fates themselves decided it.”

I shook my head slowly, trying not to show how badly his grip hurt. Stabbing pain shot up my arm from his fingers digging into my flesh. “We don’t have a bond anymore, Grayson… But if you would like to replace the bond—”

A horrific amount of rage enveloped his face, and his fingers turned sharp, burrowing deep into my arm until blood welled up around them. Agony pierced through me, and the guys moved forward all at once.

Damien gripped my other arm and pulled me away from his hold, hard enough for Grayson’s sharp fingers to rip the flesh of my arm into ribbons. The black goo dripped from his hand into the shredded mess of my arm. It spread rapidly, the goo stitching the wound together faster than my usual healing.

Darkness coaxed my magic before engulfing it fully, making it buzz at a dangerously low level before spiking again. I gasped, placing my hand on the closing gash in my arm.

Alister raised his hand toward me before a string of curse words left his mouth. “Her blood won’t repel it. It’s merging with it!”

Grayson dissolved into chaotic laughter. “How stupid do you think I am? You think I’ll let you replace our matebond, so I can die?”

“How do you know that?” Rowan roared, and Grayson’s laughter settled over me like an unwanted weight.

My blood slowed as it pumped through my veins, moving like sludge, and my head whirred from it. “Just stop!” I snarled at Alister. “It’s not working, and all you’re doing is making me lightheaded.”

His eyes widened a fraction as the blood in my veins pumped at a normal rate again. “I’m sorry…”

I swung my glare to Grayson as he finished his laughing spree like a maniac. “And you need to just die already.”

“No thanks.” He shrugged dramatically, raising his arms as he did so. “I’ll be back for you, though. I bet your mates won’t even want you after the hell you cause with our dark magic.”

“Shut up!” My voice rumbled around us. While the voice was definitely mine, it sounded off… dark.

“We don’t have to have a bond in place for us to mate, now do we?”

Another snarl tore from my lips as my ears and tail sprouted.

“Fuck. I can’t wait until I finally have you. Don’t fight the dark magic, Wren. It’ll only hurt you more.” His lips curved into a sinister smile before his body dissolved into black goo that did nothing but disappear like usual.

“Your magic didn’t work on her because you can’t use regular magic to combat dark magic.” Damien growled at Alister before his hand gripped me painfully, turning it to show my blackened veins on the inside of my arm. “My telekinesis won’t work, but maybe my shadows will if we physically remove it.”

The darkness sizzled in my blood, burning my arm as one of Damien’s shadow tendrils split into smaller forms and delved into my flesh and into my veins, snaking through it and attempting to pull the dark magic out

Scalding heat spread through my veins, spreading up my arm and into the vein on my neck, and I slammed my eyes shut as pain imploded in my body.

“You’re hurting her,” Rowan yelled, grabbing Damien and pulling him away with fire-blazing hands that burned Damien’s skin.

Damien’s eyes shone silver, but his tendrils didn’t stop scouring my veins and attacking the dark magic within them. “No, we can’t let it meld with her. We can’t let it consume her!”

He thrashed against Rowan’s burning hold, and Rowan gripped the shadows with a flaming hand and yanked them from me.

My knees crashed against the hard floor with a crunch as dizziness set in. The wounds in my arm had closed, and there was a black smudge over my skin where the goo had spread, covering up the majority of my forearm. My veins were still black.

Thorn and Lachlan gripped me up by each side, both saying something reassuring to me.

“This was one of the visions I hoped wouldn’t happen.” Kian’s voice cracked, and tears slipped down his cheek. Shade wiped them away with his paw as a tear trickled down his own furry cheek.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, little bird.” Damien’s sharp breath made me look over at him as he plunged a thick tendril into his own chest.

My scream was the last I heard before I surrendered to the dark magic, or maybe it was darkness itself.