53. Atticus

53

ATTICUS

T he call from the dais came like a thunderclap. Caius, draped in robes darker than the night sky, stood waiting with Valora by his side.

“Join us,” Caius commanded.

I swallowed hard as I stepped up and took Valora’s outstretched hand, my stomach roiling.

“Ready?” Valora whispered, squeezing my hand.

“Let’s get this over with,” I muttered back.

Caius raised his arms, and the air crackled with unseen energy. Shadows danced at his command, more showy than necessary. I held my breath, bracing for... something. Anything. Nothing happened. No surge of power, no mystical connection. Just silence.

“Feel anything?” Valora asked, her brow furrowing.

I frowned. “Nothing. Do you?”

She shook her head, her grip on my hand tightening.

Perfect, I thought, though I didn’t dare say it aloud. This was going exactly as I’d planned.

Caius’s arms dropped, his face twisting into a scowl that made the elaborate lines of dark ink on his skin writhe in agitation. The air, heavy with anticipation mere moments ago, was devoid of the expected magical surge. I could feel Valora’s eyes on me, but my gaze was locked on Caius.

“What have you done?” he hissed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His eyes bore into me, searching for a lie that wasn’t there. “The linking isn’t working,” he whispered, each word laced with a threat.

I was clueless, the truth plain on my face. Then it hit me. The artifact in my pocket. A gift left in the ground for me to find. It had to be shielding me. It was the only explanation I could come up with.

“Must be some mistake,” I said, shrugging off his accusation even as my mind raced. I never thought the protective ward against dark magic would interfere like this. As Caius stepped back, his anger palpable, I knew I’d unintentionally thrown a wrench in his grand plan.

“Fix it,” he snapped before turning away.

Caius’s chants rose in a crescendo, starting the ritual anew. I crouched low, muscles tensed for what was next.

Then, all hell broke loose.

A commotion at the back snapped my head around, and there they were, half of the Silver Claw pack, storming in with a force that could rival a hurricane. I spotted faces of rogues and my chosen family in the crowd. Seren was at the forefront, her hands glowing as she amplified the spirits circling above them like spectral guardians. And Aria... Gods, Aria was magnificent, shadows swirling from her fingertips like ink spilled in water, her face alight with fierce determination.

“Remove the intruders,” Caius commanded, standing tall against the sudden intrusion.

I caught the eye of the few Crimson Fang I’d managed to sway—it hadn’t taken much more than the promise that I’d find a way to end Caius and his reign of terror. One nod from me was all it took. They understood. The air filled with the sound of bones shifting, sinew snapping as they transformed into their wolf forms. Snarls filled the chamber as they stood ready to fight, not for Caius, but against everything he represented.

A snarl ripped from Caius’s throat as calamity erupted. He had a smile on his face, thinking we were all pawns in his game, until members of his own pack surrounded him, teeth bared, eyes blazing with rebellion. The smile faltered, twisted into a scowl of realization. We weren’t his soldiers; we were the uprising.

“Traitors, “ he spat with venom.

I didn’t have time to revel in his shock. A hand found mine, firm and sure.

Aria.

I turned, meeting her stare.

“Atticus,” she said over the din, “will you marry me?”

“Absolutely,” I answered without hesitation. I had no idea where she was going with this, but the resolute look in her eyes convinced me there was a purpose behind her timing.

Our hands stayed clasped, the world narrowing to just us two. The battle raged on around us, but in that moment, it was only Aria’s voice I heard, her touch I felt. Lorian’s words were white noise, a distant hum I couldn’t decipher. It didn’t matter. I trusted her. And I’d follow her lead to the ends of the world.

The world blurred into a vortex of movement and sound as Lorian’s chant cut through the unrest. Words tumbled over one another, tripping in their haste. The ancient rite condensed into mere seconds.

“Done,” Lorian declared.

A strange sensation washed over me, like a ripple across still water. I turned to Aria, finding her eyes burning with something wild and untamed. She was reaching for something within me, tendrils of her essence intertwining with my own.

“Can you feel it?” she asked, a smile touching her lips.

There was a pull, a rush of energy that flooded my senses. Power. It pooled within me, vast and deep, born of bonds newly forged. A silent acknowledgment of a union that transcended the physical.

“Let’s use it,” I said.

We stepped forward, united, ready to face whatever came next.

I locked eyes with Aria, feeling the electric charge of our silent conversation. We were one in purpose, and it was time to show Caius the truth of his folly. I turned to face him, my stance broad and unwavering.

“You have underestimated my mate for far too long.”

The air hummed with tension, a prelude to the tempest about to unfold. Aria’s hand let go of my hand as we braced for the onslaught.

“Ready?” I whispered.

“Always.”

We stood at the center, an oasis of calm in the midst of bedlam. Our enemies circled, but they seemed like phantoms, inconsequential and fleeting against the unity we wielded.

“Strike now,” I commanded, and as one, we unleashed our power. Her magic lashed out, mine followed. The choreography was instinctive, a dance where each step spelled doom for those who dared approach.

Caius’s voice rose in a futile attempt to command order, but his words lost in the roaring cacophony. His followers hesitated, glancing toward their leader, only to falter under my gaze.

“Your fight is with us,” I said, drawing his attention away from the ranks he so desperately sought to control.

Caius snarled, rage contorting his features as he conjured dark tendrils of magic and hurled them toward us. For every shadow he cast, I countered with my own, my tactics as precise as they were lethal.

“Atticus, now!” Aria called out.

I nodded, stepping forward to meet Caius’s attack head-on. My shadow manipulation flared to life, weaving through the darkness like a blade through silk. I anticipated each of Caius’s strikes, met his maneuvers met with equal force, like two sides of a coin, spinning endlessly.

“Is this all you have?” I goaded him. Desperation crept into his eyes, his forces dwindling under my and Aria’s combined assault.

Aria’s laughter rang clear, a bell-like sound that signaled the turning tide. We advanced, side by side, an unstoppable force that left Caius reeling, his power waning beneath the weight of our bond.

Aria’s silhouette blazed against the furor, magic pouring from her like a tempest unleashed. With a flick of her wrist, lightning arced through the air—brilliant, jagged lines of power that struck with precision. Some enemies dropped, stunned into submission; others lay still, their fight ended.

“Look at them fall,” I muttered. What a force my mate commanded.

She didn’t reply, too focused on her next move. With her free hand, she wove another spell, tendrils of light spinning from her fingers. They fanned out, a net to catch the men advancing toward us. They stopped mid-stride, confusion etched on their faces as they found themselves unable to continue fighting. She didn’t break them, just held them there, caught in between battle and peace.

“Can’t resist her, can you?” I smirked at the ensnared soldiers. Our dance of destruction continued, every step measured, every spell cast with deadly grace.

We moved as one entity, her lightning to my shadow, her water to my earth. When she summoned a gust of wind, I shaped the shadows into blades that rode the current, slicing through any darkness Caius tried to conjure.

“Atticus,” she shouted over the din, “To your left?—”

I turned, a pulse of dark energy ready. Valora, dagger in hand, teeth bared, met my shadow blade and crumpled. There was no remorse or sadness from me. She’d made her choice. Valora was an opportunist. She could have taken advantage of the clamor to escape. By coming after me, she’d sealed her own fate. Around us, the air hummed with energy, the colors of our combined magic painting the ceiling in a masterpiece woven from our defiance.

“Keep pushing,” I told her. The tide was turning in our favor. “They’re almost done.”

“Right beside you,” Aria said.

We were unstoppable, not just because of the power we wielded, but because we wielded it together.

Caius stood before us, his hands weaving a tapestry of shadows that twisted into a storm of dark magic. He hurled it toward us with a scream that echoed off the ancient walls.

“Atticus!” Aria yelled over the din. “Now!”

We clasped hands and called forth our power. My whole being thrummed with love for this woman, with trust in our bond, and an unyielding desire for the freedom we were so close to grasping. We became conduits for something greater than ourselves, pooling our magical abilities in a desperate attempt to counter the destructive surge of darkness Caius sent careening toward us.

Aria’s vibrant energy mingled with mine, and together our magic surged forward. The air shimmered where light met dark in an epic collision.

As our powers clashed with his, the building itself seemed to freeze. There was a beat, a fragile pause in time, where the world seemed to hold its breath. It snapped back into focus, accelerating at an alarming pace until it reached a crescendo that echoed like the shattering of the universe.

Caius’s spell dissolved into fragments of nothingness against the wall of our united will. He fell backwards, his broken body collapsing to the floor. His unseeing eyes remained open as he lay motionless. The stench of his malevolence and decay met my nostrils. His recklessness and cruelty had brought him to a mocking downfall. The magic’s power, trapped in a vacuum, rebounded with vengeance, surrounding him in a searing inferno that served as a small semblance of retribution for the chaos he had unleashed. When the flames died down, there was nothing left but a pile of ashes.

Aria stepped forward, her hands raised. With a fierce cry, she summoned a gust that swept through the room, gathering the dust that had once been my father and whisking them away as if they were no more than dead leaves on the wind.

“Goodbye, Caius.” The finality in her tone told me it was over. Truly over. We had won.