Chapter 21

21

T he crowd was small but still roared as Jinx circled her opponent, her eyes gleaming with focus. She flexed her fingers, feeling the latent power of her tiger thrumming beneath her skin, itching to be released. She did her best to soothe the beast, wanting to stay in human form for the fight.

Hearing the grumble of displeasure, Jinx gave her a mental ear scratch. It will be over too soon if we shift, she reasoned. She received a chuff in response; it was the best she could hope for under the circumstances. After all, her tiger was frustrated as well.

“Come on, Stinger,” Jinx taunted, a wry smirk playing across her lips. “I thought scorpions were supposed to be quick. Or did you leave your speed in your other exoskeleton?”

The man across from her hissed, his skin rippling as chitinous plates began to form down his back. Jinx felt a thrill of excitement course through her veins. In a flash of movement, Stinger lunged forward, his arm morphing into a wickedly curved telson aimed at her midsection. With feline grace, she twisted aside and slammed her fist into his head with enough force to send him stumbling. He recovered quickly and retaliated with a swift strike from his other arm, this one now elongated like a scorpion's pincer. But Jinx was already ducking under the attack, delivering a sharp kick to his knee that sent him crashing to the ground.

The crowd roared with excitement as they continued to attack and parry. Jinx could feel the heat building in her body, her muscles burning with exertion as she dodged and weaved around Stinger's continuous attacks. She could sense that he was growing frustrated—he was used to being the dominant predator in these fights, but she was giving him a run for his money. She grinned as she landed a hard blow to his kidneys, causing him to howl in pain.

“What’s the matter? Didn’t your daddy teach you that move?” she taunted.

“Leave my daddy out of this!” Stinger screamed, his chest rising and falling with exertion.

Jinx laughed when Gage winked at her from the sidelines. Stinger lunged at her again with renewed ferocity, but she didn't try to dodge this time. Instead, she met him head-on and grabbed a hold of his hair. Her opponent's eyes widened in surprise as she pulled him towards her and flipped him over her shoulder with all her strength. He crashed onto the ground with a loud thud; the wind knocked out of him. His partially shifted arms transformed back into regular human limbs as he rolled onto his side, wheezing.

She stood over him, breathing hard but relatively unscathed, her eyes still burning with the adrenaline of the fight. A few bruises were expected; she could always shift if she wanted to heal them quicker, but she rarely did after a fight. It wasn’t as cathartic that way. She extended a hand to help her opponent up because she wasn’t interested in going for the knockout. But he waved it away, too proud—or more likely, too stupid—to accept her assistance.

He tried to push himself up, his face contorted in pain and determination, but his body refused to cooperate. He collapsed back onto the ground, clutching his ribs and gasping for air. “You broke my ribs.”

“Oops. Sorry about that,” Jinx said. “But if you were fighting anyone else, you’d likely have a broken head. I suggest you take the win.”

Stinger swore violently, spitting at her feet. She chose not to engage further, instead backing up so Eric could move him along. She snickered when she saw her friend bend down and whisper something into Stinger’s ear before smashing his face against the concrete ground. “Eric!” she chided.

Eric looked at her innocently. “What? My hand slipped.”

“Uh-huh. I’m sure it had nothing to do with him spitting at me,” Jinx said sarcastically before blowing him a kiss. “Thank you.”

As the crowd dispersed, a slow clap met her ears, and Eric dragged Stinger away. She turned to find a stranger grinning at her, his pale eyes lit with admiration. “That was impressive,” the man said.

“Thanks.” Jinx eyed him warily. She had never seen him before and was finding it hard to place what kind of supernatural being he was. “I don't believe we've met,” she said cautiously, her heightened senses on alert. There was something off about this man, a scent she couldn't quite place.

The stranger's smile widened, revealing teeth that seemed a touch too sharp. “Oh, I'm just a fan. It's not every day you see a female weretiger of your calibre.”

“I'm flattered,” she replied, her voice low and guarded.

The man chuckled, a sound that sent shivers down her spine. “You don’t seem flattered. You wouldn’t be lying to me, would you?”

Jinx glanced around but couldn’t see Gage or Eric, which meant she had no one to tell her she was about to make a huge mistake by stating, “You’re X, aren’t you? Zagan.”

The man's grin turned wicked. “Clever girl.”

In a blur of motion, he lunged for her. Jinx sprang backwards, her form rippling as she began to shift. But before she could complete the transformation, tendrils of inky darkness shot from behind her, wrapping around her limbs. “Let me go!” she snarled, struggling against the shadowy bonds.

Z scoffed. “Oh, I don't think so. You're far too valuable to let slip away. My shadow demon friend here is going to be our personal taxi for the day,” he volunteered, gesturing behind Jinx. “Ready to go?”

The lights flickered out, and darkness seemed to wrap around her like a cocoon. People started yelling and running for the doors. From the encroaching shadows, two figures burst forth—Gage and Eric. Eric hissed as he charged, and Gage darted in, brandishing guns in both hands.

Z looked behind Jinx. “Stop them,” was all he said.

A figure emerged from the shadows, tall and imposing in a long black coat. His face was hidden in the shadows, but his intense gaze could be felt even from a distance. With a flick of his wrist, the warehouse floor seemed to come alive, rising and swirling like a dark mist and moving swiftly towards her friends. Eric slammed into it with bone-crushing force, the impact sending him flying backwards. Gage skidded to a halt, his eyes widening as he took in the scene. The air crackled with dark energy, shadows writhing and twisting unnaturally. Jinx watched with growing fear as Gage fired off a round of bullets, only for them to be swallowed whole by the darkness.

“Fucking shadow demons!” Gage spat, his voice a mix of anger and desperation as he reloaded his weapon with now trembling hands.

Jinx couldn’t help but agree silently. Shadow demons were exceedingly rare and notoriously hard to kill, their bodies resistant to conventional attacks because they could become one with the shadows. They could also use any shadow as a gateway, no matter how small. How had Z managed to convince the demon to collaborate with him? Jinx wondered, struggling futilely against the inky bonds surrounding her. Shadow demons were supposed to be honourable and had a long history of working with the royal family.

Eric groaned, pushing himself to his feet next to Gage. Blood trickled from a gash on his forehead, but determination burned in his eyes. “Let her go!” he demanded.

Z laughed, the sound grating across her nerves like broken glass. “Not gonna happen.”

Gage levelled his guns at the demon’s head this time. “Wanna bet?”

“Don’t let them kill you,” Z ordered the tall demon next to him.

Jinx was puzzled when the unknown shadow demon nodded as if processing and accepting the command. It was weird. He strode forward without fear, deftly dodging the latest onslaught of bullets. His shadows lashed out and wrapped around Gage's wrists, tightening until he was forced to release the weapons.

“You see,” Z said with a smirk, “your little band of misfits are no match for me.”

Eric snarled, his fangs extending as he crouched low. But before he could do anything further, the demon stepped forward and unleashed a powerful blast of dark wind that knocked Eric backwards. He crashed into the bar with a loud thud. Dazed and disoriented, he struggled to get back up, but his stormy eyes blazed with determination. “We won’t ever give up.”

Z chuckled darkly. “Of course you won’t. You’re the heroes ,” he spat disdainfully. “As fun as this is, we really need to be going. My dear brothers will be here any moment. And I’ve had enough of family reunions for one day.” He looked at the demon. “Perran, get us out of here.”

Gage gasped. “Perran? Is that you under there? What the hell are you doing?!”

Before Jinx could process that Gage clearly knew the a-hole working with Z, the darkness trapping her became too powerful and all-consuming. She felt her strength ebbing away as the shadows constricted tighter and tighter. Her friends' cries became muffled and distant as the darkness pulled her deeper. Flashes of light—Gage's renewed gunfire—pierced the gloom, but they were swallowed up almost instantly.

Jinx caught one last glimpse of Gage’s anguished face before her vision went completely black. Then, she was falling, tumbling through an endless void. The air grew colder, thinner. She gasped, her lungs burning as she succumbed to unconsciousness.