Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

Justice abruptly halted, his body tensing like a coiled spring, and I stumbled into his broad back. The solid wall of his muscles barely gave under my impact, a stark reminder of his inhuman strength.

The air thickened with tension, making it harder to breathe.

My head swam, vision blurring as if a flock of birds had taken flight inside my skull. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the strange sensation. A wave of dizziness washed over me, my stomach churning with an inexplicable unease.

"What's wrong?" I mumbled, my tongue feeling oddly heavy in my mouth. "Why did you stop?"

Justice didn't turn, his gaze fixed on something ahead. His muscles coiled tight with tension. A faint, sweet scent drifted on the air, strangely enticing with an undertone that made my nose wrinkle."

I peered around his imposing form, trying to see what had captured his attention.

Justice?" I whispered, my voice sounding small and far away to my own ears. The unnatural stillness of the moment felt like a rubber band stretched to its limit, about to snap.

Justice had led us into a meadow surrounded by gnarled trees. Their twisted branches seemed to reach for us, casting eerie shadows in the dim light. In the middle stood a circle of tall stones, their weathered surfaces covered in strange, pulsing symbols that reminded me of Stonehenge.

A faint humming emanated from the stone circle, vibrating through the soles of our feet.

Garrick pointed, his finger trembling slightly. "Inside those stones is the Forgotten Hollows."

An inexplicable wave of desire washed over me, making my skin tingle.

Justice narrowed his eyes and released my hand. The sudden absence of his cool touch left me feeling strangely bereft. He stood before me like a wall of protection. "You meant it's a fucking portal," Justice growled, his voice laced with an aggression I'd never heard before. "I'm tired of your games, Garrick. You're playing us again."

Garrick's posture stiffened, his hands clenching into fists. "I thought you trusted me."

The sweet, cloying scent intensified, making my head spin.

"Trust you?" Justice growled. "Your idea of trustworthy would make a con artist blush, Garrick."

Garrick's smirk widened, taking on a cruel edge. "Oh, struck a nerve, have I? How delightful. Now, are we going to stand here trading barbs all day, or are you going to put on your big boy fangs and step through that portal?"

He took a taunting step toward Justice, his body language screaming a challenge. "You have to trust me, Justice. Or is that too much for your small vampire brain to comprehend?"

As the air between them crackled with tension, Maggie and I exchanged bewildered glances. This sudden hostility between them seemed to come out of nowhere.

My heart raced, spinning with confusion as an inexplicable growing desire clouded my thoughts.

"What's gotten into them?" Maggie whispered.

I shook my head, unable to form a response. The intensity of Justice's anger frightened and oddly excited me. That alone was unreal.

Something was off here.

Justice took a menacing step toward Garrick, his fangs visible beneath his curled lip.

"Trust you?" Justice scoffed, his voice dripping with disdain. "You've led us from one disaster to another. How do we know this isn't another trap?"

Garrick's eyes flashed dangerously. "You think you could do better? Your arrogance will be the death of us all!"

As their argument escalated, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. The air was thick with more than tension. A dark foreboding of hunger seemed to descend on us, blanketing out all rational thought.

This didn't seem like the work of the sloth demons. It was something else. Something menacing.

What was Maci's game now?

The intoxicating scent wafting from the stone circle grew stronger with each passing moment.

Maggie and I stood frozen, caught between the desire to intervene and the inexplicable urge to let the conflict play out. It was like I wanted to see them fight, rooting for Justice.

As if reading my thoughts and desires, Justice's eyes flashed with inhuman rage, and he lunged at Garrick.

The tension snapped like a frayed rope. In a blur of vampire speed, Justice closed the distance between them, his fist connecting with Garrick's jaw. The sickening crunch of the impact echoed across the meadow.

My stomach lurched at the sudden violence of horror and the unwanted excitement coursing through me.

Garrick staggered back, spitting blood onto the pale grass. His eyes narrowed, and a feral grin spread across his face. "You want to play rough, leech? Let's play."

The air thickened with the metallic scent of blood, mingling with the sweet aroma from the stone circle.

"Stop it!" Maggie cried, her voice cracking with desperation. But her plea fell on deaf ears.

Garrick charged, tackling Justice with surprising strength. They crashed to the ground, a tangle of limbs and fury. Fists flew as they rolled through the grass, landing brutal blows.

Maggie moved to intervene, but I grabbed her arm, the urge to watch the fight overwhelming me.

"What's happening to them?" Maggie's voice trembled.

I shook my head, unable to tear my gaze away from the violent spectacle.

Justice gained the upper hand, straddling Garrick and raining down punches. "You've led us here to die!" he roared, his handsome face contorted with rage.

Equally thrilled and terrified, my heart pounded so hard that I feared it might burst from my chest.

Garrick bucked and twisted, dislodging Justice. In a flash, he was on his feet, blood streaming from his nose. "You power-hungry fool!" he snarled. "You'll doom us all!"

They circled each other like predators, oblivious to our shocked presence. The stone circle pulsed with an eerie light as if feeding off the violent energy.

A low, rhythmic humming grew louder as they clashed again, trading vicious blows. This wasn't like them. The fury in their eyes, the brutality of their fight—something was puppeteering them, inflaming their worst impulses.

Maggie grabbed my hand, her nails digging into my palm. "We have to stop them," she rasped. "They'll kill each other."

But as she spoke, I felt those dark urges swirling within me. The desire to watch, to egg them on, to join in the violence myself. I clenched my fists, fighting the alien impulses. Sweat broke out across my skin despite the chill in the air, and my body trembled with barely contained energy.

As Justice and Garrick continued their savage brawl, their blood staining the grass crimson, a chilling thought cut through the haze of confusion and excitement.

What unseen force was manipulating us all?

Maggie's hand slipped from mine, her fingers trembling. I turned to look at her with concern, and her expression gave me pause. Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated, with fury and something else—something primal—dancing in their depths.

"I have to stop them," Maggie declared. A new timbre colored her voice, something wild and barely restrained.

Her hands moved to the hem of her shirt, and she yanked it off with unexpected violence. "A woman should be in control. These two are idiots."

A knot formed in my stomach. Not from shock at her impending transformation but from the aggression in her tone.

Her furious edge caught me off guard. Maggie was usually the voice of reason, the calm in our storm. Garrick was her mate, and she loved him. But now…

"Maggie, wait," I urged, glancing nervously at the others. "Maybe we can talk them down."

She didn't seem to hear me, continuing to strip off her clothes with single-minded determination. Her movements were jerky, almost frenzied.

I stepped closer, ready to support her if needed but wary of the wild energy radiating from her.

A chilling thought struck me. Was she succumbing to whatever was afflicting Garrick and Justice? The strange, sweet scent grew stronger, making my head swim.

Before I could say anything else, Maggie stood naked before me. Unlike usual, there was no self-consciousness in her posture, only raw, barely contained power.

Then, it began.

My breath caught as I watched Maggie's familiar transformation, somehow more unsettling than ever before,

Though I had seen it before, the sight of Maggie's body shifting and changing never failed to amaze me. Bones elongated, muscles rippled and expanded, and dark fur sprouted rapidly to cover her transforming body.

Within moments, where Maggie once stood, a massive dire wolf now towered, its black fur thick and gleaming. The air filled with the musky scent of wolf, overpowering even the strange sweetness from before.

Maggie's dark eyes, with a sparkle of gold, shone with power and determination. They were still recognizably hers but wilder, filled with an ancient, predatory intelligence that seemed…different this time.

The dire wolf turned her massive head toward the fighting men. A low, rumbling growl rose in her chest, promising violence.

As she tensed, ready to leap into the fray, I reached out, my hand hovering near her fur. "Maggie," I stated. "Are you sure about this? Something's not right here."

Her gaze remained fixed on Justice and Garrick as if she hadn't heard me. Or worse, didn't care.

What dark power had taken hold of my friends and the love of my life, and how far would it push them before this was over?