Chapter 26

Harlow

No one was going to take my new family from me, and I was going to cut a biker bitch who tried.

Gravel crunched beneath my boots as I stomped across the parking lot and headed toward the highway. I didn't want to chance Addie seeing what was about to go down, because if the power running through my limbs was anything to go by, I was about to stop the hearts of every single one of those men. All I wanted was to be a good role model for her, and even I knew that committing mass murder wasn't something you should teach a kid.

Maybe when she was older.

Lightning arced from my fingertips, and I sent up a silent prayer of thanks that the dirt road didn't conduct electricity. A blackout at the hotel would have given me away for sure.

As I reached the highway, I closed my eyes, listening for the rumble on the breeze that would announce the arrival of the cavalry.

A small, insecure part of me whispered that maybe Bruin really had betrayed me. That maybe, even now, he waited for the signal to come and finish his mission in front of a live audience. I wasn't sure I had it in me to hurt him the way I intended to hurt his club, and that thought alone was enough to make me realize how much the asshole had grown on me.

A fine vibration trembled up through my feet before that deep growl I'd been waiting for broke the peaceful silence and royally fucked up my day.

Planting my feet in the middle of the road, I folded my arms and pasted a nasty smirk on my face. Show no fear. After that, there was nothing left to do but wait.

On the horizon, small black dots resolved themselves into two long lines of motorcycles. Naww… I guessed Kevy-bear was scared of being beaten by a girl again and had brought all his friends to try to prevent it. Too bad for him, I didn't know the meaning of surrender.

The MC closed in fast and skidded to a stop in front of me with a shower of gravel that scuffed my boots and bounced painfully off my cheeks.

"Well, well, well. Fancy seeing an ass like you in a place like this," I drawled, running my eyes slowly over his posse before focusing on Mr Big, Dumb, and Insecure himself.

"We came to watch you die, bitch. I hope you've made your funeral arrangements." He hefted his sweaty bulk off his poor bike, mutton chops quivering with barely suppressed hatred.

I flexed my hands, willing my power to stay hidden.

"This is a long way to come for the sake of your fragile ego. Are you compensating for something over there, Kevy-bear?" I crooked my pinkie finger at him, pouting in mock sympathy.

"Fuck you, bi—"

A weaselly guy caught his arm, shaking his head emphatically as the MC president lunged for me.

"Easy, big guy." I laughed, holding up both hands. Should I have been antagonizing the boss of all these surly looking bikers? No. But damn if it wasn't fun.

As we bantered—hey, death threats could be banter; it just wasn't as sexy as when Bruin did it—I was aware of his companions dismounting and slowly circling me until any escape route was cut off. I wasn't worried, knowing I could make my own path. Bruin hadn't expected my powers the first time we'd fought, so unless he'd fed them intel in the last couple of weeks, they shouldn't know how powerful I really am.

"Game on, bitches. Who wants to go first?" I cocked my fists, prepared to keep up the pretense for as long as I could.

The way my skin buzzed told me it wouldn't be long, but hopefully, I could have some fun first. The thump of boots on the road's hard surface signaled the start of the brawl as a tall biker tried to attack me from behind. I stepped aside as he approached, aiming a kick at his crotch before I bounced out of the way of his friend coming in from the other side. Landing a heavy hit to a third guy's cheek, I chanced a glance around to look for a gap in the attacks to slip through and caught a knee to the ribs.

When the heroes in movies were attacked by droves of villains, the bad guys each waited their turn for an ass kicking, hovering in a circle and closing in in groups of two or three so the hero could dispatch them appropriately. This… was bedlam. Limbs flew everywhere, some making contact with me, others nowhere near, which made me wonder if they were passing time fighting each other if they couldn't reach me. I didn't have time to find out one way or the other as my power built inside me, ready to defend against the waves of attack.

With a war cry, I let loose a shock wave of energy and took my first deep breath since the brawl began, but the men kept coming, and the next wave pounded into them without my conscious say-so.

That's concerning.

The road beneath our feet rumbled, and clods of dirt rose into the air. Breaking free of the guy swinging a crowbar at my knees, I looked around and cursed.

The weasel guy was an earth witch.

With a flick of his wrist, the chunks of earth became missiles locked on target. I dropped to my belly and sent a jagged bolt of electricity toward all those lovely, conductible metal vehicles. Kevy-Bear yelped, knocking into weasel boy, and—thankfully—destroying his concentration.

I need more energy.

The lightning came faster this time. The volume, like nothing I'd experienced before, poured out until it swirled around me in a vortex of electrical energy. My hair stood on end, the energy zapping off goosebumps that ran up and down my arms.

A vague warning echoed in the back of my mind. A feeling that the power was too much. Too unstable. My heart pounded as the energy creeped through my feet and coated the road before me.

What had felt freeing a moment before took a painful turn as my muscles cramped under the strain.

Too much. Too much. Too much.

It became a fearful chant as bikers ran before the bolts of lightning that licked out of my body without my intention. Bodies littered the road around me in a circle, the smell of scorched flesh and leather heavy in the air.

With a lurch, my heart seized, and I screamed in agony as my power exploded out of me in a wave of devastation. Choking on a sob, I tried again to pull the energy back into me, like I had with Ranto and Kylen's help. I prayed for the peace that usually came with discharging my power, but it only pulled harder at my core, tearing me apart from the inside.

This was what Levina had experienced in that death loop.

This is how my mother had died the night of the riot.

It was how I would die, too.

A single tear tracked down my burning face as I accepted the reality of my fate.

The curse had claimed another witch.