Chapter 113

The explosion damn near ruptured my ears as it tossed me aside. I scrambled through the dirt. Flames rose in the night sky, eating up every tree they could. Smoke billowed everywhere, clouding my sight, and the intense heat was suffocating.

Now or fucking never.

I didn’t have time to get my shit organized. Not if I wanted to catch her off guard. I bolted, running right into the fire.

Straight back. That was all I needed to do. Go straight back.

She was in the chaos somewhere. The flames were magic—Lane’s magic—so they wouldn’t hurt her. But they would throw her off her fucking game. I needed the element of surprise on my fucking side.

The roar of the fire was disorienting.

My heart raged in my ears.

The hit came out of nowhere, colliding hard with my sternum and knocking me back. I tucked and rolled, recovering fast. The blend of purple light and orange flame was mesmerizing. The world swayed as the light collected in one spot, taking on the hunter’s form.

Focus, Killian, fucking focus.

I surged to my feet, deflecting another attempt to hit me.

She was fast with every attack.

I was just fast enough to keep up with her.

When she landed a punch, I lashed out with a kick.

If she kicked, I ducked.

I gripped my knife, aiming for any opening I could find.

She deflected each one.

Blow for blow, she matched what I gave out—taking each hit in stride while each hit wore me down.

Sweat soaked my clothes, and my lungs screamed with every ragged breath I took. The pit of my stomach dropped out because the longer we did our fucking violent dance, the more I realized that we weren’t evenly matched. She was fucking toying with me.

That twisted fucking grin on her face told me everything.

I never saw the knife before it slammed into my stomach. The air sucked out of my lungs as my knees buckled.

She ripped the knife out. Before I could do a fucking thing, she buried the blade in my side, lodging it under my fucking ribcage. I gasped and my legs gave out.

I crashed hard to my knees, hands clawing for something to hold onto. Her fist connected hard with my jaw, but a hand in my hair kept me upright. I spit out blood and struggled to pull in hot air.

“Do you know what I’m going to do?” Sadie hissed. I groaned as she slowly withdrew the knife from my side. She dragged the bloodied blade up my chest, slicing my skin as she did. “I’m going to kill all of you.”

“You can fucking try,” I snarled. “But you’ll never take on the whole fucking pack.”

“I don’t need to take on the whole damn pack, pretty boy,” she replied. Crouching, she pressed the tip of the blade under my chin. Her face swam in my view, a wild blend of purple light and dark shadows. “I never intended to kill your whole fucking pack. Picking them off one by one… that’s just been fun. Call it a way to fucking torture you. But you Byrnes… you’re my real target. You’re the ultimate kill list.”

I frowned as she paused for the effect.

“You don’t know, do you?” The knife dug harder into my chin, enough to make me wince.

“Know what?” I demanded. Fuck it, I’d bite. The longer she monologued, the better chance I had of getting my ass out of this situation. Wasn’t fucking sure I could.

“About the curse on your family.” She laughed. “Time for a little history lesson, wolf boy. Thousands of years ago, my ancestors put a curse on your ancestors. If all the Byrnes in the last generation die, it kills all wolves. Just fucking picture that. Hundreds of thousands of wolves dropping dead around the entire fucking world all because you, your fucking brothers, and your cousins are dead.”

“No,” I coughed out. That couldn’t be true. I would’ve fucking known that.

“I don’t have to fight that fucking hard. I just have to kill the six of you and then your two cousins down south,” she reiterated. “And let’s face it, you’re the only one who will be any sort of fucking problem. Picking your brothers off will be a fucking breeze. I’ll tear them apart one by one. But not before I paint the walls of your childhood home with your mother’s brains. Mommy Wolf won’t have to watch all her sons die. I’ll make sure your brothers find her spread over every fucking room in that stupid little house of yours.

“And that pretty little wife of yours… I’ll slice her apart little-by-little. Bleed her out. Did you know that pesky little healing factor of yours makes for a fantastic torture tool? It means I can take my time with her and make her pay for how much of a pain in the ass you’ve been.”

“You leave my wife alone,” I snarled. As I tried to move forward, that knife in my throat came dangerously close to cutting through my skin. She trailed the sharp tip down my neck.

“Now, now.” She clicked her tongue. “Your threats are fucking empty, Killian Byrne, because I’m going to kill you first.”