AVERY’S POV While I concentrated upon this candle's flickering flame and chanted the incantation, I heard my mother's voice in my thoughts whispering, "Have faith in yourself, Avery." I can accomplish this. I had to. With electricity and adrenaline jolting up my spine, every hair on the back of my neck stood up. The gap between my brows itched, and I had the weight of a boulder on top of my head. With each second I spent muttering the spell, the prickly sensation gained strength. The magnitude of the process was staggering. I shut my eyes due to feeling dizzy and allowed the darkness to comfort me. I resorted to the brief but treasured moment I had with my mom, seeking strength in the darkness. "Stand up for love." The stillness echoed her words. I regarded the people for whom I needed to perform this spell. Despite the exceptionally bitter and cold weather, my system was steadily heating up from within. Initially soothing, the heat soon became unbearably hot, as if the candl
AVERY’S POV I assumed I was dead. But as soon as my throat started to itch and a cough came through, my eyelids snapped awake. Dominic’s troubled gaze glinted under the light of the candle. When his eyes met mine, the rigid features on his face melted in relief, his arms wrapped me in a warm embrace. His voice was soothing to the ears and numbed all the agony I had just experienced. “Oh God, you scared me,” he cried. As I coughed once more, he massaged my back with his palm. I said, hoarsely clearing my throat, “I know where the book is.” When he heard me, his brows lifted slightly, and I turned to look behind him to see if someone was about to attack us. “Castiel?” “Fucker vanished in the middle of the battle.” He stroked my cheek with his thumb as he said, “I feared he would come for you, so I ran into the mansion and saw you in this state. Are you alright?” “Not really.” The throbbing pain in my chest was present, but it was bearable at the time. Other more pressing matters req
“Wait here,” I told Dominic and took slow steps towards the clearing. I could sense magic everywhere, creeping over my skin like a slithering snake. I tapped the ground beneath me with the sole of my shoe. I could sense the ground was an illusion and only a witch could see through it.I closed my eyes and allowed my senses to be awake to their full potential. I could hear the birds chirping, the smell of forest and the ground beneath me. Gradually, they all faded and I felt my shoes immerse into the ground which had turned soft like mud. The mud turned more moist and almost felt like water.I opened my eyes and saw the ground beneath me had turned into water, like a lake. I dragged my feet over it, feeling an invisible ground that allowed me to walk on the water. As I kept moving forward, the intensity of the magic grew around me and when I reached the center of the lake, I saw something flash beneath the clear water.The water had no color of its own, reflecting the dark sky above li
I couldn’t fight them if I was hanging on the rope which groped my ankle and wrist so tight and painfully. I had only three seconds before the creatures attacked me. One creature had made it like a near-to-death experience when it bit my face. I couldn’t tolerate more. I didn’t chant any spells. I closed my eyes and focused on the image I created inside my mind, where the creatures were being thrown away and killed. I imagined a blue light, like the one I used when I fought with Victor, killing them. When my eyes snapped open, something rang in my ears, and for the moment I couldn’t hear the creatures. I watched as they fell the tree branch as if they were hurt. I could feel the blue light on my palms and I used it to cut the rope. I didn’t cut the entire rope and I held onto a part of it so I didn’t fall to the ground which was a land of fog currently. Something snapped and I whipped my head to my right and saw another tree branch moving toward me. The tree had a lie of its own an
I couldn’t feel my left hand. I didn’t know if it would ever heal. I was not a werewolf after all. Tears rolled down my eyes as I sat on my knees, the tree monster’s hand inches away from breaking the bone of my left leg. It had stopped and said, “Give your soul to me and I shall not destroy your body. It will be destroyed now or later. So it is better if you give up.” I closed my eyes, allowing the tears to soak my cheeks. The monster’s voice faded and everything slowed down. I extended my right and only hand at the sword. I would finish this. Without wasting another second, I pierced the sword’s tip into the root of the tree. The pain of my leg bone snapping didn’t affect my action and I gave every ounce of my strength left to cut the tree from its root. The wood on the body of the monster cracked and soon burst into pieces, falling like snow on the ground. I dropped the sword and fell to the ground, my breathing labored. Blood pooled beneath me. My blood. I didn’t have a
SKYLAR’S POV Holy shit! The ground burned as the grass was consumed by flames. I felt the burning heat beneath my shoes and before it could get to Jannet, I quickly pulled her up. She was in grief but the sudden fire took her by surprise. “Sky. Avery…” she said, her voice hoarse. Avery’s body was on the ground. It would burn to ashes too— Where was her body? The place she was laid earlier, was empty, replaced by fire which spread to the woods. I looked at Asphalt, who was torturing Castiel. He had lost total control and I knew it was coming. Avery was everything for both Dominic and Asphalt. But where was her body? Did it get consumed by the fire already? “Her body is in the car,” I heard Master’s voice and whipped my head at the man whose features and sapphire blue eyes matched mine. Aisel. Regarding my silence with a stoic face, he continued to explain, “I didn’t do anything. Alpha Dark made sure her body was safe before he turned into his demon.” Jannet looked in confu
SKYLAR’S POV Master watched her shake furiously and said, “Take her inside the Whitlock Mansion. I assume we were brought here for a purpose.” We stepped out of the car and carried Avery’s body inside the old mansion. She kept shaking with her eyes closed as if something was happening inside her body. Jannet held her head and panicked, “What do we do now?” she looked at me and then at Master who stared at Avery’s body. “We wait and watch. Something is happening inside her body. I can feel it as a witch.” He said and placed his hand on Avery’s chest. “It's powerful.” “But why is she shaking like this?” Jannet asked in concern. Suddenly, the furniture around us started to tremble like an earthquake hit the house. We were on the first floor, close to where the stairs were. Dust from the ceiling fell on my jacket and hair, as the entire mansion seemed to rattle. The lamps on the wall started to glow golden and dim frequently. What was happening? Something pricked my skin and
ASPHALT’S POVThe old fucker fought like he could win against me. The thought of him considering himself equal to a high ranking demon of the Underworld was hilarious. Yet I kept a straight face while my body swiftly dodged his attacks.It was a waste of time. But it was all I had left after I lost everything.Avery’s beautiful face flashed in front of my vision. Even though a witch, she could be called more beautiful than Selene. At least to me she was.The sound of a punch hitting my jaw rang in my ears and I stumbled back on my feet. It was not a hard hit and I could have dodged it easily. But I was broken and distracted from inside. A constant humming inside my heart gave me the hope of Avery coming back to me.I couldn’t accept her death. But I couldn’t deny it either. Then why did I feel like this?Castiel’s fire was about to wrap me in its burning embrace and I allowed it. The burning sensation couldn’t compare to what I felt inside. No pain in this world could ever replace the