The Council’s Blood

I hit the top of the gorge like a meteor.

The first Council warrior didn't even have time to raise his staff. I swung my arm, and a wave of violet force sent him flying back fifty feet, his body shattering a pine tree.

"Kaima, stop!" the lead Elder screamed, his face pale. "You are possessed by a demon! That spirit is the architect of the Great Ruin!"

"I was possessed by a demon the moment Damon rejected me and you all watched!" I retorted, my voice booming with a dual resonance.

I turned my gaze toward Chloe. She was hiding behind a rock, her eyes wide with terror. I didn't hate her anymore; she was too insignificant for hate. But she was an obstacle.

"Run, Chloe," I said softly.

She didn't need to be told twice. She bolted toward the Silver-Claw territory, tripping over her own feet.

Damon, however, was still trying to play Alpha. He shifted—a large, gray wolf with scarred flanks—and lunged at me.

Pathetic, the Beast thought.

I didn't even shift. As Damon’s wolf form mid-air, I simply raised my hand and caught him by the throat.

The impact should have snapped my arm. Instead, the ground beneath my boots cracked, but I didn't move an inch. I held a four-hundred-pound Alpha in the air with one hand.

Damon’s wolf eyes bugged out, his paws clawing uselessly at my arm.

"You thought I was weak because I couldn't shift into a common wolf?" I leaned in close, my violet eyes boring into his. "I didn't shift because my soul was too big for such a small skin."

Rowan appeared beside me, his shadow-blade dripping with the golden blood of Council enforcers. He glanced at Damon, then at me.

"He’s not worth the effort of snapping his neck, Kaima," Rowan said, though his eyes were fixed on my hand with a look of pure, dark heat. "We have bigger problems."

He pointed toward the horizon. The sky was turning a sickly shade of crimson. A horn sounded in the distance—a deep, vibrating tone that made my blood run cold.

"The Hunt," the Elder wheezed from the ground, blood leaking from his ears. "The High Council has released the Hounds of the Void. They won't stop until the Beast is returned to the pit."

Rowan grabbed my hand. The black mark on his neck flared. "We need to move. My estate has ancient wards, but they won't hold the Hounds for long."

"I'm not running," I said, looking at the approaching red storm.

"This isn't running," Rowan said, pulling me toward him until our chests pressed together. "This is regrouping. You’ve just awakened. If you burn out now, the Beast takes over completely, and Kaima vanishes forever. Is that what you want?"

I looked at Damon, who I dropped into the mud. He was whimpering, his spirit broken. I looked at the Council, who were scrambling to reform their lines.

"Fine," I said. "But Rowan?"

"Yeah?"

"If those Hounds come... I'm the one who gets to lead the kill."

Rowan grinned, a sharp, dangerous expression. "That's my girl. Now, move!"

We dived into the dark woods of Black-Ridge just as the first howl of the Hounds shattered the silence of the forest—a sound that d

idn't come from a throat, but from the void itself.