Chapter 24

Rhea PoV

I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t fucking do this.

What does Gabriel expect me to do? I haven’t heard my wolf since we were down in the cells, not properly. How on earth am I meant to call on her now? She won’t come. She won’t hear me.

But I have to try, it’s either that or I’m dead, and I’m not ready to die. I don’t plan on letting go of this life for a very long time.

“Alora.” I call, praying that she will hear me. “Please I need you.”

Silence.

I knew it, she can’t hear me.

The vampires are getting closer and I have nothing that I can defend myself with. Not even a fucking knife.

Shit, what am I going to do?

“Rhea.” Comes a voice, one from deep inside of me. “I’m here.”

Alora! But she sounds tired, weak.

How can we protect ourselves if she is weak? I need her to be strong.

“I’m growing stronger.” She tells me, “you can shift now.”

“Where have you been?” I ask her, my eyes focused on the back of Gabriel’s head.

I want to tell him, but I also don’t. Let the fucker worry that I might die.

“Wolf bane takes a toll on me, just as it does all wolves.” She heaved a sigh, “but I am here now, shift Rhea, before it’s too late.”

I do as she says, calling upon my other form as she guides me, it hurts like hell and I groan in pain. But it doesn’t stop me. Nothing will stop me from surviving.

“Silly girl.” Laughs a vampire, “do you really think that you are any match for us?”

I growl at him, fully shifted into the form of my wolf, and ready to tear him apart.

I fucking hate vampires, more than I hate my family for giving me to them.

“You’ve got this Rhea.” Alora says with a snarl. “Kill it.”

I smile on the inside, ready for a fight, I can do this, I know I can, I might not be the strongest she wolf, but I know how to fight. And I know how to kill, even if I’ve never done it before.

The vampire rushes me with a knife in his hand, and I dodge to the side at the last possible second, confusing him just enough so that I can bite into the hand holding the knife.

He drops the blade and screams out in pain, punching me in the side of my jaw, but I don’t let go, I bite down harder and rip out a large chunk of his flesh.

His eyes are wild as he steps back, watching me, he underestimated me the first time, he isn’t going to do that again. I can see the determination in his eyes.

“Use your power.” Alora tells me, a rumble in the ground breath my feet.

“What power?“ I ask.

What the hell is she talking about?

“Call upon the heat inside your heart, and it’ll come to you.” She replies cryptically, pissing me the hell off.

Why can’t she just give me a straight answer for once?

The vampire lunged at me again, and it the exact same time as a ball of light rips from my chest. It feels like I’m on fire, and it fucking hurts.

I howl into the wind, missing the vampire with the strange magic, and so I do it again, ignoring the pain in my bones.

The light shoots towards him, and the moment it connects with his skin, he turns to ash. Absolutely nothing left of him.

Several vampires see it happen, all of them taking a step back in shock and horror. They don’t know how the fuck I did that. And neither do I.

“What the hell was that, Alora?” I ask, panicking.

“It’s our power.” She says casually, “a gift from the moon goddess to protect ourselves. You aren’t yellow without reason.”

Holy crap. That’s insane.

Gabriel glances back at me, a mixture of confusion and frustration in his eyes, he doesn’t know how I did that, and I have no idea how to tell him. By the looks of it, the fire magic skimmed his arm, burning the flesh, no doubt I will pay for that later. He’ll make sure I do.

But right now we are in the middle of a fight, and I need to protect myself, these vampires are here to kill me. They won’t play nice, so neither will I. I’m going to kill as many of them as I can. As fast as I can.

This new power, whatever it is, will help me do exactly that.

“How do I do it again?” I ask my wolf, my bones practically vibrating with adrenaline.

“Call upon it, as you did me.” She says, once again cryptic. “Think of it, feel it, and then call it.”

I can do this.

I won’t die today.

Several vampires rush me at once, and I’m not entirely sure how I do it, but I call on the power and it turns all of them to ash, ever single one. They scream as it hits them, and then they are gone, blown away by the breeze.

It’s terrifying to watch, but it is also liberating.

Am I really the one doing this?

If only my brothers could see me now, they’d be super impressed. They always said I was stronger than I looked.

“How the hell are you doing that?” Gabriel shouts, watching me with wide eyes, but it wasn’t for long before his attention was taken again, another round of rebels attacking us both.

The warriors on the kings side have found us, and they are fighting them back, but the rebels brought what looks to be an entire army. I think we are outnumbered.

I do the same thing, over and over again, the fire that bursts from my chest turning countless vampires to ash, but I’m not sure how much longer I can do it.

I’m exhausted.

All I want to do is curl up into a ball and sleep, but that’s not possible, not whilst we are under attack.

I want to shout Gabriel for help, but I can’t, I can’t distract him. He says distractions mean death, and I believe him.

How much longer can I keep this up?

My body isn’t going to make it.