Who is ready to return to Invictus?
Stepping through the portal I find myself in the middle of a forest, but the temperature is surprisingly warm and even past the canopy of the trees I can tell the sun is beating down. I see a tree next to the portal and pull out one of my throwing knives and carve an X into the tree, so I know where to return to. IF I return that is. I slip the knife back into its holster and begin walking through the forest, not having a clue where I’m going but one thing I know for certain is these wolves will find me before I find them. A disadvantage of hunting supernatural beings is they have better senses than you do. I take another step and wince feeling an ache in my ribs. That fight with Matteo did a number on me, and as satisfying as it was to get some of this anger out, I should have just shot him and saved myself the time and energy. Worse than the aches from our fight is the unbearable pain in my chest that has been festering since Isolde rejected me. I feel completely drained, like some
A moment later I hear a buzzing sound, and Amelia touches something under her desk. I hear the door click and I look behind me as two people enter the room. The first is a petite Chinese girl. What is she, like twelve? She has dark brown hair tied up in a bun and is wearing a yellow workout tank top and grey workout leggings. She also has a very cool snake tattoo that wraps around her left arm. I’m going to take it this is Mei, Delta of Invictus and Empress of the nagata. But she’s so tiny. She’s at least 5’1” with chocolate brown eyes, a sweet face and creamy white skin, which is a huge contrast to the walking chocolate statue behind her. This dude is towering over her at 6’5” in a white workout tank top and black trunks, and they are fighting for dear life to stay on his body. Does he eat steroids for breakfast? “You wanted to see me, Alpha?” Mei says in a sweet voice as the giant closes the door behind them. “Thank you for coming. Mei, this is Valeria, a venatrix who has come to
Amelia looks at him in surprise, “Jazz?” “You know how I told you I broke out of that venator prison?” He asks. Amelia nods in response and I feel my stomach twist into a knot. He did not just say venator prison. Please don’t fucking tell me I’m in a room with a wolf my family locked in a cell. Give me a fucking break! “Well, I didn’t break out, so much as I was BROKEN out,” he admits. “Who broke you out?” Amelia asks curiously. “Her animai,” he says, gesturing to me. Motherfucking cunt of a fucking shit! Suddenly everyone’s eyes blow wide. “She told me she had a vision of my death, so she got herself captured so she could free me, but she got the timing off and ended up in there days early. When I saw her she was weak and had been heavily tortured, but it didn’t stop her. She got every single one of us out and to our homes. I confronted her about Mei, and she told me much of what Valeria has just told us,” he explains. “Jasper…” Amelia says in disbelief, “You knew an innocent wom
I feel like my body is on fire. This isn’t like the burning pain I felt from Fretez’s light. Even as painful as that was, there was a peacefulness that came with it, but there is no peace with this pain. I swear I can feel fire spreading through my veins, boiling me from the inside out. I’d give anything to just be able to lie down and close my eyes, but I still can’t will my body to move. I can’t even will my eyes to stay shut. All I can do is witness my vision become more blurry and feel the pain intensify. My heart could rival a hummingbird right now. “This is truly a magnificent sight.” The voice speaking these words is like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. Even the beauty of the French they are spoken in is soured by the person speaking them. I look up to see the woman I once called family, standing on the other side of the bars with a malicious smile on her face. The white of her hair and the white of her eyes and teeth shine in the torchlight of this cell, while her ebony ski
“Are you sure about this?” Chris asks Mei, while I resist the urge to tap my foot. “I’m positive,” she chirps, “I’ll have my link open the whole time, I promise,” she says, reaching up on her tippy toes to kiss him. He wraps his arms around her lifting her with ease as he returns her kiss causing her cream-coloured cheeks to blush. “Please be safe,” he begs in a whisper, placing a kiss on her forehead as he lowers her back down. “I promise to come home in one piece,” she says with a bright smile. Chris looks over at me with hard eyes, but I can see the worry he’s trying to hide. I’ll cut the man some slack since I’m kind of in the same boat. “Remember what I said,” he says in warning. “Anything happens to her, and you’ll kill me. Trust me, your majesty, if we fail at this, I’ll personally come to you so you can kill me,” I say darkly. Chris looks unsettled and Mei looks sad at my words, but I mean them wholeheartedly. If I lose Isolde, I don’t want to go on. Chris reluctantly l
It’s not long before we come to a stop and for a second I fear trusting an unexplained ball of light was a really dumb fucking move. “There’s a wall, but it’s not dirt, it’s stone,” she says. I reach my hand out and feel in front of me, and sure enough the wall is smooth. I feel the wall start to silently move back and a crack of light streams into the tunnel. I peek through the crack and can see a giant hall of some sort. The room is filled with women with sparkling flecks of gold covering their skin. From what I remember Izzy telling me, these must be irshiusts. Some of them are surrounding something, and it’s not till some of them shift that I notice what, or who, they’re surrounding. It’s Izzy! My heart begins to thunder furiously in my chest and every impulse in me is telling me to run to her, but I force myself to stay in place. Looking closer I can tell something is wrong. Her gorgeous olive skin looks grey and sickly, I can see her hair sticking to her face, but she’s not sa
Even with all the arguing, I was certain death was inevitable at this point. I never in a million years thought Valeria would find a way to sneak into the most impenetrable fortress on earth, bringing with her the Empress of the nagata – something I’ll have to get details on later – all just to save me. I rejected her and yet she, a human, managed to come all this way for me. I’ve never had someone go to such lengths for me. I never questioned her love, but there’s not a chance I ever will after today. But Manon couldn’t let me be happy for five minutes. Well, she’s certainly shown her true colours now, but she made the biggest mistake of her life. Poisoning me is one thing. Trying to kill Valeria in front of me? This bitch is mine. I step around Valeria feeling more invigorated than I have in a long time. I knew the Gold Snake that every nagata Empress is blessed with has healing abilities that far surpass anything a makkari can do, even a Priest or Priestess. Their healing is seco
I push my magic forward with all my might, feeling as though I’m trying to push through solid steel, but I only feel her magic give a fraction before it pushes back at me. “You’re pathetic. You can’t protect them; you can’t even protect yourself. Hiding away for centuries, too scared to face me. To face your failure. You’ll die as the only High Priestess to never ascend. You’ll be erased from history, and I shall rise a Goddess,” she says maniacally. I tune her out and continue to channel everything I have into my magic, but I feel my feet begin to slide back against the marble. “Just give up, Isolde,” she mocks pushing her magic towards me with all her strength, “I have an endless supply of magic at my disposal. My power is infinite. I have everything, what do you have?” She gloats. Her words have images filtering through my mind like a Rolodex being spun out of control. Images of happy moments shared with my family, followed by the flames that burned them alive. Images and memorie