Dmitri
Rage and anger. It consumes me more than ever, my Lycan the biggest it has ever been. My eyes connect with Sky's, her face showing a combination of terror and elation. My heart skips a beat, my keen sight taking in every inch of her, looking for any injuries. Besides her disheveled state, she looks and smells unharmed. In this state, I can scent our baby more clearly, my joy overwhelming momentarily.
The distraction is just what Gael needs as his scarred right-hand lifts Cleopatra's serpent, the orange of the whip much brighter than when I last saw it. Luckily my reflexes are much better in this form, and I shift to the left, the whip whizzing dangerously close to my head, missing my ear by an inch.
My eyes meet with his, this once smooth right-hand side of his face replaced with scarred burn tissue. Emotions in the room war with each other, the atmosphere tense and almost physically dense.
Savannah is standing just behind Gael, the guilt in her eyes telling me a story I would hear from her later. She gave Sky the potion, evident from the lack of the witch's lei around her neck. But if I find out she has done something else to put Sky and our baby in harm's way, there will be hell to pay.
"Dmitri," Gael grinds out, spitting on the floor before him. Sky is edging towards me, her eyes darting between us.
"Don't move. If you do, I will teleport us both out of here, and he will never find us again," Gael says to Sky, his eyes slowly drifting from me to her, pinning her to her spot.
"Tell him that's no longer an option. We are all stuck here until this is over," I tell Sky through our mind link, not wanting to shift back to my human form just yet. The process was quick, but it might leave me open to attack.
"He says we can't. There is no going anywhere until this is over," Sky says, her lip curving up slightly as she watches Gael's face turn red. I can tell he is trying to teleport, the furrow of his brow deepening.
I had only come bursting in here once I had confirmation that the anti-teleport concoction Raina and Ally had made was in place. While none of us could test it, for some reason, not a sliver of doubt existed that it would work. That book containing the potion fell on the floor for a reason, and this was it.
"Well then. Once I finish you off, Skylar will be all mine. Our baby, once I take its power, will be raised knowing only me as its father." Gael's smile stretches across his face, the taunt in his tone achieving its desired effect as pure chaos erupts inside me. I want to tear him apart, savor his blood on my tongue as the life force drains out of him.
I jump forward, my claws elongating at the same time my incisors do. Gael anticipates the move and rolls to the left at the last minute, crashing into the dining room table. I collide with the couch, bits of wood and upholstery flying everywhere at the impact.
Gael gets up, an angry shout and a wave of his hand causing a gust of air to start turning in the room. Skylar takes the opportunity and runs to me while Savannah edges away from him. Items in the room start lifting and floating in the air as the swirl of wind becomes stronger. Eventually, pieces of the wall rip apart, my large body covering Sky as bits of debris hit my back. My large hairy arms are cradling her, protecting her. Savannah's screams are lost on the wind as she is sucked into the whirlwind before her body is tossed loose from the wind's grip, landing somewhere in the distance.
Only the weight of my Lycan and my claws digging into the ground keeps us anchored before the wind dissipates almost as quickly as it started.
Looking up, the house that once stood here is gone. We are surrounded by forest, moonlight, and stars—such a picturesque scene for what is about to happen. Off in the distance, at the point where the herbs were laid to keep Gael from teleporting, Raina, Ally, and Kira are standing, their shouts not penetrating whatever dome is enclosing us.
"I can't get out, and now no one can get in," Gael says, laughing eerily as he stands a couple of feet in front of us.
Slowly we get up. Sky's hands grip my large hairy wrist as we take stock of the madman before us. We are in a precarious position. I had banked on having the others here to help us.
"Ally is working on a way in." I hold my composure at hearing Kira's words in my mind. If Gael knows we can still mind link, he may just cut that connection with more black magic.
"Two on one hardly seems fair, especially now that your witches lei is off Skylar. Perhaps it is time I called in reinforcement. Though, you don't really know how to fully use your powers, do you?" Gael's mocking of Sky is cut off by a bright red ball of energy leaving her hand, the impact hitting him square in the chest.
The impact pushes him backward, his feet digging into the soil to keep him upright.
"I have not forgotten what you have taught me." Sky is standing next to me, her shoulders straight and a bit of confidence seeping into her. The lei and everything that has happened has left her feeling vulnerable and powerless, a feeling that seeped through our bond as soon as I entered the room earlier. Now, I can see the fight in her eyes, the snakes on her wrists alive as energy and magic course through her. It has transformed her, her red hair, which was dull seconds ago, almost glowing, her pale cheeks invigorated with color. She looks amazing and strong.
"It's time for us to finish this. I will never be yours. My heart will always belong to Dmitri," she says to Gael before shifting her gaze to mine.
"I love you, Dmitri." She says the words I have longed to hear again for what seems like millennia In the flesh.
"I love you, Skylar," I tell her, hoping this will not be the last time we say it. Hoping we can get through this and finally be a family, free of this fucking asshole who has played games with our lives.
"How touching. I told you before, I will take your memories and put happy ones of my own in there. I will become your new Dmitri. But first, let's get rid of the original." Gael's sneer, followed by a hiss, has our attention moving from each other to the snake that has dropped from the sleeve of his black cloak. A snake that is rapidly growing in size.
"Do you recognize her, Skylar? She has kept you company in some of your dreams." Gael's delight at the creature, currently bigger than him and slithering a circle around him, is disturbing. I can feel a shiver running through Sky, the tremble reaching the hand currently resting on my arm.
"You take the snake. I need to deal with Gael. After everything he has put me through, it must be me who destroys him," Sky says to me, not looking at me so as not to alert Gael. While I know she has to do this, a large part of me wants to have the pleasure of ripping him to pieces. But that would not give Sky the closure she needs. Since her eighteenth birthday, this vile creature has tormented her dreams, disturbed her physical life, end now threatened a future that includes our child. She needs this. Begrudgingly, I tilt my head, conceding.
"That whip is his connection to dark magic. We need to get it, destroy it. That is the only way he can be defeated," I say to Sky, her gaze meeting mine.
"I can do this," she says, fire in her eyes, determination on her features. A warrior. My warrior.
"Enough. Let's get this over with!" Gael shouts, his hand stroking the snake lovingly, such a juxtaposition to the hatred in his voice.
"Get him," he says to the snake, its tongue flicking out before it rears up, its hood flaring as it eyes me.
We collide in the middle, a mass of fur and scales, the ground rumbling as we tumble along the surface.
With one last look at Sky, I give my full attention to the snake hissing in my direction, my Lycan overtaking me completely. To fight darkness, I had to let it consume me.
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