Duel to the Death

RORY

Nadia’s warnings flash through my mind. ~It won’t be enough. You have to free us all.~ I didn’t understand what she was saying. I thought that defeating Nemesis would free the children.

But that wasn’t her spell, or at least not just hers. Professor Xander has his own hold on the children; he’s the one making them sick and leeching off of their energy.

While he’s got the children’s souls in his thrall, the necklace can’t trap him. He just drains more of their energy and he’s back to full strength. I let Nadia down. I let everyone down.

The only thing stopping him from doing this before has to have been fear of discovery. It definitely isn’t concern for the kids or their lives. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.

He just wouldn’t need to risk this if he could borrow some of Nemesis’s power instead. It says a lot that begging for favor from an evil goddess is the safer option of the two.

Wolves are fiercely protective of the pack’s children, even if they aren’t biologically theirs. He’s courting a lot of revenge with this awful spell of his. And he deserves to be ripped apart.

I grab Everett’s arm, panic flooding me the longer I’m under Professor Xander’s smug gaze. “I can’t use the necklace on him. He’s totally immune. I can’t fight him.”

“Yes, but he’s not an immortal goddess.” Everett rolls his neck and shoulders, a feral grin on his face. I’m confused, unsure what he’s so happy about. Shouldn’t he be freaking out, too?

“Why does that matter?” I ask him. I’m nervous now, as well as scared. I think I can guess what he’s thinking and I do not like it one little bit.

Everett steps forward, out of my reach. His eyes are locked on Professor Xander, teeth bared in a challenge. He’s boiling with restrained energy, excited and furious. “It means ~I~ can kill him.”

An evil light fills Professor Xander’s eyes and he spreads his hands, magic sparking between his fingers. “I would ~love~ another chance at you,” he croons, eager to get his revenge on my mate.

“Everett don’t! Lucius can do it, or Ace.” I’m begging. It’s not dignified, especially since I’m still on my knees, but I have to try and stop him. Which would be easier if I wasn’t still exhausted.

He turns to me, and I can see the hurt in his blue eyes. “Do you not believe I can win?” he asks, his voice a low rumble. Chaos is right at the surface, the two of them a seamless blend.

My heart breaks a little, and I’m mad. Of course I trust him, of course I believe in his strength. I’m hurt that he’d even ask. That he doesn’t understand why I’m worried, how much I need him.

I swipe away my tears furiously, glaring at him. “That’s not what this is about! You keep talking about how I need to be careful for the baby. That’s true for you, too!”

His face softens, and I can see he does understand. But he doesn’t relax his battle stance. “That’s why I have to do it. I have to defend our family, Aurora. You’ve had your turn. Let me do this.”

Now he’s the one begging, asking for my permission. I can’t imagine how it’s felt for him, all of these threats he can’t fight and now there’s a clear enemy. I crumble. “All right, I understand.”

The smile that fills his face is dazzling, and I can’t regret my answer. He turns back to his opponent, booming out an official challenge. “Xander! This is between you and me. A rematch.”

All of the members of the pack who can hear him throw back their heads and howl in support of their Alpha. It stirs my heart and chills my blood at the same time. I can see Everett drinking it in.

Professor Xander just laughs, somehow completely unintimidated. “I accept. Tearing you apart will be much more fun with an audience. I can’t wait to present your heart to little Rory.”

A growl rips from Everett’s throat. “I will kill you, just like last time. But this time, I won’t be so merciful.” The fight’s about to start and once it does, it won’t end until one of them is dead.

I call out again. I can’t help it. Professor Xander has dented my confidence. “Wait! This isn’t a battle of Alphas, there’s no honor rules here! Please, at least let your Beta or Gamma help.”

He looks at me and I can feel his disappointment, the disdain of the pack for my weakness. Shame curls in my stomach. I duck my head, tears pooling again in my eyes.

Is it so wrong that I don’t want to lose him? I love him so much, and I know he loves me. I want our baby to know their father. I want him by my side. The idea of going on without him is too painful.

Everett tips my chin back up, gently, using his knuckle to keep his claws from hurting me. “I am the Alpha of this pack. I am your mate. I can handle this myself. Have faith in me, Aurora.”

His voice is gentle, yet full of confidence, of strength. He isn’t disappointed in me. He just wants to know that his mate is with him, that I believe in him.

In the face of that, what else can I do? “Go get him,” I whisper, smiling through my tears. “And then come back to us.”

“I will,” Everett says, fervent as a promise, and he seals it by kissing me, hard and long and deep. Then, he goes to face Professor Xander. ~Watch over him,~ I pray to whoever’s listening.

EVERETT

Xander sneers at me. I can’t wait to wipe it off of his face. ~“And bathe in his blood,”~ snarls Chaos. I’m not inclined to disagree with him. The line between my wolf and human sides is blurred.

“Are you quite finished? I was too much of a gentleman to interrupt your last goodbyes.” He’s standing at ease, pretending casualness, that he isn’t afraid of me. ~“We’ll fix that,”~ says Chaos.

~We absolutely will,~ I agree. I meet my foe’s eyes levelly, to show him I’m not afraid. “Yes. It’s just you and me now, Xander.”

“Good,” he says with a sly smile. He snaps his fingers, and I’m blown through the back wall of the shed. The thing’s rickety enough that it completely collapses and luckily doesn’t hurt me too badly.

But my breath gets knocked out of me and first blood goes to Xander. I spring up, letting Chaos come to the forefront as I shift into wolf form, fur bristling with rage.

While I was talking to Aurora, he was preparing a spell. I knew the gentleman line was bullshit, but I’d underestimated him. I won’t make that mistake again.

Xander comes zipping out of the shed, a cloud of icy daggers forming around his head. With a gesture, they come flying at me. I duck my head, trying to avoid the worst of them.

Most miss completely or clip harmlessly through Chaos’s thick fur. Some impact me directly, bursting into stinging clouds, but I push through it. Two manage to cut me. I shrug it off.

It doesn’t matter, because I’ve closed the distance between us. At this range, I’m the one with the upper hand, and he knows it. He tries to get away, and I swipe a paw at him as he retreats.

He takes a heavy blow on his left thigh. It tears through his jeans, and now I’ve drawn blood, too. I pursue him, not wanting to give up my edge too early.

I shift between my wolf and human forms, trying to get every advantage. Wolf for crushing jaws and overwhelming him with bulk, human for better reach and the use of hands and knife.

He can’t fly the way he did last time we fought, when he was channeling Nemesis’s power, but he is hovering a few inches over the ground, skimming over the grass.

It makes him fast enough to dodge me, but he can’t get completely out of my reach. That makes this a far more even fight, even with his spellcasting. After all, I can dodge.

I fling myself into a front handspring to avoid grasping roots, shifting in midair to check him with Chaos’s full weight. He flies satisfyingly far, digging a furrow into the ground as he lands.

Light from the shed spills onto the lawn of the orphanage, illuminating our battlefield. We’re far enough away not to alarm the rest of the pack, and I want to keep it that way for now.

I don’t want him to have any more hostages than he already does. He seems fine with keeping our fighting contained to this area, completely fixated on getting his revenge on me.

I need to win this. I need to prove to Aurora that she can count on me, that I can protect her. My mind knows she’s just worried for me, the same way that I worry for her. But my heart still hurts.

Why would she believe I can keep her safe? She got possessed right under my nose. And I can’t fight most of what threatens her. Against gods, I’m helpless. I hate the feeling.

But I’m not helpless now. I shift to wolf form and charge at him again, howling a battle cry. This man will regret ever challenging me.

RORY

While Everett and Xander are fighting, Ace and Lucius have gathered up the warriors who are well enough and are working on clearing the battlefield.

Most warriors are tending to their wounded packmates, getting them out of the way of the battle. The rest are watching the rogues warily, making a show of strength.

Some of the rogues turned tail and fled the second they regained consciousness. Others are ranging around, too tempted by the taste of our pack’s weakness to give up on the opportunity so quickly.

Occasionally a small skirmish breaks out, usually ending with the rogue limping away, but mostly the two sides are just watching each other, waiting for an opening. As if things weren’t bad enough.

I wish I could help with the wounded, but I might die if I tried to heal so much as a papercut right now. I’ve never felt so exhausted. I still can’t stand up, my muscles aching like I ran ten miles.

Most of my attention is taken up by my mate fighting for his life, but I can’t help but look when I hear a low, mournful moan of distress. Ace is kneeling by Freya, crying for his mate.

He’s pulled her into his arms, brushing her short hair out of her face, cleaning the dirt and blood from her skin. It’s painful to see him treating her so tenderly, to see how worried he is for her.

She’s limp, head lolling, still not awake. Neither is Mia. Was I too late? Were their souls already gone before time was paused? I hope not. If I killed them, I don’t know what I’ll do.

A huge, crashing sound and an enraged shriek of pain snap my attention back to the battle. ~One thing at a time, Rory. You can help Freya later.~ My heart leaps into my throat at what I see.

EVERETT

I take a bolt of lightning straight on, feeling it zing through my body in a burst of hot pain. But when it passes, I grin. I’m still standing. Xander’s running out of magic.

He seems to realize it, too. He switches tactics, playing keep away, only casting things like a burst of light in my eyes or a stone at my feet, trying to slow me down or trip me up.

But he can’t stop me from coming for him. I see him shimmer, and I realize with a jolt that he’s trying to turn invisible. ~“Coward,”~ rumbles Chaos. ~“He won’t get away!”~

I shift just as Xander winks out of sight. Chaos’s nose isn’t fooled. I run, careful to seem lost, like I don’t know where he went, all the while beelining for where I know he’ll be in three, two…

Back to human form as our paths cross, tackling him to the ground. It’s reckless. It’s bloody. It feels amazing. I punch him in the face only to be thrown back by another weak burst of lightning.

It takes a few seconds for my muscles to stop twitching, and a smell of smoke lingers in my nose. I should be more careful. Just because it’s not deadly doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.

But it’s not enough for him to get away. I grab him again as he’s trying to recast his invisibility spell. He’s not floating anymore, and though he tries to twist away, he’s not strong enough.

I throw Xander over my shoulder. He lands hard and it takes a moment before he can push himself up. He only makes it to his knees, left arm shaking as it supports him, the right limp and broken.

~“We have him,”~ Chaos says, salivating. I approach, ready to finish him off once and for all. I can’t hear anything through the rush of my blood in my ears, heart pounding in triumph.

RORY

I hear something strange, high and sweet. At first I almost think I’m imagining it, it’s so faint, hard to hear beneath the sounds of battle.

But as it grows louder and louder I realize what it is: children’s voices, joined in some kind of chant. Goosebumps sweep over my arms. ~I have a bad feeling about this.~

One by one, they enter the circle of light, little ones ranging from around four to seven years old. They’re wearing their pajamas and moving in a daze, unaware of anything around them.

I recognize them. They’re children from the orphanage, all the youngest kids, the ones who haven’t been able to wake up. I don’t know what they’re doing here, but it can’t be anything good.

One young girl in a pink princess nightgown passes within arm’s reach of one of the rogues and doesn’t even flinch when he takes a swipe at her, only stopped by one of the warriors.

Everyone’s too busy with the rogues or too injured to try and go after the kids, and I’m not even sure that risking breaking their trance is a good idea. It could damage their minds.

The children don’t stop until they’re lined up along the wrecked shed. They’re chanting Professor Xander’s name, the way they’d once chanted Nemesis’s.

As they do, Professor Xander pushes himself up from the ground. His arm doesn’t seem to be giving him trouble anymore, and magic crackles around him. He throws a fireball that Chaos barely dodges.

My stomach drops as I realize what Professor Xander’s done. He’s called the children here so that he can take more of their life force, use it to fuel his magic.

If this keeps going, they’re going to die.

And my mate along with them.