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“Oh,” he says weakly and pales.

“Yeah.”

“Well, I haven’t heard anything suspicious. Just some murmur of voices.”

“I think we should go in anyway,” I say dryly.

“Sure,” he says as he stands. He brushes off his pants.

We start to move towards the house just as a loud bang rings out. We share a concerned look before running.

Once we enter the house, I see the open door and a man lying over the threshold, bleeding heavily from his nose and eyes. He’s staring blindly at the ceiling, unnaturally still.

“Holy shit,” River rasps.

My heart drops. I follow his gaze. Serenity is in the center of the room. Her arms are spread wide, and black vines flow from each of her palms, holding the two other occupants of the room against opposite walls. Her dark eyes are focused on her mom, who’s thrashing from the force of her power. Carol's eyes are bleeding and wide with fear. I’m going to have to make it a priority to find out how she has such power, and what, precisely, she can do.

The man is already dead. Serenity is too far gone to notice.

She’s magnificent.

“Babe,” I call softly. I don’t want to startle her since I’m not sure she is in control.

“Ryker?”

“Yes, I’m here. You can let go now.” I slowly walk into the room, holding my hands in front of me.

“She can’t get away,” she says.

“She won’t. I won’t let her,” I assure her.

“Get the gun first.” She tosses her head towards it on the floor.

“River, get it,” I tell him, unwilling to take my eyes from her.

He moves quickly and picks it up. “Got it.”

“River has the gun. Pull it back,” I say gently. I watch her struggle to gain control.

“It’s hard,” she grimaces. “She has killed twenty shifters. She enjoys it. Her boss has killed more. We can’t let her go, Ryker.”

“I won’t allow it. But let me take care of her. I don’t want you to have to live with the pain of killing her. Killing your mother.” I try to reason with her.

“I can. I can do this. She was never a mother to me,” she whispers.

“Babe, pull it back,” I urged.

“She hurt you.”

“I’m fine now. You don’t have to do this to prove anything to me.”

“I want revenge,” she says and takes her eyes off her mom for the first time to look into mine.

“I will kill her for you. Another kill means nothing to me. This one will mean something to you,” I plead with her.

“It would be so easy, Ryker. I can do it with a twist of my wrist.”

A wind comes from nowhere, blowing her beautiful hair around her face. Paper floats in the air. The fire pops and flares, adding to the otherworldly atmosphere.