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We move as one, Sammi, Leila, and Professor Figgins right there with us as the monsters on our side wreak havoc on the fodder of people that stand in our way. Fitch is the first to notice our approach, distaste filling his eyes as he sets his sight on his daughter. He shakes his head, but it doesn’t falter her steps at all.

“Figgins, take Fitch with Sammi. Leila, stay by Raven, who is going straight for Burton. Zane will be right there with you while Creed, Eldon, and I charge Monarch Richardson. Use your familiar if necessary, Figgins. We end this all now,” Brax commands, sending another thrill of adrenaline through my body.

I press my palm against my chest, feeling the necklace around my neck. They may know I can mirror magic, but they don’t know I have it accessible like this.

Burton is more than aware that he’s now our target and sends soldiers toward us in a bid to stop our ascent, but our path remains clear with the aid of the Drakes as they continue to interfere, slaughtering anyone who gets in our way. He stumbles back a step when we’re within a few yards, but I don’t quicken my pace to get to him. I want to see this play out in his eyes for as long as possible.

Second by second, minute by minute, I want this to be what he remembers when he realizes his efforts were no match for us, were no match for me.

“You think you can defeat me? You’re nothing, no one. Your greatest attribute was used up before I could even make full use of you. I have no magic worth mirroring, unless you want to skin-walk as me for a moment, feel what greatness truly is before you meet your demise,” he bites, his words thrumming from him as I simply smile.

Get close enough to hurt a man like this and he’ll quickly shift the narrative to bring you down, twisting words to hurt you instead of letting you get close enough to see how truly weak and undesirable he is.

I won’t be fooled by it, by him. I know my worth and my value, and it doesn’t come from what magic I can or cannot do. It comes from within, from who I am and what I believe is right. None of which aligns with this man.

He’s strung us along on a ride that has made no sense to anyone but him, caused distress and heartache to everyone simply to further his agenda, and I’m done.

“I know I can’t defeat you, Burton. Not alone. I’ve known it since the moment I got here, believing I was a Void. But you’re fragile, exposed, wounded, and completely powerless. Whatever drives you doesn’t seek purpose in me; that’s never going to change. You should have killed me when you had the chance instead of playing me in a game I had no need to be in.” My grip on my sword tightens as my left hand clasps tight, too.

“No? You don’t think you would go to extreme lengths to protect those you love? Let’s put that to the test, shall we?” He whistles before I have a chance to answer and a shrill cry echoes around me. Turning toward the sound, I find my mother lifted off the ground and my heart lurches, but I focus on keeping my features neutral. “What would you do if I killed her right now?”

I shrug. “You’ve already caused the death of my father today, what’s one more?” I poke, hating the taste of the words on my tongue. Instead of faltering under the pressure of my family’s lives in his hands, I move closer, much to his annoyance.

“Let’s see, shall we?”

I rush toward him, only a few feet between us, hoping to catch him before he can make another move, but as I swing my blade at him, the shrill cry gets louder, raking my bones. I can’t look. Instead, I swing again and again, hating that he dodges both moves.

His face isn’t one of boasting, though; if anything, he looks angrier. Risking a glance behind me, I see why a moment later. The blood of my family is being spilled all over the grass in a horrific display, but not my mother’s…

Sebastian.

I don’t know what happened or how, but the way Mama cries and the placement of his body, I know in my heart he was defending her.

Fuck.

“That part of your bloodline won’t cause you any pain,” he grunts, and the words cascade over me in the strangest way, because there is definite pain twisting in my gut.

I’ve said it before, but now there is nothing between us. I am done with this man and his bullshit. It ends today, now, in this moment, written in the history books as nothing more than a battle at Silvercrest Academy.

I launch my sword at him but he manages to sidestep the onslaught just in time and it slams into the ground beside him. My blade is useless when it comes to this man. It’s going to take everything to bring him down, and I’m going to make it happen.

Glancing to my left, Zane nods at me, silently confirming he’s here for whatever I need, and a brief flick of my eyes to my right confirms Leila is on the same page.

“Throw everything at him. Everything,” I breathe, not even truly sure if they can hear me or not, but in the next moment, I aim down my sights, clench my left hand as tightly as possible around the locket I snapped from my neck on my march over here, and throw Hell at him.

My emotions cling to the magic, erratically burning through my limbs as I scream, thrusting my hands in his direction.

Fire travels over my arms as they turn to stone. At the same time, Leila blasts him with ice and Zane uses his magic to launch a tree at him. My vision blurs, power rippling through my body as I continue to step closer, closing the gap to my final goal.

The moment I’m within arm’s reach, I rear my arm back before slamming my gargoyle fist into his face, repeating the motion for a second time for good measure before I slam both hands against either side of his face. I expect to set him alight and watch him burn at my touch, but it’s Creed’s magic that flickers forward, and my mind is consumed with his memories and thoughts.

Darkness sweeps over me, pinning me in place as the image of a couple walking hand in hand swims to the forefront of my mind. A toddler waddles a step in front of them as they laugh. I can feel the warmth, the love, the family aura that surrounds them, and it’s so sickly sweet it almost hurts. Then it does. Hurt.

The scene shifts before me. Only the woman is present now. The open area seems familiar and it takes a second for me to recognize we’re at The Monarchy’s big HQ in Haven Court, where I first met Rhys.

She scurries through the halls, panic clinging to her as she rushes into a small room and slams the door shut behind her.

My brain swirls with the fact that he has this memory even though he isn’t present, and it makes my head pulse with a vigorous headache.