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It took weeks, as magic didn’t work to its full capacity within the borders of the islands. Looking back, he was sure it was an unintended consequence of Uzziel’s punishment.

In the end, his efforts proved futile.

The staff was missing.

That was no longer the case. It was here, finally within his grasp, somehow embedded inside of the witch that had thrown the world of shifters into a fiery storm.

It had overtaken that witch’s will over for one reason.

It wanted Rowan Dahl.

It must have sensed her divinity during her fight with Antoni Barros, her angel-hood inherited from Lucifer. Her incredible control of magic must have reminded it of its original owner because to Alessandro, Rowan was, as Lucifer had described Uzziel, magic personified.

Even with celestial magic, he could not cleanse the staff, but he could trap it and it knew it.

Each time Barros regenerated, the weapon tried to split a bit of itself off to get around Alessandro to find a path to Rowan. It moved when she did, full effort fixed in her direction, but it was wary of having its physical form caught by the Dragon King.

It was in a desperate attempt that it hurled a collection of bodies, still under its control, at Alessandro. It had hidden a sliver of its form in the masses, passing through the bodies on its route to his woman.

He could feel her somewhere to the right, her magic close to both Japhet and Lucifer.

It had been a surprise that Lucifer had stayed behind to help Alessandro’s people when Lilith had phased out without a second thought.

The fallen angel had been working through the shadows that crawled along the battlefield until he realized his progeny had shown up when Rowan faced off against the djinn.

He’d split himself into two bodies and stayed within phasing distance of both Axel and Rowan, keeping more deadly attacks from touching them like a living shield.

Lucifer locked onto the wooden sliver before Alessandro did, and he reflected it into the Dragon King’s grip with a phase.

Triumphant, Alessandro released a small sonic boom, sending the bodies surrounding him flying at least ten feet back.

The sliver of wood, so small it could be called a splinter, burned against his fingers. The dark energy of the curse tried to crawl into his pores, yet, despite that he was mostly just a dragon, he was also a candidate for godhood. It had no way to overtake his own impenetrable will. His people had given him the power to overwhelm the curse of one powerful but very broken archangel.

He collected every atom that had the magic signature of the staff into his hand, reforming the weapon to its full, worn and beaten length before coating it completely in the most formidable encasing of deep ice he’d ever performed.

“Pleaseeee.”The sentience it had was disturbing. It tried to appeal to some morsel of mercy in the Dragon King, but in protecting Rowan Dahl, he had no mercy to give.

The parting of the staff from Antoni Barros had him entirely reformed on the ground in front of Alessandro. His cries were blood curdling.

This was the fate of those who didn’t make it to a Blessed before the dark magic finally ate up everything the wielder offered. The body wouldn’t fully disappear, but shrivel up in a state of consciousness suffocated by pain long after their vocal chords withered.

Around Alessandro, the Black Cove citizens were snapping out of the illusion.

Shifters and those who had come to their aid began dropping their attacks and calling out for medical attention for victims on both sides of the struggle.

Horror colored the faces of those overtaken.

Alessandro could tell the moment they all pinpointed the source of their confusion. The witch whose cries were as revolting as the state of his body.

He could leave the witch to eternal damnation. The staff wouldn’t release its hold on him until it found a new wielder. As things stood, Alessandro would never allow that to happen as long as he breathed.

It would be a fitting punishment for the suffering creature after everything the witch had put his people through, of what damage he’d inflicted on his mate.

But it wasn’t the most effective solution available.

There was one more option, one that would help shifter kind all over the world, not just the ones in Draconis.

XOXOXO