Page 43 of His Sunshine Baby (The Silver City #2)

It’s like something crawling under my skin, a spark, running through my veins and guiding my anger. I feel stronger, faster, fiercer. More dangerous, and my enemies know it too. I show my fangs and growl aggressively. The vampires around us are retreating, unsure, looking at me with fear in their eyes.

“ I don’t know what you’re doing, Selena, but please continue! ”

“ It seems to scare them. They won’t approach you, Sunshine. ”

“ The humans are coming, too, ” I say.

“ What? The humans? ”

I’m sure of it. I can feel hundreds of them, moving to the northern border where we are. I hope somehow, it helps us get out of this mess and shift the balance in our favor. I never thought this would really turn into an all-out war, but after all, this is their city too. If we add the humans to our numbers, we might finally have an advantage.

“ I think you’re doing it to our wolves too, everyone is… glowing. ”

I can tell. I’m communicating my aura all around me, spreading this fire to the other warriors. My rage is contagious. Is that the warrior side of my blood? Sharing my rage with them, making them eager to fight more. The fights are harsher and more violent than ever, like the werewolves have turned into complete animals, wild beasts.

We keep fighting, but another thing worries me. Sylviana is getting whiter, and the burn marks are extending on her body. This is not good news. Liam keeps glancing at her too.

“ She gonna be okay? ”

“ I don’t know, she’s been using a lot of her magic since earlier. I’ve never seen her use so much. ”

The witch is not sparing her efforts. We are surrounded by so much vegetation now, it’s closer to a jungle than the muddy meadow it was a while ago. The water is raging too, flying all around and trying to get to us. Nephera keeps smiling evilly, like she’s possessed.

“How long can you keep that up, little sister? You’re burning so much magic for those pathetic dogs. But you’re too young to use your powers fully, aren’t you? You’ll be exhausted before I’m done!”

With that, she sends another wave towards Liam. She seems to have understood their bond at some point, because she targets the youngest Black brother more than Nate or Damian. Liam is exceptionally agile and has been dodging her attacks for now, but the next mistake might get him killed. The vampires don’t let him rest either. We need to find a way to stop her.

Suddenly, a gunshot resonates in the air, shocking everyone. The whole battlefield freezes. Everyone heard that. We are all waiting, our hearts beating like crazy, but I know. I smile internally, feeling a wave of adrenaline flowing through my veins. Another gunshot, and several others follow. Yes, that’s it. We listen, and it goes on. Bang! Bang! Bang! The vampires start to screech and panic. All the wolves react to it, curious, anxious, trying to see what is going on.

“ Tell me that’s good news? ”

“ What’s going on at the back! ”

“ The humans! The humans have just come to help us! They have weapons, but they are only shooting at the blood-suckers! ”

“ Don’t growl at them, you idiot! They’re on our side! ”

“ I can’t believe it! ”

“ Some are taking our injured! ”

" Yeah, I saw them taking Joe! ”

Crap, Joe? Joseph Lewis got injured? I look for him, but thank Moon Goddess, he’s alive, though he is moving farther away from me. I focus my mind-link and, with Nora, we relay the same orders in unison.

“ Cooperate with the humans! Give them space to shoot and let them take our injured away! ”

“ Make sure they don’t get to the front lines and stay out of their shooting range! ”

Moon Goddess, this might be what we needed to win this fight! The arrival of the humans along with mine and Nora’s auras fueling the battle give a newfound strength to the werewolves and the fight resumes in a better light.

However, our own battle is far from over. The Water Witch is not giving us any chance to approach her, and the vampires are resolute on defending her. It seems like she didn’t just control the Vampire Queen; she must have made it so that they would protect her to the end! I try to keep up, find an opening, but Moon Goddess, she doesn’t give us any rest.

Sylviana is losing ground too. I don’t know why, but our witch is slowly starting to make mistakes. She’s too busy trying to defend all of us. With me, Nora, and Nate back, she now has five people to protect from Nephera, who’s just attacking blindly and trying to hurt us as much as she can. I’m worried about the quantity of water she’s slowly gathering too. She controls it like tentacles, whipping it around and sending water spikes here and there. I dodge one at the last second, but it still grazes my shoulder. I growl back.

I need to get to her. I focus my aura on myself, making the glow even brighter and bigger. The vampires step back, afraid as if I was holding the sun itself in my hands. I growl furiously, jumping on one of them to kill them, and run past the others, trying to sprint to Nephera. Liam catches on to my move, and jumps right after me.

We are both determined to reach the witch, growling and speeding up. She sees us coming and for the first time, something that looks like fear appears in her eyes. She moves her water tentacles, trying to whip them our way, but we jump, roll, dodge, and do our best to keep going. Sylviana intervenes to protect us too as she sends a new salvo of water spikes, blocking it with a branch. Nephera steps back, frowning and panicking. We are almost there! I show my fangs, ready to bite. Anything I can do to take that damn witch down, I will! Liam is growling furiously right behind me too!

Suddenly, something breaks behind me, and I hear Liam’s scream of pain in my head. Don’t look, don’t look, keep going! I finally jump over the witch, and for half a second, I see the fear in her eyes before I furiously bite down. I unleash the beast in me. I bite harder, like an animal, like a furious savage. It’s not hard. I hate that woman, I hate her for what she did: how she hurt me, killed Reagan, and tried to hurt my baby! She screams loudly in my ears, and I’m suddenly pushed away by a wave, rolling in the mud before I brutally hit a tree.

“ Selena! Liam! ”

I hear Nate and Nora’s screams, but it takes me a while to come back to my senses.

“It seems like the first time wasn’t enough! You bitch! How much do you need me to tear you apart this time!”

I need to get up, get back on my feet, and get away from here. Come on, get up… It’s like my whole body is numb. My head fucking hurts. It hurts… I open my eyes, growling a bit, fighting to stand.

A horrible wave of pain pierces me. I scream loudly because of the excruciating pain. I feel my scar being ripped open from my shoulder down, the flesh tearing under the pressure. I’m suffocating, I can’t breathe when my whole body is screaming in utter pain.

“Shall we try going a bit lower? Hm? See if you can heal that!”

I scream again and that crazy bitch, whatever she does, it intensifies. I’m on the verge of passing out, but the sharp pain is what keeps me very much awake. I want to die. I want to die, anything but this horrible pain, I can’t. I can’t take it.

“ Selena! ”

Furious growls suddenly surround me, and whatever was torturing me suddenly stops. I want to faint, but my mate’s smell calms me down. Oh, Moon Goddess.

“ Selena, hang on, hang on. ”

Something cold numbs my pain, and Nora’s white fur is covering my vision. I can feel my cousin’s aura, gently surrounding me, healing me. This is the best sensation ever, like some fresh, cold snow applied to my injury.

Nate is on top of me, guarding me like a furious dog, growling. I hear a fight going on nearby, but I can’t see.

“ The witch… ”

“ It’s okay, Sunshine, Damian and Liam are keeping her busy away from you. Just give us a minute to heal you. ”

“ Liam… ”

“ He… He’s okay. ”

Why just okay? Can’t Nora heal him too? I heard him getting injured before me. Did she just focus on me? Did Nora heal him already?

I try to find my inner wolf, reconquer my aura, and the glow comes back, helping me regain my strength. Moon Goddess… Nora steps away, and despite my sore and painful shoulder, I know I can go on like this. It’s bearable. I growl a bit for Nate to give me some space and get back on my feet. We are in some sort of wooden trap, probably Sylviana’s emergency solution to protect us from the vampires while Nora was healing me. Those blood-suckers have already gathered around to attack the minute they can though.

Behind them, I see the two black wolves, dancing around and trying to get to the Water Witch. Liam is badly injured, but fighting as hard as before. In fact, the right side of his head is covered in blood. His ear is ripped open, and I’m pretty sure his right eye is gone… Moon Goddess, what did that bitch do to him?

I growl, furious. At least I got her bad. She’s full of blood too and a large injury is visible on her shoulder and neck, the exact same spot she hurt me twice. Karma bites back, bitch! Nora wants to heal me more, but we don’t have that much time to lose. As long as I can stand, run, and fight, I’ll be fine. I growl to have her and Nate step aside, and wait for Sylviana to open the cage. It was short, but that one-on-one with the witch makes me want to take her down even more. We need to end this damn fight!

Sylviana glances at us, and she sees that I’m up, but she doesn’t open the cage yet. She seems to hesitate about something. Liam and Damian keep attacking, but with only two wolves and one witch, Nephera defends herself just fine. She just can’t move as much because of her injury. I don’t know who managed to bite her wrist too, but it’s ugly, wide open, and bleeding. She’s in a bad way!

“ Sylviana! ”

I growl after her, hoping she’ll open that damn cage soon. She glances our way and turns to Nephera.

“Nephera, this needs to stop, now! Enough! You’ll die if you continue!”

She’s still trying to save her sister…?

Indeed, the Water Witch, despite her injuries, is starting to be covered in the characteristic burn marks that shows she is running out of magic, overusing it. I understand why she was wearing a black, long sleeve dress now, to hide her skin. But we have gotten close enough to rip several parts of her outfit, and everywhere we can see her skin, it’s charcoal black.

However, despite her sister’s warning, Nephera suddenly smirks.

“You think I care, Sylviana? As long as I take you down with me, I don’t care! You think I’m weak? You think I can’t beat you? I’ve had years to prepare!”

She suddenly calls her tentacles back. For a second, it looks like she’s perfectly defenseless, and Damian and Liam are both about to jump. But Sylviana screams to warn them, and they both decide to jump back.

The next few seconds defies anything I had ever thought possible. Nephera’s eyes suddenly turn completely blank, like a filter is covering them. The burn mark crawls up to her face, almost devouring her skin in black stripes. However, we have a bigger problem. A much, much bigger problem.

Behind her, a huge geyser of water erupts from the soil brutally. A cold shiver runs down my spine. That crazy witch just hijacked the river. A tower of water is standing behind her, like a waterfall ready to jump at us. This is nothing like her little water tentacles from before. The pressure and amount of water is terrifying. Even if it wasn’t magic, this would be crazy dangerous already. If she uses that thing against any of us, we are dead.

I crawl back, realizing the cage is gone, and Nora, Nate, and I run back to Damian and Liam’s side, unable to take our eyes off of that sight. It’s a nightmare. Nephera is exerting her power to kill us. She moves her hands, and this damn column splits apart into six smaller ones, but still powerful as hell, like little geysers. She directs them to bend around her, looking like a spider’s arms. But those arms are digging into the ground around her, just by the mere pressure of the water. Oh, Moon Goddess… If she attacks us with that, it will be like a water cannon hitting us directly.

“Liam…”

I’m surprised to hear Sylviana’s voice now. She’s looking at the tower, almost out of breath, looking more determined than ever. She ties her hair back and pulls her sleeves up, focused. The now one-eyed black wolf turns his head toward her.

“Promise me you’ll do anything to stop my sister,” she says.

He growls, confused.

“Promise me, Liam. Please. You need to protect them.”

He stands there, growling, unhappy. I don’t like what’s going on. I don’t like it at all. What is she hinting at? Sylviana looks at him, finally, looking angry.

“Liam Black. Promise me, now.”

He hesitates, and finally, whines, lowering his head with a sad look.

“ Liam? Liam, what’s going on? ” asks Nora, worried,

“ I don’t know, I don’t know! I… ”

He seems as lost as we are about Sylviana’s attitude. Our Earth Witch nods and, looking resolute, suddenly drives her two hands into the mud.

“Get ready,” she says. “Here we go.”

Something starts rumbling under us. What the heck is going on? The ground keeps shaking, like an earthquake. We all crouch down by reflex, and I’m thankful to be on my four paws instead of two feet. It’s too unstable! The nearby vampires all lose balance and fall in all directions. What is she doing? Preparing some giant root? Sylviana is frowning, a pearl of sweat on her temples, and like her sister, her burn marks spread alarmingly fast.

“ Sylviana! ”

“Don’t… worry…” she mutters, her teeth clenched.

Suddenly, a giant form appears next to us, something twice the size of a human, made of roots and mud, with a vague humanoid shape. What the actual fuck…

“ What is that thing? ”

We are all thinking the same thing. She made a giant! A giant of mud, or whatever. It’s a…

“ A golem! ”

I look down at Sylviana. She’s confidently directing her creature, but like Nephera, her burn marks are spreading, fast. The two witches are running out of magic, and I don’t know what comes after that, but I don’t want to.

This will most likely be the final assault for everyone. Either Nephera manages to kill us with that thing, or we kill her first. Time to end this.I exchange a look with Nora.

“ It’s now or never. ”

“ I know. But we must watch the timing. ”

“ I’ll go in front, Nora, with Liam and Damian. You stay back with Nate; if Sylviana can protect you, maybe you can shape-shift in time to make Nephera stop. ”

She nods. This is such a reckless move at this point, but if the witches start attacking, with that giant water spider and this golem, we will only have a few seconds left for the last part of this plan to be put in motion. We only need five seconds. Five seconds for Nora to shape-shift back into her human form and scream with her Luna power for the witch to stop. I really hope this theory works.

It would be so much easier to carry out if it wasn’t for all the vampires surrounding us. Those damn blood-suckers don’t seem impressed by Sylviana’s surprise golem; they are already screeching loudly and jumping back on their feet to attack us.

“ Nephera will target Nora first, she knows her Luna Power is the strongest. I’ll be the decoy, but we have to move fast. ”

At least I managed to piss off that bitch enough to hope she’ll focus on me instead of my cousin now. The large wound I inflicted on Nephera’s shoulder and neck is still bleeding profusely, but it’s hard to decipher her expression when her eyes have turned opaque, her iris and pupils hidden in a blue fog.

We are tensed up, waiting for the moment to attack. The vampires are crawling around us, ready to jump at us again. Moon Goddess, if Nora shape-shifts back at the wrong moment, her Luna Power doesn’t work, or Nephera ignores her… So many things could go wrong with this plan, but it’s our best shot. We gather next to the golem’s feet. Sylviana nods, her green eyes went opaque too.

“Now!” she screams.

Everything gets set in motion at the same time. Damian starts running first, I’m right behind him. Nephera screams in anger, and the spider’s legs start moving. Two of those water geysers are about to shift towards us, and I prepare to endure it, but an uproar above us catches the witch’s attention first.

The golem is advancing towards her, and Nephera changes her attack at the last second to stop the giant. She steps back and agitates her arm, sending three of the spiders’ legs against the golem. The pressure between the two strengths is making an awful rumble. The golem’s head and hands are stopped by the water geysers, and for a second, it looks like one will have to give up. The giant of mud tries to fight back the water pressure, and both have to maintain full force not to give in. The struggle is happening right above our heads, and we are soon drenched by the downpour.

However, at least it’s keeping three of Nephera’s giant water streams busy. Damian and I accelerate, and I feel the others right behind us. Damian, Nate, Liam, and I need to stop her other “legs” long enough for Nora to get close, shape-shift, and yell for her to stop. We don’t know how close or how loud she’ll have to be, and I’m scared the ruckus around us will force my cousin to get too close to the witch. Nora will be in the most danger, and the vampires are rushing to stop our group too.

Suddenly, another water geyser moves, the fourth one, and Damian growls furiously, prepared to take it. It hits the Werewolf King full force, and I have to jump to the side to not be caught in it as well. The Black wolf struggles to keep standing for a second, his paws and claws digging into the mud. I can feel the full violence of the sudden hit. Nephera tries to increase the water pressure, to blow him away, but Damian won’t give up. He remains there, blocking that geyser all by himself, shoulder first, and growling furiously. Moon Goddess, if even the King struggles this much…

I growl fiercely. Only two more of her “legs” to stop.

I’m now in front, but we are not there yet. Maybe a dozen feet between Nephera and us, but it feels like much, much more. The muddy ground and the downpour above us make it hard to run. Suddenly, I hear a furious growl on my right side, and Nate jumps in just in time to save me from a vampire’s fangs.

“ Nate! ”

“ I’m fine! Keep going! ”

He fights off the vampires on my right flank, detaching himself from our group and growling furiously to defend us. I didn’t notice the blood-suckers had already gathered around us! That was too fast! I lose a second watching Nate and, like an idiot, miss the sudden attack coming from the other side. I hear Liam’s yell in my head, and the next second, I’m rolling in the mud, a vampire screeching above me. I growl furiously, defending myself and trying to kick him off me. The group of vampires have caught up on us, and I’m quickly surrounded. Liam intervenes to help me, his black fur suddenly covering my vision. He bites the vampire’s arm off and pulls him away from me with infuriated growls to warn the others. Nora runs to catch up to me.

“ Selena! Are you okay? ”

“ Yeah, sor–! ”

I can’t finish my sentence. I spot another vampire about to jump on Nora right behind her. I growl angrily and activate my aura again, brighter, before jumping on him. Damn it, I can’t do everything at once! I finish that damn vampire off and use my aura to spread the message to humans and werewolves all at once.

“ This battle needs to end here and now! ”

I spread my anger to all our peers, calling our troops to rally. The vampires around us, once again scared and blinded by my glowing aura, retreat a bit.

Meanwhile, I feel all the wolves turning to our area, guided by my glow. Nora and I react together, and our combined auras are like a beacon, indicating to everyone where to gather on our side of the battlefield. In a few seconds, all the wolves not caught up in fights start running to our area, ready to end this. If the vampires reassemble, so will we. We need more wolves to fend off the vampires gathering to stop us. The humans can handle the frontier temporarily, or so I hope.

Moreover, Liam is still caught up in his fight on the side, a few steps away.

“ I’ll be fine! Nora, Selena, go! Now! ”

I hate it, but if Liam and Nate don’t stay behind to protect our flanks from the vampire attacks, we won’t make it. I growl, frustrated, but my cousin and I resume running after exchanging a quick glance. We are only a few steps away, but there are still two of Nephera’s water geysers to stop. Damn it, if she hits me or Nora with one of those…

While I’m wondering what to do, three familiar auras suddenly surge behind us. They detach themselves from the other approaching werewolves, quickly catching up to us. Nora and I recognize two of them at the same time.

“ Bobo! Tonia! ”

The Mura siblings are running fast to catch up with us. Just behind them, the third wolf, a white and brown male, breaks away from their duo and makes a sharp turn to go join Nate’s side. He jumps in the fight to help my mate, and I suddenly realize it has to be Isaac, his best friend and Beta!

Tonia also decides to leave her brother to go and help Liam, whose missing eye has left him with many blind spots. Either way, I’m so glad those three came to help! Boyan and his humongous size is the best reinforcement we could hope for. The big brown wolf runs to get in front of us, like a big shield.

The trio’s sudden appearance recalibrates the forces here. Our sides free of vampire attacks and Boyan running in front, we are almost at Nephera’s position! I can feel all the werewolves gathering around us to fight back the vampires too, or whatever’s left of them. For the first time, I feel more werewolves than vampires around us!

However, it’s too soon to rejoice. Nephera’s face makes an ugly grimace, and before we can react, her last two geysers move. Holy shit, if we take two from upfront…

I growl furiously, ready to take one, but it doesn’t come. Instead, a wall of fur appears in front of me, and Nora screams in our heads.

“ Bobo! ”

Moon Goddess, this guy is… Boyan is not blocking one but two of the geysers, acting like a wall before us. No matter how big he is, he just can’t block that much pressure by himself! We see him struggle and growl before us, and Nora and I exchange worried looks. Is he really going to handle it by himself? His huge paws are anchored in the mud, he’s losing a bit of ground, sliding, but he’s still standing. Can he really do this? Boyan growls furiously, and Nora and I don’t dare move from behind him, waiting to see if he can hold it. I hear some of his bones breaking, it’s horrible. Yet, he’s still standing, making us hesitate. Should I replace him? But Nora can’t go by herself.

“ Moon Goddess, Bobo. ”

We’re hesitating for too long already. Can he really do this? Even the King is struggling just to handle one of those! No matter his size, if Bobo loses any more ground, falls, or gives up, we’ll be the next ones she hits with those…

Just when I’m about to say something, another werewolf arrives like a bullet from behind.

“ Just go already, babe! ”

“ Danny! ”

I did not expect to see him jumping in the fight, but he immediately runs past us to go support his boyfriend. Daniel’s thin figure can’t handle one of those geysers, but he stands behind Boyan, pushing his other side to help the giant werewolf stand against the pressure. Boyan stops sliding and losing ground. My best friend is in a bad state too, his tawny fur is covered in blood and mud, but he growls at us.

“ What are you waiting for? Go! ”

I nod, and Nora and I both run past Boyan already. This is it. Nephera’s water arms are all kept busy, she has nothing else to attack us with. Tonia, Liam, Nate, and Isaac are keeping the vampires busy, acting as a defensive circle around us. A hot shiver runs down my spine. This is it, this is it…

“ Nora! Whatever happens to me, stop her! ”

“ I know! ”

I see Nephera’s face distorted by fear as I jump on her, all fangs out. She screams and tries to protect herself with her arms. We roll on the ground and fight for a few seconds, but I’m a werewolf. She’s just a witch with no more power to fight me off. I finally pin her down to the ground, biting the previous injury again. I use all my weight on her, making sure that damn witch won’t get up and do anything to Nora.

She struggles furiously, I feel she’s trying to grab something. I try to change position to stop her, but I can’t let go. My fangs are what keep her focused on me. Behind me, I feel my cousin shape-shifting back to her human form.

“ Selena! ”

A sharp pain pierces my flank. I scream internally, overwhelmed with the pain once again. Nephera has an ugly smirk, but I growl back, and bite her even deeper. I don’t care. She stabs me again, with Moon-Goddess-knows-what, and the pain shocks my brain. Don’t give up, don’t give up… Those three seconds are like an eternity.

“STOP IT!”

Finally. Nora’s scream freezes the whole area. All the vampires and werewolves close enough to have heard her voice are hit by her imperious command. None of them can move a muscle, her Luna’s white aura is too strong. Nephera stops moving too, her eyes wide open in surprise. I’m the only one around able to ignore Nora’s command. I see the witch frowning, struggling to fight my cousin’s order and me, but I won’t move, and Nora screams again.

“I said stop!”

Her voice carried even further the second time, stopping even more fights. Under me, Nephera’s face is deformed by anger. Between my strength and Nora’s voice, she’s unable to move to defend herself. She can barely move her lips.

“You… rotten Royals…” she hisses. “Curse you and your damn blood. Little bastards… Cursed be Diane, her children… At least I’ll take you with me!”

She fights Nora’s command and I feel her move her wrist, turning the blade in my injury. Shit… I clench my fangs, enduring the pain.

“I hope you like silver, you little–”

I growl furiously, not intimidated by her.

“ I may be a Royal, but my mother was human, you bitch. I don’t give a shit about your silver! ”

I furiously bite her throat, deeper. Her scream pierces my ears, but I keep going. I ignore the pain, the fatigue, the dizziness, and just keep biting, again and again. I need to end this. This madness has to stop. Everything she did, all the deaths, all the pain. It has to stop. I need to keep biting, ignore the pain, hold on, hold on for everyone’s sake. I need to hold on until… until Nephera stops moving.

“Selena…”

My head is spinning. I feel someone’s arms around me, pulling me back, and I finally let go. My legs give up under me. Is it over…?

The water sounds stop around us. The rain stops, leaving us drenched and exhausted. Moon Goddess… I lie next to my cousin, whose trembling hands are holding on to my fur. Nora cries silently, I don’t know if she’s exhausted or just overwhelmed. Nephera’s body next to us makes horrible, erratic sounds. Her hissing breath is dying. I bit her throat so deep, she’s drowning in her own blood.

Someone silently walks past us. Sylviana bends over her sister, crying. She’s trembling, looking terribly sad. The witch sits next to her sister, taking Nephera’s hand.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Nephera,” she mutters.

I fight to not close my eyes and pass out. Nora and I silently watch the two witches, in a weird silence. Echoes of the ending battle are heard from some far away area, but here, it’s a mausoleum. It’s too quiet.

We stay a long time, listening to Sylviana’s cries for her sister. She apologizes, over and over. Nephera’s agony is horribly long and slow. I keep staring, like an invisible audience to this heart-wrenching scene. The black spots slowly retreat from the witch’s skin, fading to white. Nephera’s throat stops bleeding. For a second, the remains of my conscience are worried. She’s healing. She’s…

But Sylviana raises a little dagger, and ends it all.