Page 135 of Spark of Sorcery

My magic vibrates in my veins, pushing at my fingertips and I swing my gaze around. I could take a leaf out of our little kitten’s book and trash this room. Then again, trashing Kratos’s face will be a lot more fun.

I don’t consider the fact that there are three of them until the front door opens and I hear their voices.

They’re fucking high as kites. And I know why. The anger in my veins roars.

“I’m in here, dickwads,” I call out. This has already taken too long. I want to get to the bit where I make them beg for mercy.

The chattering stops and then the three of them are standing in the doorway. Kratos at the front. First there’s shock on his face, but it’s quickly replaced by a smirk when he sees it’s just me.

I guess I am alone. Outnumbered, and Thorne is the one with the terrifying reputation.

That’s the thing about me. People never see it coming. Because I smile and crack the odd joke. Because I have the face I have, they think I’m good. They don’t see how bad I really am until it’s too late.

“Hey fellas,” I say. I blow a fuck-off big bubble with my gum and let it pop with a bang.

“Good to see you, Dray,” Kratos says, cracking the knuckles of his right fist into his left palm.

I spit my gum onto the floor.

“Well, I’d like to say the feeling was mutual, but I’d be lying.”

“Although, I’m a little surprised,” Kratos says. “I thought you’d be by your thrall’s bedside. Rumor has it she had a little accident.”

I swing my boots lazily off the table and riseto my feet, the tension in the room soaring dramatically. “Now, we all know it was no accident. And we all know who was behind it. Which means we all know why I’m here.”

I grin at them all. They peer round one another with an obvious air of a group of men who believe they have the upper hand. They don’t.

“You been sniffing too much grass, Eros.” Kratos’s second, Prentice, laughs. “’Cause you’re talking bullshit.”

The smile melts slowly from my face. “I’m not.” I tap the side of my nose. “The thing about scents is they never lie – unlike people – so, you see, there’s no doubt in mind who was responsible, and while you boys may not have been there, may not have thrown the punches or kicked her body,” I say, my voice quiet and deadly, “I know you were behind it.”

“You know fuck all,” Kratos sneers.

I could transform straight into wolf form and tear these shadow weavers from limb to limb in a matter of seconds. It wouldn’t be the first time. People believe Thorne is the most powerful and dangerous weaver in the academy but that’s because they’ve never seen my wolf at his most deadly. But – despite what Beau and Tudor may believe – I’ve no interest in endangering our mate by starting a civil war. The wolf is out of the question – I don’t know if I could prevent myself from going for the kill.

It’ll have to be the old human form.

A form that can still do a hell of a lot of damage.

“You’ve got two choices here, boys,” I tell them. “You can get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness, grovel your little hearts out and come up with some damned inventive ways to make it up to our thrall – including giving me the names of all those who were involved. Or …” I grin because obviously I’m hoping they’ll choose the latter option, “I can make you hurt real bad.”

Kratos scoffs. “There are three of us, Eros, and one of you.”

“Yeah,” I say, “but you’re a bunch of pathetic dickheads who can barely wield a fart, let alone a shadow.”

It’s all the reason they need, the three of them are charging me at once, their magic shooting across the kitchen.

I lift my arm and let it bounce off me as if their magic is nothing more than raindrops. Then with a yawn, I open my fist and let all the shadows that have been raging since I smelled her blood on the forest floor, blast towards them.

You see, that’s what all these losers don’t understand. They think it’s about control and intellect. They think they can study hard, work out in the gym, train on the field, and one day they’ll be as powerful as me. But shadow weaving isn’t about that. It’s about feeling and emotion. It’s about your fucking soul. And right now my fucking feelings are vengeful, angry and destructive and nothing in the entire realm could stop them.

My shadows hit the three men with an explosion, sending all of them tumbling, groaning as they hit the ground.

I laugh.

“Ahhh, maybe I’m being unfair. You wanna do this the old-fashioned way?” I roll up my sleeves. “No magic?”

Kratos scrambles up onto his knees and fires magic my way; I swerve out of its path and stride towards him. The others are up on their feet too and together they send another flurry of blasts my way. I deflect some, dodge some others, but one hits my shoulder.