Page 330 of The Curse Trilogy

The low growling in my belly starts to warn me of what I’m doing, offering me one last chance to back out. Symphony is a fool for thinking she can subdue a savage like mine. She’s crazy to think I’ll let her hurt the ones I love.

She flings her hand again, but she’s met with surprise rather than satisfaction when my body remains stationary against her force. My violet eyes burn brighter now as I stand to my feet. The acidic tears I’ve shed sizzle against my burning body before evaporating into a faint memory of the pain she has inflicted.

Her eyes widen in fear when she sees what I’ve become - one seriously pissed off savage bitch too strong for her hold.

I smirk as I start walking around in a leisurely stroll to face her a little more head on. My non-uranium touched wounds begin healing before her eyes without a drop of blood despite their severity. She stammers backwards when she sees what a true savage looks like rather than a forged one.

“What’s wrong, Symphony? Did you really think you could control my savage without my permission?” I taunt mercilessly, mocking her condescension from earlier.

“No. I’ve got the power to stop you,” she growls.

My devious smirk only grows as my eyes become alight with menacing thoughts running wild. I envision her body being ravaged and torn to shreds by my power, and then I feel a car slam against me as she uses her forged gift against me. Minutes ago, that would have been a fatal blow, but now it’s no more dangerous than a human slap across my hybrid face.

An eerie chuckle emerges from my throat as the car slices in half against my body, and I remain standing, unscathed and unfazed.

“That wasn’t nice,” I retort while brushing off a few slithers of metal from my shoulder. “My turn.”

I crack my neck to the side, and her body flies backwards in a folding position across the forested area. Trees snap, scream, and break in half before smashing to the ground as her body acts like an involuntary lumberjack leveling the wooded area.

I stalk through the falling debris very casually on my way to show her what real power is. She screams out as the blood rushes from her body, and a flicker of sanity returns as she pleads for her life.

“Please. Araya, please don’t.” Then her eyes return to their tainted blue before she says, “Do it. End it if you can, bitch!”

I tilt my head curiously, and then I hear the roaring engines surging toward us. I hear screams in the distance shouting my name in panic.

Hale. It’s Hale.

I gravitate toward the hummers barreling toward us. The sun moves into hiding, and the few streaks of warm light that had escaped through the trees, shrivel up into nothing as the orange glow blocks out the rays.

“Araya!” Hale’s voice calls, and I turn back one last time to launch the sniveling, broken girl toward the hummer.

She thuds as she lands on the hood of an idle vehicle close by, and I see Clay emerging as Hale rushes to be at my side. He grabs me up, and his lips engulf mine with fear radiating through him as his hands slide over my body.

I feel the tears he has cried in my absence trying to resurface, and I feel his heart pounding exhaustingly against his warm chest.

“Get her in the car. We need to get out of here before they come back,” Brazen yells.

My eyes flash to him, and I see his face streaked with the same anxiety Hale has suffered. I turn back to the camouflaged facility that has acted like a prison for the past few days, and I give it a little wink that forces the building to implode.

The dark fragments cloud up and shadow the orange glow cast from the sky. Debris rains down on us, and I hold my hand up to divert the falling stones, steel, and other rubble. Everyone ducks uselessly, and their eyes widen when they see how very in control I am right now.

“Fucking shit. She’s fully evolved,” Brazen murmurs in disbelief.

“Yes I am,” I murmur with a smirk. “I’ve never felt stronger in my life, and I’ve never felt like killing anyone as badly as I do Ty.”

“She’s talking as if she’s here with us… not savage,” Clay gushes while inspecting the unconscious body of his love lost.

“I had enough control not to kill her,” I growl. “You’ve got your work cut out for you. He has really fucked with her head… literally.”

“Unbelievable,” Hale mutters before pulling my lips to his again.

I smile behind the kiss, and I hear him pulling out a vial of olophine from his pocket. I pull my hand up to stop him, and he looks at me a little worried.

“If I’m like this, she can’t stop me from using my gift. If she wakes up before Clay fixes her, we could all die. I’m stronger than her like this.”

“Araya, you’re… you’re phase three. Your pupils are fully dilated. I don’t know how you’re not destroying the world as we speak, but I can’t risk losing you to your savage completely.”

“You’re talking to me as if I’m only Araya… not Savage Araya. It’s obvious you don’t fully consider me lost right now. I’m stronger this way, and I’m more in control than I’ve ever been before.”