Page 25

“Yeah, I am,” he says, voice like velvet. Then with a single sweep of his hand, a circle of fire bursts to life around me. Waist-high flames that crackle and dance like they’re alive.

“My fire won’t hurt you,” he murmurs, eyes flicking over me. “But it’ll burn everything and everyone else. Stay inside the ring, Kassira. Don’t move. I need you safe.”

I keep my mouth shut. Let him do his thing. I’ll gladly watch from my privileged position.

I nod once and let him go. Watch him walk into battle like the king he was born to be.

My legs wobble. My hands tremble. But I keep my eyes on him. I’m not going to miss a second.

Around us, the battlefield seethes. Sin is still fending off the warriors, blowing through them like a hurricane. Levi’s locked in his own brawl — pinning Amira while trying to keep two others off his back. It’s chaos. It’s carnage.

Draven looks around once and then he roars.

A sound so deep, so loud, so violent that it shakes the ground. Debris launches into the air. Trees rattle. Warriors drop to their knees instantly, heads bowed, foreheads to the dirt.

All of them. Even Levi. Even Amira. Except Sin. Of course not Sin. I don’t know why the hell that is, but one day I’ll figure it out.

Satisfied, Draven turns his gaze to the red-headed witch. She’s chanting now, fast and frantic, her hands glowing with weak crimson threads.

Neris yips inside my head, tail wagging like a maniac. “Our mate’s back, Kass! He’s really back! And he’s gonna burn that bitch.”

I sure hope so.

The witch throws a bolt of red lightning at him. He doesn’t even dodge it. Just keeps walking like she’s throwing pieces of paper. She hurls another one toward me — it hits the ring of hellfire and disintegrates on impact.

She looks terrified now. That’s right, you evil witch. Your time’s up.

My eyes flick to the side. I see poor Sinalyn slumped against a tree, chest rising slowly. I hope she’s ok. Without her, we wouldn’t be standing right now.

A surge of excitement and pure pleasure goes through me when Draven shifts into Draxis mid-step.

Without a lick of hesitation. Without breaking his stride for even one moment.

One blink, and there’s no more man. Just the monster.

The beast. Ten feet of nightmare. Wings ablaze.

Scales gleaming under his fur. Eyes molten silver.

Neris freezes, eyes fixed on him. I freeze too, watching with bated breath.

He stops a few feet from the witch and raises one clawed hand. Just a flick of the wrist.

Golden fire ignites at her feet.

She screams — high, sharp and inhuman. She tries to run. The flames follow. She tries to stamp them out. They surge higher.

They eat her alive.

I watch, eyes wide, throat dry. Her skin blackens. Then sloughs off. Her shrieks cut into the sky, and still Draxis watches calmly. Cold. Like a god judging the damned.

The stench hits me next. Burned rot. Boiled flesh. I gag and cover my mouth with my hand.

Neris doesn’t look away once. She’s watching the witch being eaten alive by hellfire like it’s a theater play.

Finally, she collapses. A twitching pile of burnt meat and ash. But Draxis doesn’t stop.

The hellfire consumes her. Her bones. Her magic. Everything. Until there’s nothing left. Not even dust.

I squeak when a man materializes in front of Draxis, cloaked in golden armor, soaked in blood, a warhammer clutched in his hand. He stands where the witch once burned, the nothing she became now a void between them.

It can’t be… That can’t be… No, no, he can’t be here!

“Aresssss,” Draxis hisses, his voice a broken growl. Shit, of course. The God of War is here. Because his daughter just died.

Ares sighs, and looks at the empty space where the witch used to be, seeming unbothered. “Did you really have to burn her soul, too?”

Draxis lifts a single talon and flames start building back up, violent and alive, heat thickening the air. The fire builds fast and Ares takes a sharp step back, instinct flaring. Then the mad bastard laughs. Head thrown back, chest shaking.

“Come on now,” Ares says, all smug ease and slick charm. “You know how it is — love and war, no rules.” He flashes Draxis a grin like they’re old friends meeting for drinks instead of standing over the ashes of his dead daughter.

Draxis growls low in his throat. The sound is pure warning. He’s not amused.

Ares raises his hands in mock surrender.

“Alright, alright. Believe it or not…” He clears his throat, a flicker of discomfort passing over his face.

“I may have… forgotten about this little plan of mine. Thanatos clued me in on what was going down.” His gaze flicks to the scorched earth between them.

“I actually came to stop it before things got out of hand. But,” he shrugs, jaw ticking, “looks like I was too late.”

Draxis narrows his eyes, clearly not believing him and sends another burst of hellfire at the god. Ares’ previously charming smile instantly twists into something ugly and cruel. His red eyes flash with hunger for battle. I swear the world holds its breath.

“Hellhound,” Ares sneers, cracking his neck, warhammer glinting in the moonlight. “You’re not even a god. You’re a weapon that forgot its place. Be careful of your next step.”

Draxis doesn’t answer. He growls, a low sound that starts deep in his chest and ripples through the ground beneath my feet. Fire bursts in twin trails down his spine, smoke rising from where the talons on his feet curl into the earth.

And then he lunges.

Faster than thought, he’s on Ares, jaw snapping for the god’s throat.

But Ares twists, swings his warhammer in a brutal arc.

It slams into Draxis’s ribs with a crack that shatters trees in the distance.

Draxis roars, wings of fire flaring wide, and uses the momentum to slam his talons into Ares’ side. Sparks explode as metal meets bone.

They collide again, like storms clashing, the sound louder than thunder.

Ares slams a fist into Draxis’s face, sending him crashing into a stone pillar. I scream, heart clawing up my throat. The pillar crumbles around Draxis, but before the dust even settles, he is up, charging through the rubble, his eyes glowing silver, his fury almost a living thing.

He tackles the god into the ground with unbelievable speed.

Claws sink into golden armor. Metal bends. Blood pours. Ares laughs like a crazy person.

“You think rage makes you strong?” he snarls, twisting beneath Draxis, driving his elbow into his throat. “I am rage made flesh.”

Draxis howls, a sound that fractures the air. He bites down on Ares’ shoulder, fangs sinking deep enough to pierce muscle. Ares stops laughing. He’s screaming now.

But he doesn’t stay down. He channels his power, his body glowing with a radiant, red pulse. It blasts Draxis off him, flinging him through the air like a ragdoll. He crashes into a huge marble statue, wings trailing sparks.

“Kneel!” Ares roars, his warhammer spinning in his grip, red fire spiraling up the shaft.

Draxis gets up and steps forward, blood staining the dirt. His body shakes.

“I said kneel!”

Draxis lifts his head. His voice, when it comes, is low. Raw.

“Only forrr maattteee,” he growls and then he launches himself at the god.

They clash again.

Ares laughs — until Draxis carves through his armor, blood splattering the dirt.

Until my magnificent hellhound shoves one hand against the god’s chest — and burns.

Hellfire ignites.

The battlefield turns white-hot. Ares screams, flames curling around his body, licking at his flesh.

His golden armour melts. Holy shit. My mate is melting a god!

Draxis slams Ares down, fangs bared.

“Forrr my mattteeee,” he snarls, voice shaking the skies. “Forrr everrry scrrream of herrrss. Forrr everrry tearrr. Forrrr the chainsss you helped forrrge.” The words are broken, cracked, but they’re clear. And they make my heart soar.

He opens his jaws wide, hellfire glowing inside his throat, and lets it erupt.

Ares is engulfed.

When the fire fades, the god lies broken, scorched into the earth. The next second, he’s gone. Disappears.

And Draxis — bloody and furious — lifts his head to the sky and howls.

A war cry. A promise. If the god ever comes back, he won’t be able to leave again.

"Wow." The whisper comes from my right and nearly sends me flying out of my own skin. I whip around, heart in my throat.

Sin stands next to me, cradling an unconscious Sinalyn in his arms. His eyes are locked on Draxis, reverence painted across every inch of his face.

“When the hell did you get here?” I hiss, still clutching my chest.

He tears his gaze away from Draxis just long enough to glance at me. “A while ago,” he says, as if that explains anything, then turns on his heel and walks off, carrying his mate like she weighs nothing.

I barely have time to breathe before another voice cuts through the air.

"I’m here, too." Levi. I spin, nerves shot. I’m going to strangle the next person who sneaks up on me.

He stands behind me, looking completely unfazed, holding a very bloody, very broken Amira by the arm. Her head is bowed, her posture trembling. She’s barely conscious, barely upright.

“She’s still alive?” I ask, blinking in surprise.

He shrugs, unbothered. “It’s the King and Queen’s place to punish her.”

“I agree with him!” Neris chirps, her tail swishing. “I’ve already got a few fun ideas!”

Her giddiness makes me chuckle.

The flames encircling me begin to flicker and die, retreating into nothing.

I turn and see Draxis walking toward me, power and purpose in every step.

He shifts mid-stride, the transformation smooth, instinctive, as natural to him now as breathing.

After all the trouble we’ve gone through with trying to make him shift, he’s doing it now like he’s done it his entire life.

His body gleams with strength, not a single scratch left behind.

My heart cracks wide open.

I don’t wait for him to reach me. I run straight into his arms.

He doesn’t hesitate, he lifts me off the ground in an instant, burying his face in the crook of my neck, his strong arms holding me tightly.

His voice rumbles against my skin as he shifts me slightly in his hold, peering over my shoulder. “The dungeon,” he commands. “We’ll deal with her later.”

And then his fiery wings blaze to life — black bone laced in living hellfire, the flames dancing along the edges like they were born to kiss the sky. I lean into him and he takes off through the air.