Chapter 115

Chapter 115
Darren

I braced myself for impact, preparing to launch myself at the beast and go for its neck. The gargoyle slammed into me, stone claws flashing. I braced for the razoring pain, the crunch of bone, the tearing of skin. Instead, there was a jolt—like grabbing a live wire, but deeper. The shock ripped through every nerve in my body, a white-blue blast that snapped my head back. The thing’s hands clamped around my throat, stone fingers digging in. Its eyes were featureless, just glassy pits that burned with a cold, alien hunger. I could see myself reflected in them, teeth bared, lips peeled back in a snarl. Every instinct told me to phase, to let the beast take over, to meet power with power. But the lightning inside me was too wild. It made shifting impossible. My body wouldn’t listen.

I tried to thrash, tried to wrench free, but the thing was immovable. Like wrestling a mountain. I could hear the others, James, the rest of the pack, scrambling to regroup, but they were as useless as I was. The gargoyle just held me, squeezing, squeezing.

And then I felt the pulse of the mate bond. It was like a hot tidal wave came over me. Ally. She was reaching for me, through the pain, through the time-stretched hell of this place. Her power was in the storm, in the static that filled the air. She was the storm. She was the surge. She was calling me home. I stopped fighting the gargoyle. Instead, I reached for the electricity. I let it burn, let it fill my veins, let it do whatever it needed. The agony changed. It became something else. It settled inside of me and woke up my hidden mate gift.

The blue-white charge pulsed under my skin, raising every hair on my arms. My chest felt like it was going to explode. The mate bond was a conduit, feeding me more and more until I was sure I’d fly apart. But I didn’t. I held it together, teeth gritted, lungs locked.

The gargoyle seemed to sense the change. Its grip faltered, just a fraction, but enough. I drove my knee up, catching the beast in its granite gut. It didn’t react, didn’t grunt or flinch, but the force broke its hold. I stumbled back, coughing, and watched as sparks jumped between my fingers … literal lightning, flickering blue arcs that crackled from my knuckles.

The creature cocked its head, watching. Waiting. Oddly, it was as if this was the response he expected from me. I stood straight and let the electricity gather, let the blue fire dance up my arms. The mate bond poured through me, a current I finally understood. Not a leash, not a chain, but a circuit. Complete only with her. With us.

The gargoyle charged. I met it head-on.

It swung for my face. I ducked, electricity trailing from my hair in a corona of blue. I slammed both fists into its chest, and the lightning leapt from me to it, a direct, blinding arc. The impact was seismic. The stone torso exploded in a cloud of dust and fractured shards. The force knocked the thing back, wings flaring wide to catch its balance. And I swear it grinned!

The cavern filled with the thunderclap of each hit, echoes overlapping until the air itself seemed to tear apart. The other lycans circled, watching the fight. The gargoyle reeled, cracks snaking through its arms and legs. It staggered, wings drooping. I closed the distance, wrapped my hands around its throat, the same way it had done to me, and unleashed everything.

The blue fire erupted, blinding. The mate bond screamed through me, a chorus of rage, love, pain, and promise. The gargoyle convulsed, stone flaking away in massive sheets. Its arms went limp. I squeezed harder, feeling the resistance give, feeling the rock crumble.

With a final surge, the creature grinned and then shattered. It fell to the ground in a heap of dust and broken wings, motionless. The echo of the strike rattled the cave, bringing down a rain of pebbles from the ceiling.

I let go, staggered back, and fell to my knees. The silence that followed was total. The others gathered around, eyes huge. No one said a word.

I looked at my hands. They were scorched, skin blackened in places, but already healing. Blue sparks still danced across my fingertips, playful, almost gentle now. Controlled.

I felt the mate bond settle, a steady thrum in my chest. Ally had protected me. She reached for me and reminded me of my own strength.

James crouched next to me, face pale. “You okay?” he whispered.

I nodded, voice gone. “Better than okay,” I managed. “We’re not finished.”

He looked at the wreckage of the gargoyle, then at the golden arch. “That thing was a test, wasn’t it?”

“Everything in this place is a test,” I let out a breath, forcing myself to stand. “But we passed.”

“You passed.” An eerie voice echoed off the walls as I watched in horror as the stone shards collected themselves to form a gigantic mass. Within seconds, the gargoyle stood before us again.

The gargoyle’s eyes glowed as it shifted on its feet. A deep growl came from its throat as a green glow emerged. Suddenly, it shot green goo onto all the surrounding lycans, including James. The substance was thick, and it held them in place. Before I could react, it pointed at me.

“You can go.”

I blink at the creature and then back at Ally’s father. “I’m not leaving him.”

“He is not your trial. His release is pending another’s. You have passed.” He moved to the side and pointed to the arch behind him. It began to glow with silver and blue swirls. “Go.”

“I can’t leave them—”

“You can’t leave with them,” it grumbled as it pulled a large stone from the side and punched it into a chair. I watched as it sat down, making itself more comfortable. It looked at me with glowing eyes. “They still have a chance. They just need her.”

“Who?”

“Evette.”

I turned to see James staring hopefully at the gargoyle. “She’s dead.” I looked back at the gargoyle, who seemed to nod at James. “Wait … Evette is alive? Allissa’s mother’s alive?!”

“Time is wasting, lycan. Every second here … how long is it? How long are you making her wait?”

I glanced back at James, who looked content. He gave me a smile as the goo dripped off of his body. The moment he accepted his fate the substance that held him melted into a puddle.He walked over to me and placed the pocket watch in my hands. “Go and take care of my daughter. And make sure this gets to the right place.” He nodded at the watch.

I thought for a moment and then remembered the waterfall. The place where the watch was calling me to take it. That had to be it.

“I’ll tell Ally you’re here. We will get this watch to the right place. I hope I’ll see you again soon.” I went to say more but his hand was already nudging my shoulder forward.

“Hurry! Don’t waste any more time!”

I nodded my head and then didn’t hesitate. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t save them. This was something the gods set up. That much was obvious. But I could save Ally. She needed me. How long was I gone? Was the baby already born?! There wasn’t a second to lose. I set my jaw and sprinted to the portal. Jumping into the unknown, concentrating on Ally and following the thread that connected us together.