Chapter 174 Shockwave
Lucian
Alexis fought at my back as we pushed through the horde, her training evident in every precise strike. My blades were extensions of my hands, moving before thought. For every hybrid we dropped, two more stepped into the space he left.
Then we felt it—a brief hesitation in the horde where movements weren’t quite syncing up. Our unit was able to push hard, bringing down more than a dozen of the enemy. One of the hybrids near me froze mid-strike, as if something inside him was resisting. Then his face went back to the eerie blankness, and he jumped back into the battle.
Elaine was behind us, her coven spread out with her, as she called orders. I could see a dark cloud above us, and she chanted, light spearing from her fingertips to meet it. The air danced.
Alexis spun against me, a hybrid falling just past her as he overreached, and she brought her heel down on the back of his head with a gruesome crunch. I sliced at the one that followed, cutting through his neck in one smooth move.
“They’re getting coordinated again,” she panted.
“I know. We need to find whatever—or whoever—is controlling them.”
She blocked another blow aimed at her face, lashing out with her own, then backed up against me again. “You think someone is controlling them?”
“Look at them. They’re too in sync for it to be otherwise. It’s almost like they’re part of a hive mind.” Another slash, another spray of blood.
“Okay. Let’s find the controller, then,” she said, as if it were simple. I chuckled even as I sent my blade through a charging hybrid’s chest. This woman was made for me.
We stayed back to back, scanning our surroundings. I briefly felt for my bond with Seren. Even though I knew she was with Duncan and Gideon, and that Tristan and Blake were right there with them, I needed to make sure she was okay. I felt determination and anger, but no pain, and was satisfied she was good for now.
There was movement against the treeline just on the other side of the field. A group of hybrids stood surrounding a man. I pointed it out to Alexis.
“How much do you want to bet?” she yelled.
“Sucker’s bet. Come on, let’s go!”
We ran, fighting our way through the crowd, pushing forward to get to them. As we got closer, I heard Alexis hiss, “Brian.”
Duncan was right. He must have joined Mikhail after he failed to keep Seren captive, which means that at least some of these hybrids are former Silver Rain pack members.
We cleared our way to the group of hybrids in front of him. I threw up a shield of air, blocking anyone from reaching us—and Brian from escaping—as Alexis and I worked in tandem to clear out his guard dogs. Finally, we stood in front of him, blood dripping from my blades and bodies at my feet.
He looked from me to Alexis, recognition sparking in his eyes when he saw her. He smirked. “I knew you’d be magnificent,” he praised her.
She spat at his feet, and the air chilled around us. “I told you that you would not break me.”
Hybrids formed a circle around us, fighting to get through the wall of air I’d erected and failing. Hybrids slammed into the invisible wall and rebounded, snarling and clawing, but none could reach us.
His eyes flicked from her to me, then to the soldiers who couldn’t reach him. They turned calculating. “Imagine how much more powerful you’d be as a hybrid, pretty Alexis. I can give you that power.”
Iason snarled, the sound bursting from my lips. Brian chuckled. “Relax, Gamma. I’m just calling it like I see it, and your mate is beautiful.”
‘He’s trying to rile you, love. Don’t let him,’ Alexis’s voice in my head was soft, a moment of calm and clarity. I sneered at the waste of an Alpha in front of me. “You’re right. MY mate is beautiful.” Then I shrugged, as if I didn’t have a care in the world.
His face fell for a moment, not having gotten what he wanted. He shook it off and went back to cajoling Alexis. “Think about it. The strength, the speed. You’d be so much more than you are now.”
She shook her head. “You never understood true power, Brian.” Anger flashed in his eyes at her lack of honorific. “You thought power was controlling lives, playing with them at your leisure.” She advanced on him. “True power is understanding each life has meaning. Has a purpose. And mine? It’s ending you.”
The wind died. Not slowed—died. The air between us went thin and sharp, like the edge of a blade. He opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out. Instead, he clawed at his throat, his eyes going wide as he tried to inhale but couldn’t. She took another step forward. He fell to his knees in front of her.
She tilted her head. “Strange,” she said quietly. “It’s almost like something’s being taken from you.” She held her hand out, the air symbol on her forearm in full display as she closed her fist. “You traded lives for coin. You reduced your females to toys you could fuck. You abused your power. This is your reckoning.” She brought her hand down, and the pressure around us changed.
Brian collapsed flat on the ground, no longer clawing at his throat. Understanding dawned on his face—too late. He gripped his head, blood flowing from his nose and ears. His eyes went red as capillaries ruptured beneath the surface. She held the pressure there until he stopped struggling, then held it for a beat longer. When she released it, the air around us returned to normal, and he lay on the ground, bloody eyes sightless and still in death.
His death didn’t echo. It detonated—a shockwave tearing outward through every hybrid tied to him. Their coordination fell apart once more. Their movements grew sluggish; some looked around with confusion in their eyes. I dropped my shield, and we fought through them, working to get back to the main part of the field. I looked over to my right and saw one of the hybrids attacking another, ripping his head clean off before moving to the next.
I heard a roar across the field and looked over. As I watched, Duncan tore Tobias’s head free and hurled it across the battlefield. It bounced once before rolling to a stop.
I scanned the crowd and saw even more hybrids turning to our side before I felt it. A pulse pushed out through the crowd, black and oily, and once again the hybrids synced, their eyes going blank.
I turned, my eyes meeting Alexis’s. She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not over yet.”
The air thickened. My power recoiled inside me, as if something older had just claimed the space.
The shadows at the treeline deepened—not cast by light, but pulling inward. Hybrids retreated in unison, forming a wall. They were lining up shoulder to shoulder, beginning at the treeline, and stood with their heads bowed. The sounds of fighting died down as we all felt the presence of someone powerful entering the field. I could just barely see a head of black hair gliding leisurely past the hybrids. He didn’t hurry. He didn’t look around at the bodies strewn across the field. He simply walked, coming to stand in front of Duncan and whoever else was with him.
“That must be him,” Alexis said quietly. She didn’t need to say his name. It could only be one person.
Every instinct in me screamed to run, and he hadn’t even lifted a hand yet.