157. Protect me

157. Protect me
ALLISON.

Quinn was already there, clutching Sullivan’s twitching form, tears streaming down her face. Celestine ignored me. She took a slow step forward, tilting her head as if considering something.

“He is at my mercy now. And I can make this agony last for as long as I want.” Her lips curled into a ruthless grin.

She lifted her hand and curled her fingers into a fist, tugging to some invisible strings in the air. Sullivan screamed. His body arched, his hands clutching at his chest as if something were ripping him apart from the inside. It broke me to see him like this.

Quinn sobbed, tightening her hold on him. “Stop it! Please, stop!”

But Celestine wasn’t done. She turned her piercing gaze to me.

“Come with me, Allison. Do that, and I will end his suffering.” Her voice was almost gentle now, coaxing.

I shook my head, my entire body trembling. I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe that I could save him. For the past few days, that was what I have been clinging to. I thought I could save Sullivan my way. But I now, I realized the truth. The only way to free him from this misery was the very thing he had begged me to do.

My fingers tightened around the silver dagger hidden at my belt. I had wished for more time. I had wished for another way. But there was none.

“I love you, Sullivan,” I whispered.

Then I plunged the dagger into his heart.

Celestine’s scream split the air. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”

Quinn stilled, her body frozen as she clutched Sullivan’s convulsing form. Blood spilled from his lips, his body jerking once… twice… before he fell still.

I didn’t let go of the dagger. I pressed it further into his chest, as if that would make this quicker, as if I could somehow lessen his pain.

Sullivan’s breath came in short gasps, his vision hazy, but when he looked at me, he smiled.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Then his eyes closed, and he was gone. I killed my brother… just like what he had wanted.

My fingers trembled as I stared at my brother’s lifeless body. Strangely, his face looked peaceful. Quinn was crying beside him, burying her face in his chest as her shoulders shook.

“You! You miserable, ungrateful little wretch! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!” Celestine shrieked, her voice wild with hysteria.

I slowly turned to face her. Her face twisted in fury, and in one sharp movement, she raised both hands above her head. The undead army comprised of the masked guards, the decayed werewolf corpses, the vampires with rotting skin suddenly let out a guttural roar in unison as they charged at us.

It was like a flood of death itself rushing toward me.

Before I could react, four massive wolves leaped in front of me, growling savagely. When I stabbed Sullivan, the circle of flames that trapped them earlier had disappeared which freed them. Now, Liam, Mason, River, and Wesley—with their furs caked with blood—battled the wave of the undead.

Daniel, now in his human form, swept Amaris into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest. “I’ll keep her safe,” he said as the chaos erupt around us.

“I’ll make you pay for this, Allison. I’ll make sure to get what I want, even after all this.” Celestine screamed, her voice dripping with venom. “If I can’t get your heart, then I will take Sullivan’s and you will take his place.”

Something inside me twisted. Celestine took a slow step forward, her voice dripping with malice.

“And once I’ve turned you into my new weapon, I will slowly destroy everyone you love, one by one. Right in front of your eyes. Until nothing else remains but the broken pieces of the life you once thought you’d have.”

Her words tipped the scale of sanity within me. I saw the five of them fighting to protect me. I saw Quinn clutching Sullivan’s lifeless body, her tears staining the blood-soaked ground. I saw Amaris, my daughter, helpless in Daniel’s arms. And Celestine was going to take them all. It was too much.

No.

A slow, molten heat spread through my body. It started in my chest, crawling down my arms, my legs, coiling around my throat. It was like grief had found its way to me only to transform into an uglier form, poisoning every sane thought that I have.

No.

Celestine’s face blurred as my vision burned gold.

NO.

The explosion of power erupted from my body like a shockwave. My skin cracked open, but instead of bleeding, shimmering metal-like scales burst forth, coating my arms, legs, and neck. My nails elongated into curved, dagger-like talons. The strange tattoo-like markings in a language I still barely understood, appeared back on the skin that wasn’t covered with scaled. They glowed in raging golden fonts, stretching across my body as if they were alive.

In that moment, I was no longer myself. I was just a person overwhelmed by grief and the possibility of losing everyone that meant so much to me. It was too much.

I hated Celestine, hated how she ruined my family then, and planned to ruin it again now. Every fiber of my being exploded in desperate need to destroy her and everything related to her.

A feral roar tore from my throat. Everything inside me burned. And I wanted to burn everything.

I lunged.

Flames exploded from my body, consuming the first wave of undead in an instant. The masked guards turned to ash before they could even scream. The vampire corpses withered and crumbled. Even the werewolf corpses, with their thick furs, melted into nothing.

The fire spread to the grass, the trees, the battlefield, and everything in it. Everything ignited in a hellish inferno. Celestine’s face twisted in horror. She turned to run. I was faster. I grabbed her by her long black hair, yanking her back so hard she let out a choked gasp. Then I spun her around and slammed my burning claws into her stomach.
Her shriek was inhuman.

“GET AWAY—!”

The flames crawled up her body before she could finish her words. My flames consumed her from the inside out. Her flesh blackened, cracking open as molten fire dripped from her eyes, her mouth, her fingertips.

She tried to speak. Maybe to beg. Maybe to curse me one last time. I didn’t care. I watched as the flames devoured her. I watched until there was nothing left. And yet, the rage still boiled in my veins. My flames spread, swallowing everything in sight. The undead were gone, but I didn’t stop. It didn’t satisfy my thirst for blood.

I wanted to destroy. To kill. To annihilate.

The world blurred into flames and death. I burned everything in sight. Everything moving deserved to die. I couldn’t stop. I was too far gone….