I open my eyes and look up at the guys, understanding lighting up my eyes.
I know what to do.
Pain slams through my abdomen, and I gasp and look down to see Lazza shoving a dagger into my stomach. I hear the roar of my mates just as I see Lazza slowly flip over, another dagger in his other hand headed directly for my head.
I grunt against the sharp metal in my stomach and immediately get pissed with myself. I fucking knew this asshole would pull something like this, and still I kneeled down next to him and just sat here, giving his fake unconscious ass plenty of time to plan his next move.
Amateur move, Falon! You’d think it was my first war or something.
Lazza’s dagger gets closer to my face, and I pull on my source of magic and let it overtake my entire body, including my voice.
“Stop,” I order, shoving my magic and my will at Lazza like a bitch-slap of authority that will not be argued with.
He freezes mid swipe, and time picks back up as I hold a purple glowing hand up to the guys to keep them away. I have Lazza now, and I don’t want to take any chances that their interference will fuck with anything.
Lazza’s eyes fill with fear, and I didn’t even give him my practiced smile yet. I leave his dagger in my stomach even though it hurts. I’ve watched enough Grey’s Anatomy to know you don’t pull shit out of you unless there’s someone there to deal with the internal injuries.
Slowly I reach out for Lazza’s neck again, not because I technically need to, but because it makes me feel like a dominant bitch. I blame all those years I thought I was a wolf.
“You can’t,” Lazza tells me between clenched teeth as I lean into him.
“This is the reclamation, Lazza. But don’t worry, you won’t live to see the other side of it.”
I don’t give him time to respond. I may have pulled a rookie move and gotten myself stabbed, but I’m not going to monologue uselessly and give anyone time to fuck with what’s about to happen.
“I unbind this rune and all the magic in it. I demand that this mark cease to exist and crumble to dust, never to be used against anyone again,” I order, magic pouring out of my mouth, coating the words that I’m speaking, and sinking into Lazza one spark and flicker of power at a time.
Lazza starts to pant, and I wait until his aqua gaze once again focuses on my hard lavender stare.
“So I fucking will it, so it is fucking done,” I growl, and just as I feel the rune crumble to nothing under my palm, I call on a swoosh blade and shove it up through Lazza’s chin until it comes out of the top of his head.
I let go of the blade and the back of Lazza’s neck, and he falls away from me. Lazza’s dagger in my stomach disappears, and just when I think it’s all over, power slams into me like a lightning bolt. I’m hit by the magic that was in the Vow marks as they crumble to nothing on the thousands of gryphons who wore them. The magic forces its way to my center and lights me up as it tries to settle in my too small body.
I scream as it sears itself into all that I am again, and try to breathe through the pain that’s pumping in my veins. I feel Pigeon wake up inside of me, and we wrap around each other as we try to withstand the tsunami of agony.
I know I promised myself I would stop letting my body shut down, but I decide exceptions to every rule are a good thing as blackness begins to overtake my consciousness. I wave it over and treat it like an old friend, surrendering freely to the oblivion being offered. The pain starts to fade, and I give the bleak darkness two enthusiastic thumbs up as it swaddles me completely, and I pass the fuck out.
23
I groan as I come to. Wherever I am is quiet, but I know it will be safe, which is an unusual feeling for me to have in this world. I stretch out, feeling oddly rejuvenated, and realize I’m dressed. For some reason, that alarms me, and I open my eyes immediately and snap up.
“What the fuck?” I grumble, my voice gravelly.
“Whoa, what happened?” Ryn demands as he rushes over and crouches down next to the cot I’m now sitting up in.
“Why am I dressed?” I ask, confused, but that just seems to make Ryn even more confused. “I never wake up dressed. It’s freaking me the fuck out. Is Zeph okay? Treno? You?”
I look around, and I’m once again in a tent, but there’s nothing in here except me, Ryn, and the cot I’m lying on.
Ryn’s worried eyes warm, and he releases a relieved exhale. “Zeph said we should get you cleaned up, but the bath and water are still on their way. You woke up sooner than we thought you would,” he explains. “Zeph and Treno are fine. They’d be here, but they had to intervene between the fighting that was still going on. They’ll come back as soon as they can.”
I release my own deep breath and let the tension sluff off my shoulders. “Where are we?”
“We’re about a day’s fly from the Eyrie. We’re working on getting a temporary camp set up here while we try to smooth tensions over. Cree and her people have been bringing in and setting up tents.” He gestures to our current surroundings.
I give them one last look and then focus on where Zeph and Treno are.
“Fighting, huh?” I ask, and Ryn’s face grows solemn as he nods.
“Looks like getting rid of the Vow might have been the easy part. Bringing the Gryphons back together after
