I pointed to Gabriel's swords and snapped my finger. They vanished. He eyed me with interest. His hungry glare made me falter.
“Aylin, let me go.” Connor forced out each word.
“Promise to behave.” My voice rang teasingly, but I was far from relaxed. With a wave of my hand, Connor fell forward.
He stood, dusting sooty snow off his pants. “How'd you do that?”
I didn't respond. Even now, the black tendrils wove together to protect their master from my onslaught. The tighter the filter grew, the more sweat beaded my face. My ability to hold down Gabriel was failing, weakening.
Connor touched my uninjured shoulder, which twitched. We need to extract the char.
Our bond reunited. The sensation intoxicated me. Together, we called to the tendrils like a lover. Each black strand unraveled and slithered from Gabriel.
“No!” He grabbed hold of the strands, pulling them back to him.
Like a toy caught in the jaws of two dogs, the chars snapped. Gabriel absorbed half and the rest ignited like brittle kindling. The dying embers sprinkled the white-capped ashes of my house.
“You will pay.” Gabriel forged several fireballs and threw them at us with abandon.
Connor waved his hands, extinguishing them before they hit their marks, but he missed one that clipped my wound.
I yelped, and formed my own flaming ball. Whereas Gabriel's were many and tinged with power, mine was one huge orb of molten lava. I tossed it, guiding it with my power until it slammed into his stomach.
He doubled over with pain as the lava coated him from the stomach down. His screech pierced the air, and wolves howled in the distance.
Backup was on the way. Thank goodness!
Even as Gabriel rose from the lava burning his flesh, he launched another fireball. This one aimed at Connor.
I snapped my fingers. The ball vanished. But it had been a decoy. A much faster, larger orb raced toward my heart. I tried to concentrate, but couldn't respond quick enough.
The fire barreled into my chest. Waves of bluish-black flames engulfed my body.
I gasped for breath, clawing at my throat.
“Noooo...” Connor's agonizing words faded as I passed out.
Chapter Eighteen
Connor
Wolves howled, but the blood rushing in my ears muffled their mournful cries. Aylin collapsed to the ground, her hands clutching her throat as if she couldn't breathe. The agony of her pain splashed through our bond like a geyser bursting for the first time in a decade. It was quick, painful, then gone.
I stumbled to the ground, reaching for her, and cried for the woman I loved. My throat constricted. I couldn't form the words I needed. The ones that would comfort her as she dealt with the agony of whatever Gabriel had done to her. I placed my hand upon hers, expecting it to be cold, but it was warm and heating by the second. The fire within her must be fighting the orb trying to choke her.
Gabriel sneered with a glorified smirk that said 'I finally won.'
But he was wrong. So wrong. I stomped down my initial shock and anger with something more lethal. Revenge. My vision blurred red with it.
Aylin's power, our power, absorbed and smothered the fire ball. As she rose from the ground, her power blossomed, matured into something new. Something that was uniquely ours and flowed freely through our imprint.
I grinned at Gabriel with my own devilish smirk. “Think again, bastard.”
His disbelieving eyes took in my soul mate and he gaped. “No. No. No.”
My Aylin. She was beautiful. Her skin was incandescent. Like the phoenix, she rose from the ashes. I wrapped my arm around her waist and she returned to stand beside me, united. We would fight Gabriel together, but I wouldn't let her take another hit. I gritted my teeth. Even if the affliction had only lasted for a second, her agony sliced through my heart the same way his sword had sliced open her shoulder. I couldn't, wouldn't, let her suffer by any means.
“That hurt!” Her voice carried through the air like a gust of wind.
“You'll pay. You all will pay!” Gabriel growled.
“You think you are so much better than us. Smarter than us.” Aylin formed a fireball so intense that I squinted to shield my eyes from the pain. Black smoke drifted skyward.
Despite the heat, she molded the burning orb until it tripled in size. It illuminated the entire area. The smoke thickened. The increased heat burned my skin, but the crisp air cooled me enough so I still held onto Aylin.
“You can't stop me with that.”
Aylin appeared deaf to Gabriel's taunt. Her confidence pulsated through our bond. She was in her zone and, thankfully, I was with her.
The crackle of ice-covered snow crumpling under the heavy thud of paws drew my attention from Gabriel's evil glare. The lead wolf jumped through the air, snarling, transitioning from leaping wolf to growling man before he landed.
Soon, the rest of the pack joined him, forming a vast protective circle around us and Gabriel. Allowing us to seek justice in any way we saw fit. The pack allowed Aylin and me to be judge and jury, and they would support our decision because Gabriel had done so much harm.
Aylin held onto the orb like a lifeline.
“Honey,” I whispered to her. My skin tingled with the ball's heat, and the acrid smoke burned my lungs. I switched to our internal communication. Do you think this will work?
I got this. Her back straightened.
Our telepathic ability still amazed me, but I was grateful for such a close connection. Our soulbond, no doubt.
Her head shifted slightly. I mimicked the movement and saw what she saw. Luna stood behind Gabriel. Her platinum hair and slight stature made her look like an elf, but her eyes held my attention. Where before they had been a brilliant gray, now, they were a shiny silver. The moonstones of her necklace radiated the same silvery hue.
If I had doubted her power before, I didn't anymore. Aylin's power glowed a fiery red and demanded to be heard;
