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Serenity drops into the defensive stance I drilled into her, knees bent, weight balanced on the balls of her feet. As Sybil’s first spell streaks toward her, Serenity pivots sideways, allowing the attack to shatter harmlessly against the stone wall behind her.

"Good," I mutter, even as I duck a falling chunk of ceiling. Around us, freed paranormals scramble toward the exits, their panicked screams echoing through the collapsing chamber.

Sybil snarls in frustration. "Stand still, little witch!"

"Not really my style." Serenity springs back to her feet, her breath fogging in the sudden cold as she launches a counterattack. But instead of wild, uncontrolled bursts, her magic moves with focus—short, sharp strikes designed to keep Sybil at a distance while conserving energy.

I move to flank Sybil from the left, but a vampire crashes into me, fleeing toward the tunnels in blind terror. By the time I regain my footing, Sybil has closed the distance between herself and Serenity.

"You think those pathetic little combat tricks will save you?" Sybil twines metallic threads between her fingers, each one sharp enough to cut through bone. "I've been killing witches since I was a teen."

Serenity sidesteps the razor-wire spell and slashes her athame toward Sybil's ribs—a lethal adaptation from our training sessions. But Sybil is faster than the practice dummies we used, twisting away and raking her nails across Serenity's shoulder hard enough to spill blood.

"You’re too predictable!" Sybil mocks, her eyes flashing. "Did you forget I have your entire combat profile? I've memorized every magical signature and defensive reflex you documented in those stolen files!"

"Darius, look out!" Kellan's shout cuts through the chaos as another section of wall crumbles. "We've got company!"

Three more coven members pour through the rubble, their ceremonial masks gleaming in the unstable light. I shift partially, claws extending as I tear through the first attacker's throat, but the distraction costs me precious seconds.

When I turn back, Sybil has Serenity pinned against a cracked pillar, magic coiled around her throat like a noose.

"Did you really think you could steal what belongs to us?" Sybil's question drips venom as she bears down the magical restraint. "The entity chose you as its vessel, little Crowe. Fighting that destiny will only make your death more painful."

Serenity claws at the threads, her face turning blue as they constrict. "Go... to hell."

"After you, darling."

The killing blow comes fast—a spike of crystallized magic aimed directly at Serenity's heart.

A roar tears from my chest.

I hit Sybil, my full mass slamming her into the stone wall, striking hard enough to fracture her ribs. The restraints around Serenity's throat dissolve as Sybil loses concentration, gasping for air.

"You want to play with magic?" The furious inquiry rips past my teeth, rough and barely human, as my claws pierce through Sybil's white dress and into the flesh beneath. "Touch her again and I'll make sure they never find the pieces."

Sybil tries to cast another spell, but I'm faster. My claws find her throat, and I tear it out in one savage motion.

She collapses in a pool of blood, those eyes wide with genuine surprise—as though she never truly believed the wolf would choose raw violence.

Standing over her body with my chest heaving and claws dripping, my bloodied fingers locate the familiar shape of Serenity's waterproof evidence case within the folds of her ruined white dress. I yank it free to tuck it safely into my vest. The silence after her last breath swallows the chamber whole.

Serenity staggers out onto the chamber's open floor, where the entity's power writhes in the air. "Do it now while it's distracted," she whispers, raising her hands toward the writhing mass of cosmic energy.

Bright light erupts from her palms—but instead of pushing outward like her magic always has, she inhales. The moonish energy resists and strains against her like a massive animal caught in a net, but Serenity digs her heels into the cracked stone and hauls her stolen magical sovereignty toward herself with everything she has.

Through our bond, I feel the crushing magnitude of it slam into her as she violently severs the entity's tether to her body. The sheer force of it staggers me, and my knees buckle before I force myself upright. The entity's rage floods through the connection, scalding every nerve, but I keep my footing secure and refuse to let go.

Serenity's crescent tattoos blaze so bright they burn afterimages into my vision. Her mouth opens in a soundless scream as she rips her power back from the entity's grip, a metaphysical amputation so violent that the backlash cracks the chamber walls wider, spilling crimson moonlight across the ritual floor.

This is only the beginning. And the hardest part hasn't even started.

33

SERENITY

The entity's power tears through me, each thrum threatening to shatter my bones from the inside. My tattoos burn bright enough to sear my skin, and the taste of copper floods my mouth as blood drips from my nose.

"The ceiling—" I gasp as massive chunks of stone crash down where Kellan and the others were standing seconds before.