Bound Book 2

Chapter 59 - The End

Dmitri

"Trust me." The words linger in my mind. Words coming from Sky that only I could hear as she fell backward into the darkness of the cliff edge.

My Lycan howls out in pain, the only sound in the forest besides some shouting and the sound of footsteps hitting the ground behind me.

Raina must have found a way through the barrier keeping them out. They burst through the clearing next to me, Mira gasping when she sees Gael on the other side of the clearing.

He is still in this weird skeletal form, the animosity flowing off him, saturating the space between us.

This was his fault. My Lycan sees red, rage consuming me and causing my muscles to pop out as they expand, the creature I have become bigger than ever before.

Gael anticipates my charge, his stance stiff as my beast lunges, barely missing his neck as he pushes me off to the side. He is strong. Stronger than I anticipated.

Righting myself, I pounce again, my claws digging into his bones and latching onto his cloak-covered arm. A burst of black energy throws me back, my body hitting a tree with a painful thud as my vision blurs. Ally runs towards me, helping my beast up as I shake my head, clearing the fogginess. A blur passes me, and then I see Gael being flung back as Andrea punches him hard in his skeleton face. He recovers quickly, getting back up just as Andrea moves to strike again. But as fast as he is, Geal stops him in his tracks, his hand around Andreas' throat squeezing so hard that Andrea starts wheezing as his windpipe is crushed.

A burst of light coming from Rain hits Gael in the chest, just what is needed for his grip to loosen on Andreas' throat as I pounce forward, knocking Andrea out of the way. Mira comes running, pulling Andrea to safety while his healing kicks in, his hand cradling his neck as it repairs itself.

"We need to separate him for the whip," Raina shouts, running towards me as we make a stand against Gael, who is slowly coming towards us, the whip gripped in his right hand dragging on the floor. We see the moment it lifts and hits the ground almost in slow motion, two shadow beings appearing beside him as if materializing from the darkness itself. They shoot forward, Raina countering with a burst of magic that obliterates the one coming for her while I lunge forward, tearing the one coming for me in half.

The two halves start morphing, the pieces making two new ones while the bits that have landed on the floor when Raina obliterated the other one also appear to be forming into individual creatures of their own. Now in front of us are eight shadow beings. 

Luckily, as if fate is on our side, Kira, Ivan, Rene, and Dylan all come bursting through the tree line in their wolf forms. They approach us, flanking our sides as we stand against the creatures and Gael—the very embodiment of good versus evil. Ally joins us to stand with Raina while Andrea, who has fully healed, and Mira, join me on my right-hand side.

"Ahh, how sweet. All of us here together. At least I won't have to hunt all of you down individually. Served to me on a golden platter, what more could I ask for?" Gael's voice floats around the clearing, the tone mocking as if he thinks we stand no chance.

"If we keep tearing them apart, they will just keep making more," Ally says quietly so only we can hear. "The only way to defeat them is to separate Gael from the whip."

"Dmitri, you concentrate on Gael and getting the whip; we will keep the rest occupied," Raina says, knowing full well that it had to be me to end this thing with Gael. After everything that had happened, it only seemed fit. I look at the cliff edge, my heart tearing in two as I think about losing Sky. She said to trust her, but to do what? She jumped off the cliff willingly. She wouldn't have done it without a plan. I have to trust her.

Tearing my gaze from where Sky might be lying dead, I focus on Gael, channeling my anger and sorrow.

With a dip of my head, we rush forward, each of us focused on what we need to do. If I didn't get the whip separated from Gael, it might very well be the end of us.

I lunge forward, my jaws clamping down on the whip as I tug on it, Gael's hands around the scruff of my neck. We hit the ground hard, Gael's arm holding me in a lock while my back legs kick out, landing blows against his lower body. He whispers an incantation, a dark mist engulfing us as we tumble along the ground, my Lycan being forced back by the smoke, forcing me to shift. Blinking the black mist away, I see Gael has also transformed back to his normal appearance, the scarred skin on the right side of his face and hand pulling tight as we both fight to get the upper hand. His hand circles my throat, and then I start feeling a burning sensation and a smell I know well. Silver.

While I had some immunity to silver from the injections myself and the other pack warriors willingly took, too much would still kill me. And from the way my skin was burning and the lethargic feeling seeping into my muscles, Gael must be pumping copious amounts directly into my bloodstream.

I start clawing at his hand, the strength in my arms now no match against his hand, which is tightening around my throat. He lets go of me, the silver pumping quickly through my body as my heart beats frantically in my chest. My vision blurs, and I can hear shouting behind me. It sounds like we are losing the battle. Gael hunches down, his face close to mine, while a smirk slowly stretches across his face.

"I have waited so long for this moment that now I wish I could drag it out longer. The amount of silver in your system leaves you with only minutes left to live. Such a pity my Skylar wasn't here to see this."

The words are barely out of his mouth when a bright blinding light explodes across the clearing, its source coming from the cliff edge.

I roll over to my side, my vision blurring and refocusing as the silver ravages my system.

There, hovering in the air, is Sky. Her red hair floats around her, and her body glows brightly, red power radiating off her like a star that has just burst. Even her eyes are red.

"We are here," she says, her voice sounding like ten voices all at once.

Her hand flicks in the direction of the beings which have not been destroyed, a red power shooting out and disintegrating them on the spot.

Gael stands up, real fear displayed on his face as he steps back.

"You have taken what is ours, Gael. It is time for you to give it back," the voices say to Gael as Sky hovers forward, her red eyes trained on the figure retreating behind me.

His retreat is halted, and he is lifted in the air, his body going stiff as all movement is taken away from him. His eyes, the only thing capable of moving on their own, dart down as he watches the hand holding the whip handle unfurl. It drops with a thud to the ground.

For the first time, fear is the emotion residing in Gael's eyes, and if I were going to die, at least I would die seeing the end of this monster. Pride wells in me when I look at Sky, her power and beauty raw and unchecked. She is amazing.

Gael is brought to within an inch of Sky's face, her eyes darting across Gael's face. It is the look of someone giving a person the last of their attention. It was over. Her mouth opens slowly, and then ten screeches fill the air as black energy is sucked from Gael into Sky's mouth. As Gael's life force is drained, he becomes thinner and thinner. You can see the moment he dies, the fear in his eyes fading to nothingness. When all but a skeleton remains, a red light bursts from Sky's body before she drops to the floor.

"Dmitri!" she calls out, her voice back to the voice I know.

"Dmitri!" her voice is right by me now, tears streaming down her face as she cradles me in her arms.

I have seconds left. I can feel it.

"I love you, Skylar, you and our baby," I whisper out, a tear from her eye dripping onto my face as she screams for help.

"No, Dmitri. No! This is not the end!" she cries out, her face changing from sorrow to determination.

"I love you, Dmitri," is the last thing I hear before I feel a tug on my body. And then the world goes silent.   

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