A Curse of Shadows - Page 105

I grab Isla, covering her with my body, knowing that there’s no escaping what’s about to happen, but I can at least do my best to shield her.

Pinpricks of agony jab into my skin, slicing into me like tiny blades. Tightening my grip on my mate, I draw on every bit of power I hold within me as the Alpha King.

Only that’s not all I am right now.

Aurora.

The goddess’s energy expands within my chest, spreading through the rest of me until it seeps out of my skin, creating a sort of shield around me. One that extends beyond my body and also shields Isla.

I lift my head, searching for Grayson and Estee, but I don’t see them.

“How the…?” Shock colors my father’s voice.

I rise once more, standing tall and helping my mate up as well. There’s a soft, lavender glow around both of us, somehow absorbing whatever was intent on killing us from that orb.

When I turn around, Gideon is standing there, shrouded in dark energy. His skin is ghostly pale and he trembles with the weight of the power he’s chosen over his family.

“You won’t win with those,” I tell him calmly, a sense of right filling my mind.

His head thrashes back and forth as he reaches for the dagger at his side, one now pulsing the same inky power as the orb. “You’re wrong, just as you’ve always been.”

No, he’s wrong, but more than that, he’s no longer anything to me. The man standing before me is a shell of what was once a great king, but at some point, he chose power over love.

It’s time to put him out of his misery.

“We’re done.” The words leave me as I charge forward, intent on ripping his heart from his chest.

Determination and strength ignite deep within me as I leap toward him, claws extended. Except as I swipe out, Isla begins to scream.

Distracted with fear for my mate, I miss my chance to take out Gideon and he dodges me. Before I can register what’s happening, he’s racing toward Isla, who’s on the ground, no longer protected by the goddess’s energy.

All it takes is picturing my wolf and his presence takes over, shifting with renewed intensity. We go after Gideon before he can reach our mate, but even with Aurora’s power pulsing through our veins, we’re going to be too late.

With his blade poised to kill, Gideon aims for Isla, who seems to be overcome with the dark magic and unable to protect herself.

“No!” I shout within my own mind, feeling as though my entire being might explode with the force of the gods.

Time feels as if it starts to slow as I watch Grayson leap in front of his daughter, protecting her from the poisoned blade and taking the hit himself.

“Do as you were always meant to,” he says weakly through our pack link. “Protect my daughter and love her more than your own life.”

“Damn it, Grayson!” My connection to him fades as the veins along his neck turn black. Fuck!

Turning my focus back to Gideon, I notice he’s not done yet. He’s reaching for something in his boot, but I act before he can find whatever he’s looking for.

I shift back to my human form and grab the dagger from Grayson’s shoulder, doing my best to ignore how Isla is still unmoving on the ground. I can at least still sense her through our bond and that will have to be enough for the moment.

The hilt burns into my palm as I go to Gideon. I grab him by the neck, lifting him from the ground. Black blood trickles from the corner of his mouth and his once-blue eyes are like charcoal as he sneers at me.

“Killing me won’t change the fact that you’re still pathetic,” he says, his voice garbled thanks to the tight hold I have on him.

Instead of wasting my breath, I arch my wrist to carve his heart out, but before I can finish this, I’m distracted with how the dark energy still swarming around us begins to come toward me. My body tenses, waiting for the hit, but it never comes.

The lavender glow still clinging to me expands and it’s almost as if the energy from Aurora is drawing the black magic in. I can feel its weight pressing in around me just before the power starts to move down my arm and toward the dagger I still hold.

I can hear Estee’s shouts behind me. She must not have been able to come any closer after the orb exploded. She cries for both her father and sister, but I can’t do anything for them yet.

Looking into Gideon’s dark eyes, I realize the man before me hasn’t been my father in centuries. He might have even been lost before I was born, pretending to be a sage king, fooling even his own mate, but it’s over now. I don’t know why he chose this path and I don’t need to, but there is something I need to tell him before I end this nightmare.