The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 15

15

“Don’t you dare.”

Var’s eyes darkened in misguided amusement. “Or what? You’ll kill me? That’s the idea.”

He rattled the chain, teasing me, taunting me. The silver shimmered as curls of grey smoke rose from the bottom and collided into a cloud of darkness. A strange tug pulled on my heart, one I’d recognise anywhere. It was a call I felt deep in my bones, in my soul. He was part of me and I was part of him.

When the smoke lifted, it revealed the grey pup I’d been looking for. He’d grown while he was away from me and had lost most of his fluffy fur. His eyes were a deeper red but the patch on his nose was still as cute.

“Hyde!” I called. I crouched down and felt how the wounds on my back tore open again. s**t. I shouldn’t have done that.

My dusk pup growled as he sensed my pain and fought against his silver collar, but to no avail. Var wasn’t letting him go.

“Stay still, you mutt!” he hissed, yanking on the chain to stop Hyde from running to me.

A different fire flared up within me, one that originated from my stomach and quickly drowned out any residual pain. Var was hurting my wolf. He stole him from me, he tied him up with poisoned constraints, and now he was taunting him in front of my very eyes.

How dared he.

“Don’t touch him.” My voice was icy cold, unlike anything I ever heard from myself.

“Or what?”

I ground my teeth together, my jaw clicking in the first whispers of rage. “Or I’ll kill you.”

He laughed mockingly. “I’d like to see you try.”

He raised his cane, the one that was still bloody from the beating he gave me. As it struck down, something awoke from the depths of my soul, calling upon a force that'd been asleep until now.

A twang shot through me, followed by a scorching pain. Heat far hotter than anything else seared between my shoulders. Hotter than the beating I received earlier.

My body was too small. There was something within me that didn't fit, something that had to come out. The storm within my chest grew louder, stronger, harder. It screamed within me, threatening to explode and tear everything within my reach to pieces.

"f**k!" I cursed, crying as I was overtaken by the raw, destructive power of untamed wind. I’d always feared the uncontrollable nature of the storm, but I couldn’t hold it back. Not anymore.

Var was going to hurt my wolf and I’d stop him, if it was the last thing I did.

The magic howled, the wind thrashing against the walls of my heart. My blood roared, my lungs wheezed, and my vision shifted colours to shadows and shapes to blurs.

The pain dominated my thoughts, erasing the worries and constraints that guarded the untamable force of the wind. The tornado brewed, circling within my heart until it grew bigger than I could control.

"AARGGHH!" An unearthly scream birthed from the deepest pits of my soul as my back split open. Incomparable pain flooded me, the agony consuming me. It devoured me like a hungry beast with an insatiable appetite that wouldn’t even be satisfied by the destruction of the planet.

The wind roared and shrieked, blocking any possible thought. White and black fought in front of my eyes, spinning the world into an unrecognisable blur. The shapes and shadows danced, shifting in and out of my vision. Caught between everything and nothing, I exploded.

Everything happened so fast. One moment, I was standing back at the edge of the forest. The next, I was right in Var’s face.

Dark wings shot from my shoulders, dominating the open circle. They intercepted the course of his cane and the wooden rod crashed on my leathery wings before he could even lay a finger on Hyde.

The cane splintered from the force, the shards flying in all directions. Some of them hit my wings, but I was immune to the pain.

“Never touch my wolf again,” I warned, yanking the silver chain out of his hands. The poison hissed and corroded my flesh, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t feel it. With brute force, I tore the metal in pieces and threw it back in his face. “Hyde is mine.”

The whimpering pup raced away from the old man and hid behind my legs, growling once it was safe with me. He was so small, he completely disappeared behind the marvel of my wings.

And how beautiful they were. Not nearly as big as Mamma or Flavia’s, but thick and dark. Just as they should be.

No matter what anyone said, I was going to be a Valkyrie.