Void(105)

Quade and Hyde had just gotten free from their chains too when I saw Banner coming for me out of the smoke. Hands raised, his power crashed against mine, trying to neutralize me, snuff me out like a blanket over a flame. But before he could, Hyde was suddenly on him.

Red magic rushed out of Hyde’s palms and slammed into Banner’s body. I watched as it drained him of life. Right before my eyes, Hyde’s magic aged Banner, turning him from a twenty-something super to an emaciated, wrinkled husk, until his body fell to the floor, crumbling in a pile of weakened bones and dried out flesh. Without ever laying a finger on Banner, Hyde had turned him into a corpse.

I moved toward Hyde, but I got cut off by shards of ice shooting in front of me, thrown from a council elemental. Hyde nodded and turned into the smoke, and I looked around, finding Quade breaking the chains off the other kidnapped supernaturals.

Gritt had already finished with Judge Braxton and was attacking another council member who’d tried to throw fireballs at him. Render flashed toward the necro councilman who’d bent over Braxton and was trying to resurrect him, taking care of him by tearing out his throat.

Despite how strong they were, I could feel them all weakening, so I fed all four of my paragons the last bit of strength I had, knowing that they needed it in order to clean out the magic they’d been drugged with and keep the upper hand.

Everything was chaos and darkness, and I just drained and drained and drained from the council members in the room. But the more power I took in, the more I felt myself slipping into the darkness. The hunger was angry and volatile. It didn’t want to stop until they were all dead. I was slowly losing hold of myself, and in its place, the Void was taking over.

“Devicka!” My mother screamed, her voice hoarse as she threw her hands up to block Render. He’d surged forward and was holding her by her neck, but I didn’t care. I wanted her to pay. I wanted them all to pay.

I was filled to the brim. One by one, the council members dropped, and the sound of their screams tapered off. I left behind empty shells of humanity in my wake. I wanted more. Needed more. Craved it all.

I fell to my knees, unable to stay upright anymore, but I didn’t even feel the impact.

“Devicka, you have to stop. You have to come back,” Hyde said in a calm voice before reaching out to grab my wrist. Smoke started circling around his body, but it didn’t drain him. My Void would never hurt its mate.

“I can’t come back. I knew I wouldn’t,” I replied in a grave tone, my blonde hair whipping around me at the force of my power. The more I took, the more I lost myself. I was dying, and I didn’t even care. The Void was all that mattered. The safety of my mates and Reed had been my only objective.

“Devicka,” Quade shouted. But I didn’t feel like Devicka anymore. Devicka had been weak for too long. Unloved. Unwanted. She’d let me starve. No, being the Void was better. The Void could take care of everyone and break the chains of emotions.

“Don’t say that name,” a dark voice rose from my chest. It felt warm. It felt right.

“Devicka, baby, please stop. Please come back to us,” Quade whispered in my ear as Hyde started blowing red mist all over me. I knew that the threat was gone. There was no one left. But still, my smoke searched. It reached. It rose out of me like a cloud from an atom bomb.

“What’s wrong with her?” a timid voice said from behind me. I recognized that, it was a soft reminder of who I wanted to be. No. No, I didn’t want that. “Dev? It’s Reed. I’m safe now,” he said again. “You can stop...whatever this is.”

I turned around, and Quade touched my arm. I flinched at the touch before throwing him back with a hand to his chest. I didn’t even react when his back slammed into the wall and his body crumbled to the ground in a heap of limbs and defeat. Reed gave me a terrified once-over as more red mist filled my vision, coaxing me back.

“Devicka is gone,” I whispered, though it didn’t feel as authentic this time.

“Why aren’t your powers working?” Render asked Hyde, whose face was twisted in pain. “You should be bringing her back.”

“She’s too strong,” Hyde gritted. “She’s too far lost to the Void.”

I took another step toward Reed, the unfamiliar friendship pulling at something deeper within me. Gritt’s lion pounced between us to protect him, making my Void lash out in anger. I was too powerful. I was power. We were one and the same.

My Void wrapped around the lion like a whip and tossed him away as I marched closer to my best friend. “Reed?” I asked in a small voice, not quite sure why I felt so dizzy or angry or...full.

“Devicka, you saved me. Stop...whatever it is you’re doing, just stop,” he pleaded. I closed my eyes, feeling the overwhelming sense of power. It didn’t feel like nothing anymore, it felt like toxic turmoil boiling me up from the inside out, changing me. I only had a few moments of clarity, but that was all I needed. My eyes widened in horror. A tear fell down my cheek.

Whirling around, I stretched my palms out, looking at my mates. Then I took all the power inside of me and fed it into my bonded. One last gift. They told me I’d always take, but this time I’d give. This time I’d give it all.

I poured out every drop. My body coiled in pain, each muscle tensing on painful exhales. I gave them every last ounce of power from the council members, the neutralizer, and lastly...myself. I poured into them until I wasn’t even a cup anymore.