Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifter, #3)(100)

It had been a mistake to bring her back to the mists, but then again, maybe she would have used the creatures against us on the island. Dannie always had ten plans to fall back on, leaving the rest of us scrambling. Not one of us had expected she could do this, though, and there was no contingency plan for her secret lava army.

“This was where she was funneling her power in the cage,” Shadow bit out, pushing more power against the phoenix. “Her army needed to rise at the same time she broke free. That fucking stone is giving her near unlimited power.”

“Hence why we need it freed,” I groaned, my words barely audible.

For the first time since my rebirth, I felt my energy waning.

“I’m here.” Len’s words whispered through our ears, carried on his fae energy. “Hold her for a few more minutes, and I’ll work my Silver Magic on her.”

A few more minutes; it sounded so short when someone said it, but the reality of holding a raging, powerful phoenix goddess was akin to a human trying to hold a bull still for a few minutes.

Impossible and deadly.

Shadow joined me in his Anubis form, powering himself up further. Dannie looked between us and let out a squawk, shaking her head. “Neither of you are natural,” she managed to say through our hold. “I broke the balance with you both. A balance I must repair.”

It was a warning that this time she would not hesitate to kill us, but who the fuck was surprised by that? We all knew she had learned her lesson in leaving threats alive. Only one side of this war was walking away today.

Shadow and I gave it everything we had to hold her, and I thought we were going to make it, right up until she drew on whatever she had left in her stone, blasting us back. I stumbled, but Shadow caught me before I could go too far.

“We need the others,” he said near my ear. “All of us have to hold her for Len.”

At that, Inky and Midnight swirled closer, bringing with them the others from our pack. The two mists raced at the goddess, slamming her against the side of the castle again, with enough force that the stone and brick shattered under her.

Our mists were not as strong as the wild and free version, but they were also not to be underestimated. Unfortunately, the moment they went for Dannie, the lava creatures went for us.

Can you form a protective barrier against the dead army? I asked Midnight. Give us a chance to get the stone?

It swelled up larger, sparks flying around it. I can hold them for a few minutes. Maybe more if Inky helps.

Do it.

The pair released Dannie, who zapped out at them with her power, but she was either too slow or off-kilter because she missed them completely, her energy shooting into the lava chasm.

Or no, wait, that must have been her plan all along because the second her energy disappeared over the cliffs and into the abyss below, a huge raging wave of red fire rose with it.

Great. Molten tsunami.

“Go!” I screamed to Midnight. “Get the barrier up so we have a chance.”

I barely got my last words out before Dannie’s power slammed Shadow and me into the ground. We hit hard, and if I had been a straight-up shifter still, all my bones would have shattered. As it was, the pain strongly pulsed through my body as she continued to press against us, driving our bodies into the crumbling and broken castle grounds.

How the fuck was she so strong? It just never ended, and even with the cage having drained her as intended, there was still too much for us to counter.

Len had warned us about the stone, and what would happen if it fell into enemy hands, and I couldn’t think of a way to win against her, not when so many of us were losing strength. Digging deeper, I searched for a way to push back again, but there was no give in her attack. No weakness to manipulate.

At least none until our friends finally let loose. Giving us the sort of support Dannie could have had if she hadn’t tried to be judge, jury, and executioner all on her own.

Reece, whom I really hadn’t seen in full-on action before, blasted across the clearing in a literal wall of sand and dust. His power always reminded me of a desert storm, and now I could see why. He stood at the center of it, his energy extinguishing some of Dannie’s as he sent her flying in his cyclonic sandstorm.

Shadow and I were up in an instant, and we joined the desert deity, using our powers against her once more, finding a hidden strength neither of us knew we had. Desperation and adrenaline were the reasons human women could lift cars off their babies. Today we were the desperate ones, and we were using it to our full advantage.

“She’s weakening,” Shadow roared. “But not enough to tear the stone free. Not yet.”

“One last attempt,” Reece bit out, his voice a rumble like the storms he had raging around us. “All of us. All of our power. Hold nothing back.”

The others fell into line, Midnight and Inky still giving us some breathing room from the creatures, but that wouldn’t last long. This truly was our last shot.

Our one chance to save the world.





55





The eight of us faced the phoenix. Maybe this was how it should have been all along, our power versus her power. No games or prisons. No conversations or attempts at redemption.

I didn’t regret allowing her the chance to save herself, but that chance was over now. Now we had to play for keeps, and I would hold nothing back.

Len held back, since he was saving his energy to remove the stone, but the rest of us shot power into her focusing on our individual strengths and magics. The strongest aspects and skills of our races. Reece with his desert power, dry as it ripped against our skin like magical sandpaper. Alistair’s was water-based, but his water turned into large weapons he shot at Dannie in the form of icy green swords, pointed spears, and other missiles. So far, none were penetrating the shield she had formed over herself, but it was all working to weaken her. Angel had her blades, moving up close and personal, slicing and dicing against Dannie’s power, moving like a freaking ninja so that the goddess could never touch her.