The Scarlett Legacy (Woodland Creek)(44)

“Good lord,” Quinn said as she stepped over broken glass and rubble. In a short nurse’s costume, she folded her arms across her full bosom. “You just couldn’t wait for me to get here, could you?”

“You’re always late.”

Quinn adjusted her glasses as she surveyed the damage. “Well,” she said. “What do you need me to do?”

Evie nodded to Avalon’s thugs as they came running in from their posts.

“Take care of them for me.”

“Absolutely,” Quinn said, building small balls of red wizard’s fire between her hands. She shot the flame at Avalon’s biggest man, sending him flying into a nearby wall. The loud crash that resulted made Evie wince.

Quinn glanced back at Evie, who stood by, pleased by her best friend’s talents.

Having a wizard for a best friend had never proven so perfect until that moment.

“Run along. Get him,” Quinn said nodding toward the ballroom.

Evie took careful steps as she entered the ballroom.

“Avalon!”

She called out his name, hoping he would show his face.

The ballroom was empty of all guests now. Only random heels, trays of food, broken champagne bottles, and debris remained.

“Run, Evie!” Quinn’s voice shouted from the front of the mansion.

Evie almost paused to watch her in action, seeing bodies flying left and right. Then, more wizard’s fire as Avalon launched himself at her from the balcony of the second floor of the ballroom.

Heart racing, sweat dripping, Evie ran as fast as her legs would take her. She burst through the back doors to the garden and down the whitewashed stone steps.

Her heels stabbed the soil as she raced from the garden and toward the forest.

Avalon chased her, his speed astonishing.

All she needed was to get far enough away from the public and the tables would quickly turn. She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth.

Evie screeched, hoping he would gain his confidence that she was afraid of him once again.

Come now, Avalon. Follow me.

Her eyes were fixed on the forest. Any other girl would seek aid in town, but Evie knew better. They had no idea who or what she was.

“Stop running,” Avalon shouted. “You can’t run forever!”

Evie ripped open the corset of her dress the instant she was in the concealment of the trees.

“I just want to talk to you. I won’t hold what you did against you. We can still work this all out.”

Evie could hear it in his voice. He was not going to let her get away with what she’d done. Seeing her with Parker clearly destroyed his last shred of sanity. No wizard had revealed their powers in public for as long as she’d been alive.

She was sure that the next day everything would be explained away as some natural or scientific occurrence. None of that mattered if she didn’t survive the night.

Avalon meant her serious harm. She knew what he could do with his power, and that was her fate unless she took matters into her own hands.

Still running, she pulled her dress over her head into the brush.

“What are you doing?”

Always keep clothes nearby.

She almost shouted, Turn around and leave me alone or you’ll be sorry, but she wanted to hurt him.

He deserved it.

No one messes with her family.

Shrouded by the security of the forest, Evie stopped. She heard his footsteps and turned around.

Face set with hate, she took off her glasses.

She wanted him to see her eyes.

To feel the rage festering in her soul like flames in a pyre.

He skidded to a stop and stood there in silence as Evie tossed her glasses into the woods.

Her eyes changed. They began to glow.

“What are you doing, Evie? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I told you to let me go,” Evie said. She closed her eyes, threw her arms into the air, and sucked in a deep breath as her body began to shift.

Painless.

Effortless.

Almost euphoric.

Evie’s bones bent. Her skin tingled as black feathers and fur took the place of her creamy white flesh. Silver talons replaced her nails, and her mouth became a white beak with a tip that curved downward.

Those eyes, silver and glowing, flickered open and glared at Avalon who seemed to shrink away.

He lifted his hands, showering wizard’s fire in her direction.

She smiled as the flames cooled as they neared her body.

Just like her mother, Evie transformed into a creature of myth, legend, and nightmare. As a gryphon, powerful and majestic, Evie was filled with enough confidence to exact her revenge.

Lightning quickness aided her in flying into him. She grabbed Avalon by his neck and carried him high into the black sky.

His yell filled the air and Evie’s ears, but there would be no mercy. She continued to climb the air with her wings flapping in tune to her heart beat. The clouds were a welcome blanket for her, and yet the Avalon shivered at the drop in temperature.

“Let me down,” he shouted in between coughs and screams.

“No,” Evie said in a calm voice.

“Please, Evie. All I wanted was to love you. And for you to love me back.”

Evie took him higher and higher until even she was too afraid to venture any further. This was as far as she would go.

“But I don’t love you, Avalon. You took me from the man I loved. Now, tell me you won’t hurt my family anymore,” she shouted.