Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Four
Her mind went blank. There was nothing. Not even the pain remained. She felt completely and utterly empty as if she had just been reborn.
That’s it, Catherine, use your power. Show them what you’re made of. What we can do, a sinister voice beckoned.
Baby… a familiar voice echoed around her mind. She tried to place it but the face evaded her recollection. Catherine this isn’t you.
They want to hurt you, the first voice cooed softly. They’ve come here to kill you, us. You have to stop them. You’re the only one who can.
Whatever he’s saying to you isn’t true. Catherine, open your eyes. Look at me.
Catherine opened her eyes and looked out at the field of lycans and wolves. She tilted her head in confusion. Her head was suddenly forced back as a wave of energy rocked through her. She pushed it back outward and the bodies before her were thrown to the ground. The pulse of power within her was magnificent, undeniable, uncontainable.
“You control them,” the first voice whispered in awe behind her. “You can end this all now with one little flick of your wrist.”
Catherine gazed out. She knew these people were a threat. She could see the malicious intent etched into each of their tethers: the same violent red swirled through the varying colors. It vibrated in the air. Her lips curled over her teeth and she focused the contained energy on the tethers circulating through the air.
The brightly colored tethers started to darken. The men and women connected to them started to writhe in pain. She raised her hands, palms up and watched the tethers darken faster. She slowly started to close her hands into fists and watched with satisfaction as the energy was slowly pulled from the souls of the threat. Her feet lifted off the ground as the energy she harnessed flowed through her, corrupting her own vibrant gold tether.
“Catherine, this darkness… it isn’t yours. It belongs to us, those who try to claim you. You’re killing them, Baby. Don’t let the darkness consume you. Don’t do this.”
Catherine looked down at the source of the voice. Like the man behind her, he wasn’t affected by the violent command on the energy around them.
“He wants you to be weak, Catherine,” the first voice said behind her. “End this. Show the world what you’re capable of. Show them what happens when you go against us. One act and you’ll never have to use it again. They will fear you too much to ever consider crossing us. End this, Catherine. Now!”
Catherine continued to look at the man a few feet in front of her. He looked as though he’d just gone through hell. His handsome face contorted in pain. He clasped a hand over his chest as if to keep his heart from breaking out of his chest. He reached that same hand out to her.
“Baby, please, this isn’t you. You have a family waiting for you. Remember Juno, Toma… Remember my mom and Jensen… Remember me. Let’s go home. To the cabin. We’ll never leave it again if you just stop this. Please.”
A bright light flickered in the recesses of her mind that shifted until it formed a memory: water slapping against a dock, the sound of laughter and the pounding of bare feet on wooden planks. She closed her eyes. The memory morphed and she was
was in bed, curled around someone that smelled of cloves and apple. Another memory came where she sat in a car
in a car with rain sheeting down on the back windshield while someone’s fingers ran over her bare arm. A kitchen filled with stainless steel appliances appeared, she looked up and saw a man leaning against a doorframe. The visions changed again and she was on the front porch of a cabin watching a group of people smiling around a long table, passing baskets of food around. Large, firm hands circled her waist from behind and peace engulfed her. “Are you happy, Baby?”
Catherine’s eyes opened and her head fell forward as all of her memories came flooding back. She fisted her hands, collecting all the energy she’d been forcing against the warriors from both sides. Her hands shook at the raw power coursing through her. She threw her hands forward and opened her palms. The energy burst out of her. She screamed and tears streamed down her face as the energy shot out above everyone’s heads. The force of the energy exploded, snapping the trees around them at the base. Everyone was thrown flat, even Graham and Dominic. Catherine staggered back a step but she wasn’t done yet. She held up her right hand. She breathed in, collecting the residual energy in the air around them.
“What are you doing?!” Dominic roared in fury.
“Ending this,” Catherine whispered.
Catherine spun while slashing the remaining energy downward. Dominic’s expression of fear startled her. She saw the faces of everyone who had suffered because of her gift flash in quick succession: Leonora, Arabella, Isobel, Lionel, Esme, Chloe, Toma, Juno, Morgan, Curtis… All of their faces came into focus and held the same expression of fear. Her hand stopped mid-arc and fell limply to her side. Dominic continued to stare open-mouthed, frozen in his fear. A fear she could not take comfort in.
1/2
Realizing she couldn’t use her power against him, Catherine took the pistol lying close by, pulled back the hammer, and pushed it harshly against Dominic’s forehead. Her tears blurred her vision, her lips curled in anger yet she could not move her finger to the trigger. He smiled knowingly up at her as her hand started to shake. Catherine screamed, pulled the pistol back and struck the butt of it against his temple. Dominic’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he slumped forward. She stumbled backwards out of the way to be caught by Graham. He turned her around and she buried herself into his chest.
“I can’t…” Catherine sobbed. “I can’t do it. I can’t kill him. What’s wrong with me?”
“It’s okay, shhh, Baby, it’s okay. I told you the darkness wasn’t yours,” Graham soothed with soft strokes down her back.
Catherine heard the sound of running feet. She stepped back and raised the gun only to see Lucas running toward them. She lowered her hand, dropped the pistol and allowed Graham to take her back in his arms. She glanced over Graham’s shoulder to see the fighting had come to an end. After her display of power, Gerald’s lycans and Dominic’s wolves immediately surrendered or were taken down by the larger lycan force.
“Hey Stu!” Lucas greeted the man who had been knocked out cold by Catherine’s first burst of energy. Stuart blinked up in confusion. Lucas rammed his heel into Stuart’s face. His head hit the ground with a startling crack. “That felt good. Wait, why is that fucker still alive?” Lucas asked, pointing to Dominic.
“Take care of it,” Graham ordered.
“Really? Me? Neither of you want to do it?”
Graham gave one decisive shake of his head.
Dominic groaned, not one to let a pistol whipping keep him down for long. He laughed. “This isn’t over. You can’t just change fate. Destiny will always win. You’ll see.”
“You’ll never touch her again,” Graham growled.
Dominic smirked and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I marked her. She’ll always have a piece of me. You could never understand the full capacity of magic. Never. What my mother saw will come to pass whether in this life or the next. You’ll see me again. I promise you.”
Lucas chuckled darkly. “I wonder if your mommy saw this…”
Graham quickly collected Catherine into his chest and cupped her head, discreetly covering her ears. Catherine felt something heavy hit the ground close by and Graham’s grip tightened at the same time as her fingers against his back. She started to shake. Her teeth rattled together. Tears brimmed and streamed down her cheeks. She wasn’t sure if it was relief, shock, the after-effects of her expelling her energy or a combination of the three. Graham pulled away enough to cup her face. His brow creased in concern.
“It’s over. It’s all over now. You’re okay. You’re safe,” Graham repeated over and over.
Catherine didn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe it. She’d been running for so long. It couldn’t be true. She felt her body getting heavy. As if the energy she’d stored for those days had taken her physical strength with it. She felt her grip on Graham going slack. Graham’s voice faded into the ringing of her ears. She shook her head even as the darkness swept through her vision.
