From Shadow to Light - Book Ten

Ch. 24- God of War

"I etch my own face upon my wicked flesh. I am my own devastating god."

***

I left Amias and Luc to their own devices for the day as I spent time with the girls. Emmeline smiled brightly next to me, her cheeks flushed as she spoke about Kerim. Rosalind shook her head but inevitably told us the secrets of the great infamous Vincent, most of them embarrassing. Beatrice barked out a laugh while I did the same, her hand clutched in mine. Nyra was on her other side, her bright pink hair shining in contrast to the white snow underneath us. The only one of us who was bothered by the cold was Bea, but we promised we would go inside soon. My niece opened her mouth in shock, her eyes roaming to me. "I totally forgot to tell you! Guess who I saw when I visited Solasta?"

"Solasta?" Bea inquired.

"Solasta Academy," I told her. "The school we attended when we were adolescents. And out of the four of us, one is banned forever." Before I could let my best friend and human, ask about the story of how I was banned, I let Nyra continue with her story. "Go on. Who did you see?"

"Graves," she confessed, which made me whirl toward her in shock. The last thing we heard about the notorious Werewolf drug dealer, he disappeared and was nowhere to be found. For years. Now he is back in Solasta? "He told me he was visiting with another pack in the States, but that seems very sketchy, even for him. Anyway, he is living downtown in an apartment but I have a feeling he is still selling those brilliant drugs to students now. Not like I would tattle, of course."

"Of course not," I grinned. "However he makes those blunts so strong, I have no idea but I am not about to tell my Father about it."

When Bea frowned in confusion of what we were talking about, Rose interrupted both of us. "These so-called drugs may be the reason why Soari is banned from Solasta. Graves is the guy that supplied those idiotic duo over there with it."

Emmeline shrugged her shoulders, then sighed. "That was the best day of my life. I never stopped laughing. Not until we were summoned to the principal's office and were ordered to confess who sold us the drugs." She looked over to Bea as her brow raised. "But we would never rat out our friend Graves. Not now, not ever."

I was not sure when I was flying across the entryway of my home nor felt the bleeding where someone punched me in the jaw—not until I collapsed to the ground and hit my head into the snow. My breathing was rapid as I forced myself to my feet, my eyes turning into slits. I instantly found a man dressed in ancient clothing which barely covered his muscles and thighs, wearing boots made for battle. Quickly, I realized that Nyra and Beatrice were on the ground, slowly moving in agony. Rosalind bared her fangs at this intruder and was seconds away from pouncing on him when he used his spear to land straight to her chest. He was quick enough to fight against a Vampire. Gold dripped down my chin as the man raised Emmeline to her feet, holding her throat like it was nothing.

Before he could choke the life out of my best friend, I was instantly beside him. With the strength of my godhood, I slammed the man down into the snow beneath, his skill cracking in two. "Tell me who you are and I will think about sparing your life," I snarled, using my foot to keep him under my clutches. He stayed silent and it made the sunlight burn throughout my bones and muscles. "You should learn that I am not a patient woman, so it would be best to tell me quickly."

"Feisty little thing, aren't you?" he mumbled, choking on the ice breaking his skin in half. "Lianna the Lightbringer." I lifted my foot off of him, taking a step back. The man stood up slowly, gazing me up and down like I was his new prey. A new thing to kill. As he finally found my face, he began to curl his lips into a smile made for the Devil himself. "You're the one that murdered Artemis." Not a question. A statement.