Delta [Epsilon #2]

Chapter Seventy-Two

Azure

******

The fighting stopped. I think we all felt the shift in the atmosphere at that moment -- the sense that our victory had been ripped from our collective grasp. 

I turned -- along with many others -- and froze at what I saw. Azriel, standing tall and proud. And Kyra, standing in wolf form beside him, wholly still.

My heart stuttered to a stop. No...

Azriel's dark chuckle reverberated across the entire grounds -- a sound felt in the deepest corners of everyone's hearts. Both sides -- North and South alike -- had stopped to observe the scene, waiting with bated breath as to what would happen next. 

"You see this?" he announced, motioning to Kyra's still wolf. Her purple eyes gleamed with fear -- the only sign that she was still in there. "This is what it means to have power. I have a fire-wielding Epsilon at my disposal, ready to obey every command. I lead an army of her creation!"

Something shifted in my peripheral, and I looked to see Faelen just several yards to my right, his face white with both fear and rage. He took a step forward, but one sharp look from Azriel had him frozen, seething in silence. Nobody can intervene now -- not while Kyra is under Azriel's spell. He could command Kyra to hurt somebody, or even threaten to hurt Kyra himself. Whatever happened now was in the hands of fate. 

I looked back towards my purple-eyed friend, not surprised to find her eyes locked with Faelen's. Then, I looked just twenty yards behind her, and my blood froze. Raina was standing uncomfortably close to Azriel, despite facing his back. And by her cool, calculating gaze, I could tell she was planning something. When her green eyes shifted to mine -- perhaps sensing my stare across the field -- I slowly shook my head. We couldn't do anything reckless, not right now.

"For eight months," Azriel continued, steepling his fingers and taking several steps forward. His smirk made my throat burn. "For eight months, I have sought to reclaim what is mine. For eight months, I have plotted, schemed, and fought -- all to get Kyra back as my companion." Then, his smirk turned into a hateful scowl -- so fast my stomach dropped. "You Northerners locked her away from me. You fed her lies and made her believe she's one of you, when really, she belongs with me and only me. Together we are an unstoppable force -- and I do not care if she has a mate. As far as I can see, she has been claimed by no man other than me. She is mine."

"Psycho!" I hissed under my breath, feeling my anger build with every stupid word. I looked to Faelen to find him just as enraged as me. 

A quick flash of silver behind Azriel drew my attention. My eyes widened as I spy Raina in her human form, holding a silver dagger in her palm. 

I shake my head fervently at her, but her eyes are not on me -- they locked are on Azriel. No, Raina!

"Come," Azriel says, flicking two fingers forward. In an instant, Kyra rushes to his side -- her movements controlled and robotic. She continues to walk at his heels like a lost puppy as he paces back and forth, the sight alone enough to make anyone's stomach churn. But my eyes are no longer on him. Instead, my attention is glued to Raina, who is watching Azriel like a hawk.

Waiting for the right moment to strike. 

I shake my head again, wanting to call out to her, but I know I can't. So, I remain silent, praying that, whatever Raina does, she does it right.