Blessed By The Moon

Chapter 47

What happened last night.

Storm's POV :

I froze the second I saw her.

Not because I doubted her strength but because she wasn't supposed to be here in this den of vipers, in the heart of the enemy's stronghold. She was supposed to be safe, back with Axe, her chosen weak mate, under his weak watchful eye, protected from everything and everyone. 

Did I mention he was weak?

And yet here she was, standing in the center of the courtyard, her chest heaving, her eyes alight with a fire that didn't just illuminate her face, it radiated outward, shining brighter than the Moon ever could.

Sorry Moon, please don't take my power.

She was mesmerizing, my beautiful Echo.

For a moment, my mind faltered. My heart pounded in disbelief. How? How was she even here? How had she slipped past every guard and every defense? My mind ran through possibilities, none of them comforting.

Then the air shifted. I felt it in my bones before I saw it, like a weight that made my vision waver. Her energy was spreading, thick and heavy, like a storm made of pure emotion, untamed and volatile. My instincts screamed at me to move, to take cover, but I couldn't look away.

I'd planned this fight, I had mapped it down to the last detail, I was going to kill them all the day before they attacked. Daniel, Lucille, their guards, the vampires, I had planned to end them all for her and I had rehearsed every step. But I had not planned for this. 

I had not planned for her to be the one standing here, alive and furious, unleashing raw power that distorted the air around her.

She moved through the courtyard like a predator, every step left ripples of energy in her wake. Guards stumbled and fell back, hands shielding their faces, eyes wide with terror. Daniel and Lucille went to hiding, ducking behind pillars and barricades.

It was the calm before the storm and her calm was deadly and absolute.

I stepped forward instinctively, trying to get between her and the enemies. "Echo!" I shouted, my voice cutting through the roar of energy around us. "Stop!"

She ignored me, I shouted again "You don't have to do this, if it's about killing them then let me take the guilt for this one, let me be the monster again."

Her head tilted, almost lazily, just enough for me to see the glint of amusement in her eyes. "Guilt? Do I look like I care?" she whispered, but the words carried through the room, low and dangerous.

I swallowed hard. "You're letting your rage destroy everything!" I tried again, focusing, sending the thread of our connection out into her mind. "You don't have to-"

"Don't!" she roared, and the sound slammed into me like a physical force. My chest rattled, my vision blurred, and for a second, I staggered back. She was... overwhelming. Everything she was, everything she could be, and everything I hadn't anticipated, tangled together in pure, unbridled fury.

Her eyes looked dead, like she was in a trance.

And yet I stayed, I couldn't move, not entirely. Not when she was this close, when I could feel her heartbeat.

A guard screamed, tried to run, but Echo didn't give him a chance. She moved faster than the eye could follow, her hands gesturing, unleashing bursts of energy that splintered walls, shattered doors, and knocked men off their feet. Lucille attempted to intervene, to protect her friend, but the moment Echo's glare landed on her, she reeled back, clutching her head as if the very air pressed against her skull.