The Burning Shadow (Origin 2)

He strode forward as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “I am really annoyed that I had to come out here in the rain”—he glanced in my direction, and he had the strangest purple eyes—“after you.”

I frowned. “I don’t need you.”

Movement snagged my attention. I threw my arm out, and the men to my left spun into the air, into the branches. They came back down to the earth at the speed of light.

Someone charged the purple-eyed boy, and he tilted his head to the side. “Really?”

The man didn’t slow down, and Purple Eyes stepped into the attack, catching him by the throat. There was a sickening crack just as another rushed his way.

Laughing, he spun to the left and kicked, sweeping the legs out from underneath the man. Catching him by the front of his shirt, Purple Eyes slammed him into the ground. White light pulsed from his hand.

I stopped, watching Purple Eyes. The man he held to the ground threw his head back, screaming as the glow washed over him. Within seconds, the glen filled with the scent of scorched flesh and earth.

Purple Eyes was strong.

Dangerous.

Powerful.

A threat.

But I was more.

I lifted both arms, and the trembling in the ground turned to a roar. All around, the trees thrashed and twisted as a great wind picked up, blowing my hair back. Broken tree limbs rose from the ground. One cut through the clearing, piercing the man closest to me straight in the chest. Another two went down that way, impaled deep into the ground.

Energy charged the air. The smell of burned ozone increased. I rose off the ground, and the trees continued to shake and the ground rolled under me, buckling as lightning struck close—too close.

The trees ripped from the ground, exposing long, gnarled roots. A cloud of rich, wet earth sprayed.

“Holy shit,” someone whispered.

I clapped my hands together.

The trees flew across the clearing, and Purple Eyes ducked, hitting the ground as fleshy grunts sounded, followed by shocked screams that ended abruptly. There was a loud crash.

And then silence.

My arms lowered to my sides as I spread my fingers out, bringing myself to the ground.

A twig snapped, and I focused on Purple Eyes. He prowled toward me, and I lifted my hand.

He stopped, eyes widening slightly as his wet hair curled back from his forehead. “Peaches…”

I stared at him.

Slowly, he lifted his hands as if in surrender. “Evie, it’s okay…”

Names.

Names flickered through my thoughts. Nadia. Evie. Peaches. They held meaning, carried weight, but he was powerful. He could hurt me, and I could not allow that. Not again. Never again.

“It’s me.” His voice was gentle. “Evie, it’s me.”

“You doing some landscaping?” I heard someone ask, and I turned to the sound of the voice.

It was a dark-haired man with emerald-green eyes. Behind him, I saw an identical replica of him, and there were two blondes, and a girl with deep brown skin. There were masked men still alive, survivors, staggering to their feet. They turned, darting off between the trees.

One of the dark-haired men and the tall blonde took off, disappearing after them. The masked men could run, but a … Luxen would always, always be faster. They were Luxen. The two who ran after those men. I knew what they were, and they were also threats.

“That wasn’t me,” the one who’d come to fight beside me said. Purple Eyes. “That was her.”

The dark-haired Luxen swore under his breath, and I felt the power rippling inside me again as I moved my head from side to side. A white glow began to form around him, a showcase of his strength.

A challenge.

A threat.

“Daemon,” Purple Eyes said. “I’m going to need you to do what I say and run.”

“What?” the Luxen called Daemon said.

“Now,” the other ordered. “Dammit, run, now.”

Too late.

I lifted my hand and summoned the rage inside me, letting it whip out and find its target.37A bolt of inky black tinged in whitish-red light erupted from my palm, striking the one called Daemon in the shoulder. He flew backward. There was a shout of pain as Daemon rolled into the tree, flickering in and out of his true form as I turned my hand palm up, curling my fingers inward. Daemon lifted off the ground, twisting and struggling as I drew him toward me. He wasn’t dead. Yet. That would change—

“Stop!” Purple Eyes shouted. “Stop it now, Evie!”

Evie.

Purple Eyes was now standing in front of the Luxen, his wet hair blowing back from his stark face, his shirt tearing around his shoulders.

Everything in me focused on him. I tilted my head to the side as I curled my hand into a fist, picturing his body caving and cracking, giving way to me.

But that didn’t happen.

He took a step toward me, lips peeled back in a snarl. “Evie, it’s me. Luc. I need you to stop this. Now.”