AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dianna
“Is that truly all you got?” he asked with a laugh.
Several stacks of old iron beams lay against the walls, pieces sticking out at odd angles. They had so much here. They must have been collecting for years, not just months. My arm swung out, and I caught myself on the half-ripped grate. I pushed myself up, cursing the entire way as my shoulder raged. It had stopped bleeding, but the twin jagged gashes remained. My body ached, but I would not let Tobias kill me.
“You know, I won’t lie. Seeing you rip through everyone on Onuna made me hesitate. It made Kaden hesitate, too. We really didn’t think you had the balls to kill every single person involved. Especially Drake. How bad did it hurt to know that not a single person ever loved you?” I heard another piece of metal go flying as he looked for me. I just needed a second to catch my breath. The gash across my waist burned, healing way too slowly.
“I wish I could have watched your face when you saw how little you meant to those you thought cared for you. I wish I could have seen your face the second Kaden snapped that bitch’s neck. She was a waste of space just like you.”
Rage shivered through, but I clamped down on the emotion, not allowing it to take me over again. First, I had to keep Tobias talking and keep him moving. Second, I needed him pissed enough to change forms so I could gut the bastard. The burned remains of my wrath covered the room, broken metal, wood, and machinery offering tons of weapons. Tobias would use them, but so could I. I had to think.
We were in a factory, and factories required chemicals and flammable fluids to work. A smile pulled at my lips, and I shot from my hiding spot. The force of Tobias’s power hit me like a blow, and I knew he was right behind me. I dove beneath a conveyor belt and heard his boots hit the top of it a breath later. His footsteps sounded like a drum above me, and I scooted quickly along the floor, grabbing lines along the way.
“This is kind of sad, Dianna. I expected more.”
His fist burst through the belt in front of me, and I rolled to the side just as he intended. He jumped down and dragged me out by my ankles. Tobias lifted me and grinned as he dangled me upside down.
“You were really going to hide from me the entire time?”
“Who’s hiding? I was just stalling.” His eyebrows rose, and he cocked his head.
I held out my hand and dropped the several caps that had plugged the chemical lines beneath the conveyor belts. Tobias’s eyes widened, and he only had a second to react before flames shot from my hands and toward the open pipes.
There was a hiss and then a loud boom before a fireball blossomed in the factory. The blast tossed me, Tobias, and every creature in the factory, sending us flying in all directions.
I struggled to my knees, my ears ringing. The explosion took root, flames roaring at the sky. What remained of the roof crumbled to the floor. Twisted machinery lay in pieces around us, smoke clinging to it. The entire framework of the building groaned, walls buckling and collapsing. The destruction was not limited to just one room but everywhere the pipes crossed.
I coughed, struggling to take in enough air.
“You’ve gotten stronger, Dianna, more vile,” Tobias said from behind me. I turned, watching him walk through the smoke. Burns covered his body, and I could see his skeleton beneath tattered flesh, see a part of his skull. He bent his neck to the side as if loosening a muscle, and his wounds closed, leaving no trace of injury behind.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed. You’re so resourceful, but you’ve stopped nothing. We can rebuild, the end will come, and you will never leave this place.”
Tobias held one of the iron-made swords. Broken, jagged points lined the razor-sharp edges, and its dagger-like tip was missing.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” I said.
He barked a laugh. “Oh, you came here to die, then? So desperate to join her?”
“Let’s not pretend I didn’t die the second she did.” I spat blood on the ground and tried to push myself up but slipped.
“Can’t get up, can you?” He snickered. “I told you. Hurt in your true form can be debilitating. But I will give you credit. It was a valiant attempt, even if it was a stupid one.”
I said nothing as I tried to push myself up again, my shoulder screaming.
“Seek revenge for the sister that was not even of your blood.”
“What does that mean?” I sneered.
Tobias moved with lightning speed, his knee connecting with my skull, flipping me onto my back. He knelt on my wounded shoulder, and I heard my bones crack, pain ripping through my body. I gritted my teeth, swallowing my screams. He leaned closer, gripping the damaged blade.
“You’ll see soon enough.” He smirked at me. “I cannot wait to kill your boyfriend and leave this world when the realms open.”
He drove the blade into my gut.
“Oops. It’s okay. I didn’t hit anything vital.”
He withdrew and slammed the cold iron into my side. Part three of my plan, act like a delicate flower but be the thorns instead. If he thought he had a hand up, he’d talk, like they all did, so I gave him his precious window. I could take the lashes, the bruises, I could bleed bone dry if it meant I still won, still finished him and Kaden.
