Page 46 of The Bonds of Indigo

Every inch of my body aches, but I can’t let that deter me. I’d rather not have any more death on my conscience, and having Atlas die because they’re after me would hurt…

“My child. There you are.”

I gasp at her voice, tears springing to my eyes. Vendra.

Lightning sparks straight through my bones, heating every inch of my insides, and as the Werewolf howls, I grab onto the threads of power… and channel.

The moment the beast lunges, I swipe upward. Tendrils of energy lace like fine threads from my fingers, going taut at the contact of flesh. Like slicing deli meat, it’s clean and precise. The massive wolf splits into four equal portions—the two center cuts going straight through its eyes and down its back, the outer ones slicing through its shoulders and completely severing the limbs.

Blood splatters across my entire front, but before any of the pieces of its body can slam into me, they hit the ground just to my sides with a heavy thump.

Bright lights like fireflies sprinkle across the small space around me, circling my ankles and rising to my wrists, where channeling marks are drawn down my fingers. In the center of my palm is a rune that pulses, and I release a shaky breath.

It’s back…

I clench my hand and close my eyes.

“Well…” Atlas breathes out, the pain in his voice making it clear he won’t be moving on his own for a moment. “Now I can see… how you did it.”

“Vendra… thank you.” I smile, and fall roughly onto my knees.

“How you slaughtered an entire town…”

“My Amarah. I have found you.”

“But, Amarah… your back. What the Beyond happened?!”

Oh, fuck.

Chapter 13

“N-No, PLEASE!”

With one hand gripped onto the final man’s shoulder, I take his neck and completely rip him in half. The popping of tendons and snapping of bone echoes as silence befalls the space around me.

The two cars that had been pursuing us are both on fire—unsurprising, considering I tossed one onto the other, killing three of the four in the first vehicle. The three from the other unlucky car had to die being torn apart, like this lad.

This isn’t entirely how I wanted this mission to go to get Lucifer back, but it must be done. We need to hurry and get as far away from here as possible.

“Amarah, where are you?” This bond is fucking weird, but at least I’m able to stay connected with her.

It’s strange… at first, when her voice was hitting my head, I thought she was just talking. There was no mistaking it for anything else when she screamed for me. I’ve never felt so enraged. I can’t believe I didn’t just snap that nurse’s neck immediately.

Speaking through it is fairly easy; it’s like an indigo string my mind can latch onto, and whatever I think seems to reach her.

Apparently that isn’t the case right now, though. Silence comes through the bond, and I hum aloud before waving my hand into the air, dismissing the Crimson Dawn.

I turn from the wreckage, sprinting quickly up the slight incline and following the road in the direction Atlas was driving. The concrete is stained in blood, just like myself, and all the greenery surrounding me is splattered as well. But that isn’t what sends concern spiking through me.

A few miles up, I see the road barrier completely bent outward—indication enough that a car went through it. I sprint to it, and the moment I lean over the ledge, the wreckage comes into view. Honestly, I’m shocked the vehicle isn’t on fire.

And it’s then I see the two of them.

Amarah is kneeling over Atlas, covered in blood; him not as lathered, but still a shade of pink from being under the Crimson Dawn.

I jump down the rocky incline and start making my way toward them. My eyes narrow in on the little slayer, and now that I’m close enough to notice Atlas’s lack of—wait… does she have his fucking shirt on?!

“Your collarbone is broken,” she says, placing a hand onto his shoulder.