Page 197 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

I don’t understand the words, but each one clearly holds power. The drakaths’ attention returns to Sienna, their eyes glimmering dangerously, as if awaiting her next command.

Suddenly, I feel the ground hum, Sienna’s heart pounding at an excessive speed.

“Sienna?” I turn towards her, but her red eyes remain staring at Vincenzo.

And Vincenzo doesn’t stop. Pain flashes across her face, and then her body jerks violently.

Anger surges through me, alarm bells going off – I need to stop him.

“Don’t move! It’s too late for her,” one of the men I haven’t seen before, who stands beside Vincenzo, says emotionlessly.

This ends now. I make to turn, but I can’t move, as if something is suddenly keeping me in place. My wolf snarls in my mind, and just then Sienna’s knees buckle.

“No!” The word tears from me as she’s lifted into the air and then thrown to the ground a few meters away.

Lightning erupts around me, but I can’t move!

“Sienna!” But she can’t hear me, or she can’t respond.

Whatever he’s saying, it’s affecting her badly. She’s fighting it; I can feel that through the bond, and see the way her body is tense and straining.

Is this… how one gets a demon to submit?

Terror grips my chest at the only thought that makes sense. Do I stop him, or do I get to her and try to break her out of it? Either way, whatever’s keeping me in place is causing precious moments to be wasted.

Black smoky chains begin forming around her wrists, emerging from the air itself, wrapping around her arms before another forms around her throat.

MOVE! I roar to myself, but my body doesn’t work. I glance back at Vincenzo’s group, not knowing which one is the cause behind my immobility. A snarl of pure rage rips through me, more animal than human, and I shift, feeling whatever is holding me crack, and I leap towards Sienna.

Sienna! I reach her just as another chain appears. Snarling, I bite into them, ready to tear them off her, but instead, agony explodes through my teeth and head, the force throwing me backwards. And all through it, Vincenzo continues. Each word he speaks pierces into my mind.

Every instinct is screaming.

Kill him.

Kill him now.

My aura surges, every instinct continuing to go haywire – he’s trying to enslave her. Not on my fucking watch!

Lightning explodes across the battlefield, and my wolf’s snarl drowns out the thunder.

“Need a hand?”

My eyes snap towards Royce, blinding power surging around him, his sword in hand. Then to Ahren – his wings out, eyes glowing red. Heaven, with black markings running down her face and hand, and Ares with water forming a hurricane around him. Each one ready to fight.

“You protect Sienna; leave the rest to us,” Heaven says. The rage in her eyes is one I’ve not seen before.

I don’t hesitate, turning and racing back towards Sienna. The process isn’t complete; he’s still uttering the words, with his people around him.

Yet Vincenzo doesn’t even look at me.

His attention remains entirely on Sienna.

The chains continue forming. Her demon name – it’s what’s needed to bind a demon… He didn’t want access to the dome; he wanted us to get here, for Sienna to take control of the Will so he can control her.

The very thought makes me sick as understanding sinks in. Vincenzo stops speaking the words and begins moving towards us, the rest of the Indomitable members engaging with the others in battle, but Vincenzo dodges through them all. I shift back and try to break the chains with my gauntlets, but even then, I’m failing.

“I spent years searching for the Deimos Temple, for the treasures that the Deimos King shall possess. I spent years hunting for ancient knowledge.”