Share
To Hell and Back iv
~ Marx helped Ava to her feet. Anger heated her skin, her eyes swirling in twin balls of mist. “How dare you,” she said, striding over to him. Penny could not kill the man, and he could not harm her with shadow magic. Malik was never the one for physical combat, so all he could do was dangle there inside of the human form he had taken.
“It—was—too easy. When did you grow a heart?”
“Release him.”
Penny brought the man down to his feet, taking her time as she pulled her hand from inside of him. He gasped in pain. Penny released his throat. Malik staggered away from her. He raised his hand to form a rune in retaliation. The rune he formed boomeranged, knocking him to the ground, the force bruising the side of his face.
“Catching me off guard is one thing, fac
Related chapters
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back v
~It wasn’t the first time Marx was losing a member of his pack. When Lochlan died, he felt a rift in his heart. When Dempsey died, the rift was more of a fissure. This new loss felt like a tear through his soul. It left his insides feeling raw, a numb echo spreading through him. He laid on the ground, his mind unable to wrap itself around the loss, rebelling against the reality of what had happened. There had to be a mistake. Was that possible? Logic and emotion waged war in his mind. No, there was no mistake. One of his own was dead. All around him, the others crowded in, asking what was wrong. He couldn’t tell them. He couldn’t find the words. Soon, all their voices fused into an indistinguishable hum. They grew further away, the world around him seeming to dim. Over him, a familiar face materialized. Celeste. She stood there in all her beauty beaming down at him, the smile not extinguishing the s
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back vi
~Penny’s eyes went obsidian black. Marx was sure he saw a smirk before she ran off to catch up with Daniel and the others. Whatever had gone wrong, there was only one casualty. Or only one that Marx could feel. His pack was not the only ones seeking refuge in the New Colony. There were humans, vampires, and Natives. All of them needed to be kept safe and alive. “What should we do?” Martha asked. “Whatever it is, we need to do it fast. I’m uncertain how much longer the shield can hold.” “Did we get everyone to the Mountain?” Marx asked. Not being able to communicate over long distances was a disadvantage for them. If it weren’t for his link—Marx held his side where another symbol used to be—he wouldn’t have known those in the Mountain needed help. Vescovi shook
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back vii
~ Penny hesitated. She knew what needed to happen, but she didn’t want to leave Marx’s side. Her reluctance was coming from a deep-seated fear Penny had of losing someone else she loved. After Lochlan died, the grief was enough to break a part of her, causing her to change into what she was. She was a werewolf, yet not. Penny knew it, and the others did too. She had already lost so much. If Marx were also to fall, the last bit of light inside of her would die with him. He was a good man. Even after she brought hell storming into his life, he accepted her as part of his family. She knew another member of her pack was dead. Marx didn’t say who. It had to be someone close. Shea? Helick? Garrick? She would find out once she reached the Mountain. Unable to communicate with Marx, she placed a hand over his heart. Through her eyes, she allowed him to see her, as he
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back viii
~Martha couldn’t breathe, her anxiety tightening her chest. Through her link with Nico, she could feel his growing distress. It urged her to move faster as she sprinted through the hidden tunnels leading down into the subway. Back at Anax Corp, Vescovi was assembling a team, a process that was taking longer than was comfortable with her. Nico and the others needed immediate help. Communications, already spotty, had gone dead. Not a single response, only the constant frying of static. Unable to stand around doing nothing while the man she loved probably laid gutted and dying, Martha snuck off when no one was looking. None of the others knew what she was planning to do. If they did, they would have tried to stop her. She was the passive one. The one who chose not to fight. For a werewolf, her reliance on that part of herself never went past her prim
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back ix
~Martha moved to run to Nico as a shadow took possession of his body. Four steps in his direction, she stopped. Nico faced her direction, his eyes twin pools of swirling mist. The thing inside of him had his lips turn up in a smirk. With hot tears streaming unchecked down her cheeks, Martha clutched her fingers into tight fists. The words came from the pits of her stomach. The ground under her feet undulated, rippling with energy as she spoke them. Nico charged in her direction, his face twisted in rage. Martha held up her hand, palm open, continuing the chant, repeating it with fervor and a new understanding. Death fueled shadow magic. Hate. Anger. All the dark things that sullied the world. The spell was the most powerful she had ever attempted since Ava infused the revenant soul with hers. She had to release control to it. Allow the magic to ru
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back x
~Vescovi’s head throbbed as if a drummer band was marching across his forehead. Making his way through the tunnel with his men, a blast came out of nowhere, knocking them down and rendering them unconscious. He woke up in a crumpled heap with his men, all in various stages of recovery. It took him several tries to get to his feet and stay there, the drumming in his head growing louder with each movement. Walking straight was a task, but it was urgent that they get to Xavier and the others. They were delayed enough as it was getting the remaining civilians under Anax Corp ready for transport to the Mountain. Pentorium was under an evacuation order. He paused when he saw that the panel leading out of the tunnels was open. It was plausible that Xavier had left it like that since it was their way in and out, but Vescovi could not ignore the prickle at
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back xi
~The sky was a battlefield. Above Pentorium, spreading out for miles, the shadows fought amongst themselves. Those made from the spirits of dead vampires clashing against those created from werewolves. Marx had control of the latter. It was surreal watching it all unfold. Anabella came to stand by Marx as he stood gazing up at the result of his power. Power he would never have dreamed of having. Explaining to the others what he could do would have paled compared to the scene unfolding over their heads. “This is what Sven wanted from her,” Anabella said about Sven and his sister, Marx’s mate, Celeste. “And when he couldn’t take it, he planned to break the seal on the portal.” “I can’t imagine having that man’s thoughts inside my head,” Marx said. “I rather
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back xii
~ Storming Hedgewood had to wait. Ava’s ‘problem’ required a second’s more thought. So close to the end, Marx was growing impatient. They needed to strike while they could and delays after delays were shifting the advantage square into the enemy’s hands. He folded his arms across his chest, keeping his face void of his emotions as he listened to Ava. “He has layers of protection wrapped around him like a shawl,” she was telling them as they stood inside the lobby of Anax Corp. Having the conversation on the outside felt too open. While they conversed, the last of the civilians and the injured were being ushered to the safety of the Mountain. Those left behind were there to fight. Marx found he was itching to fight. Ava continued. “We got through three of them before we had to retreat.” “Kunz spent years perfectin
Latest chapter
- Enter the Shadows 27. Epilogue: After the Shadows
- Enter the Shadows The Last Stand iii
- Enter the Shadows The Last Stand ii
- Enter the Shadows 26. The Last Stand i
- Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back xii
- Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back xi
- Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back x
- Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back ix
- Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back viii
