Page 53 of Winter Unleashed
A cyclone of wind rose to envelope Celeste and Belial as the ground under them bucked up in a wave. The signature on the energy was familiar, and I looked at Liam out of the corner of my eye.Interesting.
After falling together in a heap, Belial and Celeste finally took notice of us. They stopped lashing out at each other long enough to turn their hate-filled glares on Liam.
“Now that I’ve got your attention,” Liam said, dropping the cyclone. “Why are you here? There are children here.”
Belial covered Celeste’s face with his hand to shove her head into the ground. “This old hag figured she would use the Vinura’s love of the children to call her out.”
I concentrated and aimed a thin line of fire at Celeste, hoping to end her then and there, but she held out her arm and the fire fizzled out. She’d blocked my power even with her face covered by Belial’s hand. She’d done that without being able to even see me, yet she still couldn’t get her foe to let her go.
Even more interesting,I thought while staring at Belial and wondering how powerful he was.
“And why are you here, Lyle?” Liam asked.
“I came to stop her,” he said as though we should have known that. He shifted to get a better look at Liam which gave Celeste the opportunity to knee him in the balls. He let go of her face and curled into a ball while cupping his junk in his hands. “You bitch. You’ll pay for that.”
“That’s unlikely,” Celeste replied. “I’ve come to prove Ember cares too much. That she’s too weak to be the Vinura. A true leader must know when to sacrifice others to save herself. If you were to die, who would take over? Who would control the supernatural community?”
“What the fuck are you talking about? One, I have yet to take on the Vinura responsibilities. And two, a true leader fights toprotecttheir people, they don’t cower behind others.”
“Ember, my dear, you’re still so young. Your compassion will get you killed. Caring for others gets us nowhere. We should always put ourselves first.”
I didn’t miss the fact that she’d locked her eyes on Liam while she spoke. She’d been so hurt or angry when he’d left her, she’d closed herself off to ever finding love with anyone else. It would have been sad if I didn’t want to kill her so badly.
While Liam had her mesmerized, I pulled my power again, letting a slow trail of fire worm its way toward her. Without taking her eyes off my mate, she waved a hand to extinguish the fire. She’d done it again without ever having to see it.Well, fuck.I guess that explained why Liam never tried to pull his power on her.
“And what’s your endgame here?” I asked her as I took a step forward, shaking off Liam’s hand when he tried to stop me. “You think because I’ll risk myself for the children, that I’ll give into you to save them? Is that it?”
She smiled and stepped toward me. She took two steps before Belial let out a roar and jumped on her. A loud cracking noise sounded, and we were all thrown back onto our asses. I propped myself up on my elbows to watch the two go at it. Belial had Celeste’s hair wrapped around his fist to hold her still as he pummeled her with his other fist. In a blink, he went flying up into the air to land fifteen feet away.
Celeste had only enough time to turn back to me before Belial was on her again. This time she landed on her stomach with him straddling her back and pinning her arms under his knees. He leaned down close to her ear. “You are nothing but a washed-up old hag. Your power is useless against me.”
Another loud noise echoed over the grounds of the Academy. A second later, Celeste lay motionless with blood oozing from her mouth. I hadn’t even seen Belial do anything. But clearly, he’d done something so quickly the rest of us hadn’t even had time to stand again.
I watched as he rose to his feet, adjusted his suit jacket, and moved over to me. He reached out a hand to help me up, but my gaze shifted to Celeste’s immobile body.
“Did you kill her?” I asked.
Belial retracted his offered hand and brushed dirt from his clothes. “It would appear so.”
Liam stood and took my hand to pull me up with him. “Lyle, thank you for your help, but I’m still wondering what it is you want. You’re not known for doing things out of the kindness of your heart.”
His eyes were on me when he answered. “Let’s just say I have my reasons.”
Liam grunted and stepped up to the demon until they were toe-to-toe. “Touch even a hair on her head, and I’ll tear your heart from your chest and let my wolf eat it.”
I was so shocked by Liam’s threat I stopped breathing for a second. When the Vinur took over, there was no telling what he’d do. He had once torn a child molesting shifter to pieces with his bare hands. That episode was why Isaac had a problem with him. Not because Liam had killed the fucker, but because of the way he’d done it. So, I knew if Belial pissed him off enough, he’d make good on his threat.
Belial, though, didn’t seem worried. “My dear Vinur, you know I’d kill you before you could even try.”
Movement behind Belial caught my attention. Before I could call out to them, Celeste lifted her head, saw me watching her, and disappeared.
“Uh, guys?” I muttered through my shock.
Philip stepped up behind Liam. “Mr. Fraser,” he said, tapping him on the shoulder. “There’s something you may want to know.”
Liam turned on Philip so quickly he was a blur. “What is it?” he snarled in his friend’s face.
Unphased, Philip simply pointed to the spot where Celeste had been. All that remained was a small pool of her blood.