I want to argue, but I don’t have a bloody argument to make. I can’t make myself touch anyone but Violet. I’m not that desperate yet.

Shoving away from him, I turn back, idly noticing the ghosts have all disappeared.

Thunder rolls overhead, and we both swing our gazes heavenward, as lightning crashes in from all directions.

“I’m not sure where they’ve been, but they’re back. My storm spell only holds a certain perimeter. The lightning hasn’t been hitting the Neopry skin-walkers. They have secrets to—”

“Of course they know how to avoid the strikes. That’s what many of those experiments on Caroline were for,” I bite out. “Are you telling me this entire time that the storm has been centered around them and you didn’t bother to mention that to me?”

He shrugs in a careless way. “I’m not sure you’re ready to see her.”

Slightly infuriated, my eyes travel to the lightning, and I sprint toward it with some mild annoyance. I probably should have roof-hopped and searched for the lightning without being told. Violet’s a bloody conductor, for fuck’s sake.

My breath comes out in a sharp burst just as we round the corner, and my eyes land on the two female alphas.

Just in front of the Vampyre estate, I watch with a sick knot in my stomach as Idun’s wicked grin grows on her lips.

Arion flies through the air, fangs bared, and nearly manages to slam his fist through Idun’s back. She turns at the last minute, and a pulse of power so intensely strong emanates from her with an explosive release.

Trees disintegrate on the other side of the street, and the vampire hisses out a pained sound, while the smell of burning flesh teases my senses.

The person who jumps to her feet looks like Violet. The dark look crossing her eyes, as her numerous wounds pour blood, does not look like Violet.

Lightning strikes toward her, but…Not Violet bats it away.

Talbot’s eyes widen in surprise, as the errant streak of lightning damn near crashes into him. At the last moment, he’s able to tuck and roll, and Violet shoots him a dark grin.

I dart to Arion’s side, unsure how to move next. Idun’s eyes are wild with the monster’s power. That purple stone has turned solid black, and the broken pavement beneath her feet catches fire.

Idun’s channeling all her dark, damaged, and vengeful hope, causing the magic and monster to fuse together in that unstoppable way. She’s pulling out all the stops. While it’s impressive that Violet’s monster has pushed her to be her most powerful, Anna is covered in more wounds than Idun, and doesn’t look to be winning. At all.

The heat is so staggering, that even from this distance, I’m forced to step back before my skin starts sizzling.

We watch for a second too long.

In the blink of an eye, Idun moves, and my breath comes out in a harsh, pained rasp. I launch myself toward Violet, desperate to get in front of her, but I’m thrown back, when a pulse of dark power surges out of Idun.

I land with a pained grunt, and Arion crashes to my side, after apparently trying—and failing—to do the same thing.

My gaze darts back just in time to see Idun, right as she slices through Violet’s middle. It’s Violet’s true face—not Anna’s—that contorts in pain. In the next instant, I see Idun’s sadistic, wild smile. Her eyes are bright with too much excitement, as the monster is unleashed once more.

Every fragment of power I can summon is channeled toward her in a desperate effort to break into Violet’s head and turn the pain into pleasure—the only way I can help.

Arion launches himself toward Idun once again, but he’s batted down just by the heat. The Vampyre roars in frustration when his skin starts to burn against the ever-expanding heat that not even he can chill.

“You can’t help her if you’re dead!” Vance shouts over the steady roar of the unrelenting storm, as he drops behind Arion and yanks him back.

My nose starts dripping blood, as I manage to overwhelm Violet’s mind. She grins, even as Idun begins merrily ripping her apart in front of our very eyes.

“Where the fucking hell did her monster go?” Emit snaps, shoving Talbot to the ground and forcing the blood-magic incubus to watch with us, as Idun loses her fucking mind.

I have to look away, unable to stomach what comes next. A flash of blood, and one muffled scream rings through my ears.

Though I can’t see the wolf and didn’t know he’d arrived, I hear Emit roar so loud the ground thunders under me.

It’s pandemonium after that.

On the ground, I remain on my hands and knees, slowly turning my head back, forcing myself to watch.

Helpless.

Always fucking helpless to stop Idun from doing whatever in the hell she fucking wants.

All that hope. I knew better, and still hoped she’d be able to do what we couldn’t—save herself.

We really were so fucking desperate to have her, that we hoped we were stronger than we are. We hoped Idun was weaker. We hoped Idun was behind us instead of ahead of us.

We hoped, even though we fucking swore we never would again.

My chest grows so heavy that it feels to be expanding inside a slowly closing vice with every breath I take. The staggered drumming of my erratic heartbeat drones in my ears, as my jaw grinds.

My eyes burn as I watch Idun savagely shred skin, adding it to the thinly sliced bits already decorating the ground. Nausea sweeps through me, and my heartbeat grows even more erratic.

I can’t move.

Can’t breathe.

Something hot and wet slides down my cheeks, as my eyes blur with more wetness. It spares me from seeing the vivid imagery of Violet’s body being decimated into nothing more than small bits and pieces.

I blink when Arion manages to escape Vance at last, blurring by me, as he stupidly charges Idun with wild abandon.

Vance drops to his knees next to me, staring blankly at the scene I can’t stomach viewing any longer. There’s a cold, dead look in his eyes like I’ve never seen before.

I…can’t even formulate a thought.

From my peripheral, I spot Idun blur to Arion, and she slams him to the ground, all while laughing.

“This. Is. Glorious,” she says on a happy sigh, as Emit charges her next. “I feel like I’ve had to hold back for so long.”

She’ll fucking kill the wolf.

Not that it matters.

It all turns into a distant echo, as some annoying movement on the ground tickles my ankles. It’s the only sign that I haven’t gone completely numb. Mentally, however, I’m now ready to check the hell out.

How can I endure an eternity of watching Idun do this to Violet?

How long will what sanity I have left remain?

Talbot is suddenly slammed to the ground next to me, and his head jerks to the side, as blood sprays from his mouth.

“You fucking said she was stronger!” Vance shouts through his manic rage, pummeling Talbot some more.

Talbot manages to shove him off, but my head is too foggy to care or pay more attention than that.

Marta knocks Emit to the ground, seconds before Idun’s hand can shove through his chest.

Instead, the hand shoves through Marta’s chest, and Idun’s grin only grows, as Marta’s eyes widen.

It’ll never end. We can fight for all eternity, and it’d all be irrelevant.