Vance’s attention is trained on the ghosts, and his mind seems a thousand miles away.

Idun’s expression hardens.

“You’d better be listening, Van Helsing. Any marks against the four of you will result in more pain and suffering for her. And this is only after you’ve watched me torture her for a thousand years. Until your sentence is over, I’ll be running things. When I’m not busy making your girl toy scream, that is,” Idun drones on.

The devil’s lips curve back into a smile.

Staggering to my feet, feeling my monster sitting on edge, I ready myself to fight with whatever is left in me.

Vance stands, and his swords begin forming from their silver hilts.

Arion’s claws are sharp and ready.

Emit’s still growling and waiting on the perfect moment to strike.

As one, we all take a step toward her. Idun’s smile doesn’t waver.

“My angry boys. There you are. Don’t worry. I’ll break you in good this time, and you’ll learn your true roles. Because, I’m not an alpha. I’m a fucking queen. You will learn to bow before me and recognize that power once and for all. These nonsensical rebellions stop now.”

We launch ourselves at her without another second of hesitation. All four of us dart and weave, as she remains unmoving. Just as Arion reaches her, and is about to make his move, static tickles my body. Then…there’s a shock so powerful that it’s nearly blinding. It hits me so hard that it snares my lungs and leaves them seizing for a moment.

When I thud against the ground, banging into Vance, I dart my gaze back, finding Idun on the ground as well. My eyes lift to see Talbot, as another streak of lightning crashes in front of Idun, as if warning her of his power.

“What the hell do we have here?” Idun bites out, slowly pushing back up to her feet.

“I’m just an ordinary man, who’s looking out for his alpha,” he says, dropping to be in front of me. “I’m a damn good beta. I’m simply doing my job.”

Talbot smiles, as he wipes blood from the split lip Vance gave him.

“Terrible mistake for a beta freak to make,” Idun assures him, proving she has no idea who he is. “Betas can die.”

“I’m not here to deal with you. I’m merely here to assist January Violet Carmine and Damien Morpheous, Ms. Neopry,” he tells her, humbly bowing at the waist.

Without looking up from his bowed position, I see him smirk.

“You really shouldn’t have provoked Hyde,” he adds on a near whisper that I almost miss.

Idun’s heat palpitates from her, and the leaves begin wilting all around us, shriveling up into immediate decay.

“This night is full of fun surprises and new people to destroy,” Idun says, her dark grin returning—

The camera shatters, almost as though an explosion has gone off. The shifter holding it cries out in pain, while dropping to the ground. But all of that is overshadowed by the song that familiar voices start singing.

“One. Two. Hyde’s playing with you.” Do those voices belong to the creepy triplets?

The singing children have Idun promptly whirling around, and we all dart a look to where the other ghosts are still surrounding Violet, blocking her from sight.

Idun charges, as the singing echoes around us with the next line.

“Three. Four,” they sing, as Idun salts the entire gathering of ghosts with barely a swing of her claws.

She stiffens, right along with all of us, when we spot the bloodstained, vacant ground. “We love blood and gore.”

Idun hisses and spins around again, her eyes darting from one place to another.

“Five. Six. We have a whole bag of tricks.”

“Save your fucking tricks, you wretched freak. You’ve lost too much blood, and all you’re doing is pissing me off.”

Violet was…shredded. Completely shredded.

“Fuck the blood. She lost all her organs. There’s no way she’s already up,” Vance says on a quiet breath, brow furrowed, as he turns and starts searching the dark shadows surrounding us.

The tickling I felt…could that have been strings?

I glance down, finding my socks missing. Not a single thread is left.

“Seven. Eight. You opened hell’s gate.”

“I won’t play your fucking little games,” Idun shouts into the darkness, before her eyes land on me. “I know your biggest weaknesses.”

Idun moves so fast that I don’t have time to even react.

A series of rapid-fire events happen next, while I remain frozen and unmoving.

I feel a cold breath on my neck that sends a chill throughout my whole body, seconds before I’m shoved out of the way. As I fall, I look over to see a familiar little girl, fully fleshed, with tiny stitches lacing her together all over. Her head gets immediately severed from her body.

The head rolls around on the ground, as Idun heaves furious breaths. I’m not sure why we all just stare at the head instead of doing anything.

“I’ll just keep shredding you until—”

The body moves so quickly that my eyes can’t gauge the direction it moves, and a child’s laughter echoes through the forest ahead of us. When I look over at where the head is/was, I find it already missing.

Strings whir through the air, my shirt sleeves quickly unraveling.

From my spot on the ground, I look around, searching for a child.

Idun spins, just as a shadow moves in behind her.

There stands the child with a fresh set of stitches on her neck to match the thousands of tiny stitches all over her body.

She grins up at Idun, just as two identical apparitions join her at her side.

“Nine. Ten. You’ll never be on top again,” they state in a sinister, eerie tone.

Idun moves, and the triplets match her move this time. Idun’s claws smash against the child’s arm, and I watch with some admitted shock when the sharp, deadly, indestructible weapons break from her fingertips for the very first time, leaving nary a scratch on the child’s flesh.

There’s a pained scream that follows.

It takes a moment to realize it’s Idun screaming, as she staggers back, clutching her wrist, while blood pours from her fingertips.

“I’d hate to be her right now,” Anna says, suddenly standing right beside me in her apparitional form.

My eyes cut to meet hers, as she grins.

“Those little girls are vicious,” she adds. “I bet you’re wondering what Violet was like as a dark and scary little monster child now, aren’t you?”

My body is back into a state of shock. I hear words. I see movement. None of it is processing.

Too much is happening all at once.

 

 

Chapter 46

 

EMIT

 

As much as I want to lunge for Idun, I feel rooted to my spot.

“Everything you’ve done to us, we’ve let you do. Now it’s Hyde’s turn to have some fun too,” they state in a songlike tone.

More childlike laughter rings through the air around us, as Idun and the child become a blur of motion. Arion’s obnoxious gate crashes to the ground, and we all jerk our gazes to it.

Idun is tangled in the broken metal gates. How did that happen so fast?

She’s slow to get up, as the heat gets so intense it begins to force the wet ground to catch fire. Snow immediately starts falling from the sky, seconds before the frigid cold snuffs out all the heat.