“Bring him in,” Julian ordered, a cruel smile playing across his pale lips. The doors opened. My heart stopped. Gabe. Blood stained his fur as the guards dragged him across the floor. He struggled to stand, but another vicious blow sent him crashing down. “Stop!” I screamed, fighting against the ropes binding my wrists.
Julian laughed. “You really are quite extraordinary, Elena. All that power, and yet you cannot even save the creature you love.” Something inside me shifted. The windows exploded open. A violent wind tore through the chamber, extinguishing every candle. The floor trembled beneath us. Julian’s smile vanished. A strange golden light spread across my hands, burning through the ropes as my feet lifted from the ground.
“What are you?” he whispered. I raised my eyes to his. “I think,” I said, my voice trembling with fury, “you’re about to find out.”