Everyone curses at once, but the sound barely reaches me.

The instant Kaden breaks free, instinct takes over. There is no fear. No hesitation. Power detonates through my vein and I surrender to it without resistance. I let go.

My bones scream as my demi-goddess form tears to the surface. Power floods every cell until I can no longer tell where my body ends and the divine begins-until I am no longer just Sadie.

Then I launch upward.

The hole Kaden blasted through the earth becomes a screaming tunnel of wind and debris as I tear through it, stone shattering in my wake. I break into the open night like a weapon unleashed.

The ground fractures beneath my feet as I land hard, stone splintering outward in a violent ring as the impact shakes the forest.

I see them. Kaden and Lola.

She's wrapped around him, arms locked tight as if afraid he'll vanish if she loosens her grip. His hand rests on her lower back.

Once, long ago, this sight would have destroyed me. It would have torn my heart from my chest and left me bleeding on the ground, gasping for breath beneath the weight of betrayal.

Now? I feel nothing... No pain. No grief. Only cold, razor-sharp need for revenge.

They pull apart the moment they sense me, just as the others burst out behind me, just as hybrids flood the clearing from every direction. Everyone drops into a fighting stance and the fight begins.

Kaden turns toward me slowly, a predator savoring the moment.

"I gave you a chance," he says calmly. "And once again, you refused it, so now it's time for you to die."

“No.” Lola steps forward, cutting him off. “She's mine."

She turns to face me and the world darkens, responding to its queen.

Shadows coil around her body like living chains as she shifts, black wings tearing free from her back. Her form mirrors mine—divine, but twisted. Her scepter materializes in her grip, pulsing like a living heart.

"I'll enjoy killing you myself," she says.

Then she charges and so do I. We collide like dying stars.

The impact detonates across the battlefield, a shockwave ripping outward with bodies flung through the air, stone shattered, and trees torn from the ground like matchsticks. The earth screams beneath us.

Her fist slams into my ribs and pain explodes through my side... I don't hesitate. I drive my knee into her stomach and follow through with my elbow cracking into her jaw hard enough to snap her head sideways.

She barely flinches and that's when I know. This fight will not be quick and it will not be merciful.

We hit the ground rolling, trading blows too fast for any mortal eye to follow. Every strike carries divine force, each punch splintering earth, each kick sending violent tremors through the air. The ground can't hold us. The world itself struggles to keep up.

"How does it feel Knowing I took

both your mates?" she snarls, locking her forearm against my throat crushing down with lethal intent you have no idea how much fun fhad turning Alec against You have no idea how I enjoyed how he tortured... That is what you get for going against me, sister."

Something inside me explodes. A mixture of rage, grief and loss compressed into a single, unbearable point.

The sky answers to my call.

Lightning tears downward in a blinding white arc, slamming straight into her chest with a sound like the heavens breaking apart, the. impact rips her off me and hurts her across the clearing, her body carving a crater into the ground when she lands.

She coughs, blood spraying the dirt. Then she laughs.

"I like this; you're no longer the

pathetic little thing you used to be," Sas. she forces herself

she says

upright, bones audibly grinding back into place and wipes blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, eyes still blazing. Im going to enjoy killing this version of you Just like I killed the weak girl you were."