My shadow wolf tore at him, but he shook her free and lunged forward with blinding speed. I resummoned my blade, but he slapped it from my grip and slammed his giant hands on either side of my temples. Pain exploded through my skull, and stars swam through my vision.
The Crusher.
My wolf ripped and tore at his arm, but he didn’t budge.
I screamed in blinding agony, and he smiled. “This is the proper way to sacrifice before a god.”
Suddenly, his right hand ripped free, and he staggered back.
My head ricocheted off the pavement, and the world spun.
Get up! my wolf roared in my mind.
I shoved myself to my knees and saw Dragan the Crusher with his wrist clamped in the mouth of a massive gray wolf.
Jaxson.
Before I could move, the beast of a man swung his arm, sending Jaxson flying free. He tumbled and skidded across to the edge of the roof.
Dragan roared as the Crusher’s upper body turned into a half man, half wolf.
Jaxson climbed to his feet, and dread filled my heart. Crimson blood seeped from a deep, gaping wound in his side where a piece of rebar had impaled him. Charging forward, he leapt onto the Crusher’s chest, his jaws sinking into the monster’s throat.
The Crusher bellowed and gripped Jaxson’s head. With one quick movement, he ripped Jaxson free and bashed him down on the roof. Nightmare screams filled my mind as horror ripped through me.
Then the monster bent down, gripped Jaxson with his massive arms, and heaved him up over his head, as if offering him to the tornado above.
“Wolfie! Strength!” I shouted as I charged.
The shadow wolf slammed into my back. We merged as one and shot forward like a bullet.
The world was nothing but a blur. I had half a breath to summon the blade before I collided with the Crusher’s back. I drove the Soul Knife deep into his spine and poured my magic into the dagger. Black shadows boiled off my arm like smoke, and my skin burned as it turned to ice.
The Crusher opened his jaws and roared.
Gritting my teeth, I dug in with the blade, feeling the taut resistance from Dragan’s soul. He clung to his host like iron, and the knife wouldn’t cut.
Help me!
My wolf’s power flowed into me like sweet nectar, and the blade grew white hot. Then, with a gut-wrenching tear, it swung free. There was an explosion of magic as it sliced through Dragan’s soul, and I stumbled back.
The monstrous beast dropped to his knees, then fell face-first onto the roof, bringing Jaxson down with him.
The Crusher’s head twisted toward me, his mouth open in a lifeless scream of horror. Thunder ripped through the sky above as the white light in his eyes went out and dissipated in smoke.
I pulled the talisman from my pocket, waiting for the moment that I knew would come—just as it had after I’d cut Dragan’s soul from Kahanov.
My wound began to burn as a pale, spectral apparition rose from the corpse.
But it wasn’t Dragan. It was the Crusher. He loomed just as large as he’d been in life.
My arm dropped, and I stepped back.
The ghost of the Crusher spread his hands wide, and his voice roared in my mind. You little bitch! I should’ve caved your head in! How I would’ve loved to feel the slick pieces of your skull slip between my fingers.
He lunged forward, hands outstretched. I’ll haunt you unt—
The phantom dissipated into wisps of smoke as a translucent green spirit ripped through it.
Dragan.
I will possess you! the spirit screamed, a silent vibration that shook the rooftop. I will force you to rip out the throat of your mate with that little knife of yours.
He shot forward and dove into me as I raised the talisman.
Fight him! Wolfie cried from within my soul.
My arms began to shift between human and wolf as Dragan fought within me, trying to take hold. I felt all the poison and hatred in his soul as he thrust himself into me.
No!
With a scream of rage, my soul pushed against his. Wolfie joined her strength to mine as Dragan struggled for dominance.
I raised the black talisman high overhead. That was where the fucking evil bastard belonged.
Black shadows billowed from my skin as I concentrated my will, and with a final burst of power, I thrust the green specter out of me and into the onyx.
His unearthly scream was cut off as the last tendrils of green light drained from my body. The black stone glowed with a radioactive light, and the charm seared its shape in my hand.
I dropped it to the ground, and a trail of smoke curled up off it.
The tornado above me exploded into clouds and began to drift apart, but I had only one care in the world.
Jaxson.