The Beast And The Blessed

Sixty-Six: Tobias

Tobias's P.O.V.

My teeth sunk into her flesh, hot blood filling my mouth as Cora screamed. The taste of it washing over my tongue was exciting. All the stress and pain Cora had caused my mate had me dreaming about this moment... about ending her life.

I wanted to rip Cora's throat out, but she turned just in time for me to latch my jaws around her bicep. She rolled to the ground with me, using her powers to pry me off. I felt the Earth moving beneath us before two objects shot through the dirt.

Joselin's scream of terror echoed through my head, and I wanted to get to her. I needed to.

In my head, I could feel myself moving. I knew how to get my legs to work, but they didn't want to listen.

Snarling and yips of pain could be heard as my warriors sprang into action, fighting the witch. I couldn't blink as I lifted my head, staring at the two large spikes of wood impaling me.

My hand wrapped around the closest spike, snapping it in half with a growl of anger before moving to the second one. The shaking was unavoidable as I pushed my body up and off the base of the spikes. Blood poured down my front and back as I felt my torso begin to heal itself.

It took longer than I had hoped before the feeling returned to my legs, and the ringing in my ears faded behind the sound of the war around me.

Aurora had risen and was at my side, helping me up with a groan of pain.

"Do something!" I ordered, knowing it wasn't my place to order her around, but she was a descendant of the Goddess, for fuck's sake. She should be able to blink Cora out of existence if she wanted.

"I can't. Cora is at her strongest right now, having just taken another's magic, and I haven't had time to recover fully. I was away for a long time, and my magic doesn't recharge instantly. It normally takes a few days, sometimes weeks, to replenish." She looked terrified as she peered around me, cringing at whatever she saw. 1

The sound of Joselin letting out a groan of pain had me turning and forcing my damaged body to race toward my mate. Each step sent a stab of agony through me, and I stumbled forward to get to her as my skin tried to pull itself back together.

it would take to kill me, she had another

stood on wobbly legs, one hand aimed at the guards and the other at Cora. Blood dripped from her button nose, and

flying through the air and into the hot springs. I could hear them splashing and gargling as the water swirled around

into it just as Aurora pulled the men from the water with

coughed up the hot liquid as I limped toward Cora as quickly as possible. We weren't equipped to battle a witch

the second until she was out of the crater Aurora had created. The dirt

than you could imagine! I will no longer be under anyone's rule when I am done with you. After I deal with Cyrus, those incompetent children wearing the crown

could feel Joselin growing tired. Still, her

Cora to stumble back, her shield cracking, flickering angrily. My chest swelled with pride at my

Cora spun. Her hand shot out and sent me back toward the mouth of the cave. Wet bodies crashed into me as I fought against her, my claws digging into

But my need to get to Joselin motivated me to keep fighting, to resist her spell. Just as I broke past the other warriors, the Earth trembled, and a flat wall shot up, leaving us in complete darkness and trapping us in the

see, let alone protect my mate. My shoulder slammed into the thick wall of packed soil,

Earthquake. My body crashed into the wall again before I faced it and, in desperation, resorted to digging at it like

heard him over my heavy breathing and my claws ripping chunks out of the wall. "Stop. They

but made my threat known to every warrior with us. "If you guys don't help me tear this wall down in the next few minutes, I will spend the rest of my life destroying every ounce of happiness you have. Every night patrol, every supply run,

into the wall next to me. I stepped back and matched their speed, crashing my shoulder into the wall, watching with satisfaction as even

as my body fought to heal while I continued to exert my energy.

hours before the wall started to crumble, and as soon as my fist shot through it,

first one I saw; her body was dripping wet as she gasped for air against the large rocks to our right. The blood that oozed from several lacerations made either apparent that she had been beaten to

made us halt. Cora was being held up in the air, screaming in pain as my bloodied mate panted below her. There was a large gash across Joselin's forehead, and we all flinched when Joselin

her ward was still present, but it

mate was brutal

that all you've got?" Cora laughed, blood spilling down her jaw as she pushed herself onto her hands and knees before standing. Joselin's breathing was ragged, but Cora looked in my direction