The Blessed And The Beast

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.

If Cora thought that was all it would take to kill me, she had another thing coming.

guards and the other at Cora. Blood dripped from

hear them splashing and gargling as the water swirled around them violently. Aurora rushed past me to get to them, her hand up and her lips moving as she

Cora dropped into it just as Aurora pulled the men from the water

as I limped toward Cora as quickly as possible. We weren’t equipped to battle a witch this strong, and I worried that we were only in the way. Still, I wasn’t going to give

of the crater Aurora had created. The dirt beneath her

of you stand a chance? I am more powerful now 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 will be next! I am doing what is best for our people!”

Cora’s shield continued to protect her, and I could feel Joselin growing tired. Still, her anger drove her on and matching her emotions, I pushed

angrily. My chest swelled with pride at my mate’s

into me as I fought against her, my claws digging into the moist Earth. I propelled myself forward and could

step I made forward. 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

alone protect my mate. My shoulder slammed into the thick wall of

beyond the barrier had the whole place trembling like an Earthquake. My body crashed into the wall again before I faced it and, in

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

thick with anger as I snarled in his face 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, double the training. Your families will never see you, and you will be so tired even the healers won’t be able to help you. I wouldn’t give up on your mates; if you give up on mine, I will make you regret

to me. I stepped back and matched their speed, crashing my shoulder into the wall, watching

body fought to heal while

before the wall started to crumble, and as soon

to our right. The blood that oozed from several lacerations made either apparent that she had been beaten to hell. From the

made us halt. Cora was being held up in the air, screaming in pain as my bloodied mate

it

was brutal

jaw as she pushed herself onto her hands and knees before standing. Joselin’s