Kaelos' POV
*****
The moment the blood moon blackened, I knew this was no ordinary fight.
The sky wasn't just dark, it was choking.
That silver-red pulse that had been bleeding across the clouds dimmed into something worse, an emptiness that pressed against my skin like a second, suffocating layer.
And Ryker's smirk never faltered.
When the orb of black energy swelled between his claws, Damon howled inside me.
Move!
I lunged, wrapping an arm around Odessa's waist and dragging her back, planting my boots deep in the snow. The air around the orb rippled with heat and cold at once, a contradiction that tasted like blood and ash on my tongue.
Then it hit.
The blast ripped through the field, a wave of force so sharp I felt it shear the top layer of skin from my arms, causing me to snarl with pain. Snow and dirt exploded into the sky.
A black crack split the ground between us, jagged and hissing with smoke like the earth itself was scorched from the inside out.
