Page 101 of Claim the Light
Tyler is an opponent to me now. Not the man who once controlled where I went, what I wore, and often what I ate.
He is a creature of bones and flesh with wings, a chest, arms, and legs, all of which can be broken. If I force them to become solid, living matter first.
My left hand flies out as I make contact with Tyler’s still-outstretched arm. Power bursts through me, his arm becomes solid, and I upset his balance and nick his arm with the blade at the same time.
Blood splatters the rooftop and his eyes widen.
I don’t stop.
Flipping the blade so that it points toward my elbow and allows my right fist to connect with his chest as fully as possible, I follow up with a flurry of blows that force his body into flesh and take the brunt of my new strength.
He rallies and fights back, but I evade his hits and my armor protects me from the rare punches that he manages to land. He may have acquired his combat skills in a gym, but he wasn’t taught by a Grudge dragon who was forced to survive by his fists.
I beat Tyler around the rooftop, cutting his arms and legs, nearly slashing his wings, until I manage to fully upset his balance and knock him onto his back.
He lands heavily, but I’m in position, straddling him as we fall, one knee bent to take the impact without breaking my own bones.
I’ve switched the dagger to my right hand and now my left presses to the center of his chest.
Intense warmth pools between us, cutting through the ash covering Tyler’s chest and all the way across his shoulders. He is living skin. Muscles. And a heart with beats that thud through my palm.
My dagger is poised above his chest, and even though his hands are wrapped around mine and he grunts with the effort to keep my blade at bay, he doesn’t seem to have the strength to stop me.
I’m conscious of the Scorn rushing to their feet again, but their reaction only angers Tyler.
“Stay the fuck back!” he roars at Niah. Then to me, in a snarl, he adds, “Get the fuck on with it, Sophia. Let’s see if I still have a heart.”
He lets go of the dagger.
I’m startled by his move, but the force I’m exerting on the blade drives it down.
It slices through his skin, right into his heart.
Thump.
He stiffens beneath me. His breathing slows, and the light within his eyes grows darker, like an encroaching night.
My chest is heaving, my muscles are aching, and my hands shake.
I have nothing left to say to him as I wait for his heart to stop beating.
I wait…
And wait…
The tension around his mouth smooths out. The hint of pain in his eyes fades. The dagger rests deep in his chest and his heart has stopped beating, but he continues to breathe, and now his sigh cuts through the growing confusion in my mind.
“I’ve been trying to tell you, Sophia,” he whispers. “You can’t kill me.”
No. It’s impossible.
His heart is real. I used my power to change his form from ash to flesh. The dagger cut right through it.
He should be dead.
A soft chuckles leaves his lips as I stare down at him.
Dread is rising within me, stronger than my fear of my own power, and it’s threatening to crush me.
