Arrow Inferno
Chapter 82: Jeremy Stanton vs. Ryan Hicks ~ Feral attraction in the midst of hatred… Meet the father!

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"Alright, alright, I'll give it to you." Reynard chuckled. "Deloris right? I don't know how you did it but, good job. I love it when warlocks who think they are powerful come up against me. I enjoy bringing them down a peg or two. I enjoy even more, hearing them beg for their lives. But watching the life die out of their eyes is always the best part."

"Oh wait...you thought all this was me?" Deloris looked downright amused. "No Reynard. Today is going to go down in history as the day the great Reynard Wyatt got his arse handed to him by a wolf. Not even the alpha himself you asshole. The alpha's mate."

Reynard looked stunned for a moment. Then he burst into laughter and turned to Ryan. "Listen, boy, you're not really the one I'm after. It's Jeremy I want. If you give me your mate's location, I could at least make your death quick. What do you say?"

"You arrogant son-of-a-bitch." Deloris couldn't believe the warlock had actually suggested that Ryan betray his mate. "You're so stupid if you expect him to betray his mate. Are you for..."

"I don't have time for this nonsense." With that angry growl, Reynard shot out of his chair and directed a beam of highly concentrated, torch-like fire towards Deloris and Ryan.

Deloris gasped in fright but that fire never got to them because Ryan's hand shot out to deflect it, sending it back to Reynard who reflexively extinguished the fire by shooting a thin blast of powdery ice from the tip of his fingers. The Lord Command stared at Ryan with a shocked expression.

"Shit," Ryan muttered, looking down at his fingers. "Almost as if we were playing tennis."

Deloris would have laughed at that had it not been for the fact that her heart was pounding so hard. "Great reflexes." She breathed, still reeling from what had almost happened. But for Ryan, the two of them would be toast. "Well, thanks to you I have immunity, remember?" Ryan responded, still staring at his hands. "Why are my fingers cold?"

"They are?" Deloris asked with widened eyes. And at Ryan's nod, she gasped. "Oh my god."

Deloris wasn't exactly sure what power Ryan had just displayed. It could either be the power of absorption or mimicry. If it was the latter, then it meant Ryan had the ability to permanently copy powers that were used against him by other magical beings. If on the other hand, it was the former, then not only could Ryan copy the powers of others, but he could actually absorb it from the original owner, leaving the owner without that particular power. That also meant that Ryan would then become immune to that particular power. Deloris prayed it was the power of absorption that Ryan had because if it was, then Reynard was fucked. Deloris looked up to see Reynard staring at Ryan's fingers. He knew. Deloris couldn't help the smirk that found its way onto her face.

"Told ya!" Deloris sneered. "You're going down, old man."

"Enough!" Reynard roared, his face darkening in anger. He'd felt himself lose some of his powers just seconds earlier when he'd used them against the boy. Hell, the cold dust on the boy's fingers was evidence enough. He obviously had the power of absorption. A warlock? Obviously, all wasn't as it seemed. "Raj, tell me who he is, now."

"I just told you who he..." Deloris began but got cut off by the scream that tore out of one of the women around Reynard's table.

"This is not good, Reynard." The woman shook hard as she addressed her clan head. "He's your...he's your son."

A collective gasp went up from everyone in the room, with a shocked Reynard breathing; "What?"

"The fuck?" Ryan gasped in shock, staring at the woman who had dared uttered those silly words.

There was a long, terrible stretch of silence during which Ryan took a good look at Reynard Wyatt. He noticed the hair and the eyes. Well...strange, he thought, taking in Reynard's white long-sleeved, high-necked t-shirt and white pants. He almost laughed when John Webster's 'The White Devil' popped into his mind.

"I have no children and you know it." The Lord Command rasped, clenching his fists to hide how badly they shook. He was visibly seething.

"You mean you killed them." Deloris hissed and then actually grinned when a furious Reynard let fly a fireball in her direction.

Too late, Reynard realized he'd been tricked into using another power against Ryan. Although his target had been Deloris, the bitch was standing so close to Ryan it was just as though he'd used the power against Ryan. Meaning, his power of conjuring fireballs was also gone...absorbed by Ryan. And of course, Ryan sent the ball hurtling right back at him. Reynard saw the smug look on Deloris' face waver when the fireball bounced harmlessly against him and went off. Yes, he'd activated his shield. Nothing could touch him from then on for as long as he remained within that shield. Ryan looked clueless but Deloris didn't look happy with the latest development. The Lord Command couldn't pass up an opportunity to gloat.

"Eat that bitch." Then he turned to look at his still terrified Seer. "Raj?" He didn't have to spell out what he wanted to know.

"Pierre Part." Raj began shakily. "Thirty-one years ago. Emma..."

"Emma Hicks?" Reynard bellowed. "Pathetic Emma Hicks?"

"Hey, you can't..." Ryan began but got cut off when Reynard went right on raging as if he hadn't spoken.

"You mean that bitch got pregnant?" Reynard roared, causing glasses and mirrors in the room to explode into shards. His angry eyes remained on the seer. "How come you never saw this?"

"I don't know Reynard." The seer groaned. "There's more..." She looked like she was going to be physically sick.

"Tell me," Reynard demanded.

"He...all the...your six children..."

"What of my six children?" Reynard snapped.

"They had divine powers, Rey..."

"Everyone knows my kids had great powers," Reynard growled. "They were given to them by a fucking god."

"He..." Raj swallowed audibly. "As your only living child, the powers of all your children have been transferred to him." She pointed a shaky finger at Ryan. "He has all their powers. With all those powers he's almost as powerful as a god. Which makes him..." She looked terrified.

"Makes him what?" Reynard bellowed, making everyone at the table jump in fright.

"That makes him stronger... Stronger than you." The seer breathed.

In a fit of rage, Reynard stretched forth his hand towards the Seer, with an obvious intention of killing her with that beam of highly concentrated fire that he'd attempted to kill Deloris and Ryan with moments earlier. The Lord Command looked at his hand in surprise when nothing happened. In his rage, he'd completely forgotten he'd been stripped of that power by Ryan. He quickly conjured an energy ball and angrily hurled it at Raj, who immediately exploded into fiery pieces. With that close a hit, it was no surprise she exploded.

"You're supposed to see everything and tell me before it happens." The furious warlock screamed at the empty space where the Seer used to be. "What's your use if you can't do your job?"

"Are you out of your mi..." One man around the table began but he never completed his sentence because with a snap of Reynard's finger, his neck snapped in a weird angle, killing him instantly.

"Anyone else has something to say?" The Lord Command looked at the remaining two around the table. Both fearfully shook their heads. "Good. Now to you, boy. I don't believe what my very dead Seer just said but...let's give her the benefit of the doubt. You're the only person who can prove that you're my offspring." He went quiet for a moment. Then breathed; "Show me your deformity."