Felicity's Beast World Apocalypse-Chapter 122: No Power Duel

The lane behind the apartment blocks had become busy without anyone deciding it should be. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

People drifted there because Felicity had stopped there first.

An elderly woman sat on an overturned crate with both hands wrapped around a chipped mug while Felicity crouched in front of her, one knee pressed to the ground and her oversized shirt slipping slightly off one shoulder as she leaned forward to listen. The woman spoke slowly, voice thin with age and exhaustion, explaining something about her joints and the cold mornings making her hands stiff. Felicity nodded with quiet concentration and reached forward without hesitation, her fingers brushing gently over the woman’s knuckles before the soft glow gathered again in her palm.

The light was small, it didn’t flare.Warmth moved through the woman’s hands like heat soaking into cold stone.

The woman’s shoulders loosened almost immediately and she exhaled through a relieved laugh that sounded younger than the lines on her face suggested.

Felicity smiled.

She moved to the next person before the thanks finished forming.

A man with a wrapped ankle shifted forward and sat heavily on the edge of the crate she had vacated. Felicity crouched again, leaning closer to inspect the swelling through the cloth. Her fox ears flicked slightly when he spoke and she nodded once before pressing her hand gently over the injury.

The same soft light spread through the fabric.

Around them the lane had grown quieter without anyone consciously deciding to lower their voices.

Two guards standing at the corner of the building had been watching the crowd when Felicity first knelt down. At some point their shoulders relaxed and their spears dipped slightly from their ready stance. One of them rested the butt of his weapon against the ground without noticing when he made the adjustment.

The air felt softer, less tight.

Arguments that had started near the water barrels faded into muttered conversations instead of escalating. A pair of children who had been bickering over a broken toy drifted closer to watch Felicity work.

Felicity did not notice any of it.

She simply moved from person to person with quiet patience, listening when they spoke and pressing her glowing hand over injuries that had been ignored for weeks because Vineyard did not have the luxury of real healers.

The line grew longer.

Someone brought another stool for an old man whose back would not let him stand long. Someone else passed Felicity a cup of water which she accepted with a small smile before setting it aside untouched while she worked.

The guards noticed the change in the lane. They did not understand it, but they felt it.

Their vigilance softened in ways that would normally have made them uneasy.

No one questioned it.

Voss did.

He had been leaning against the far wall for several minutes with his arms folded loosely across his chest while he watched Felicity move through the small crowd. His golden eyes moved slowly across the lane, not studying the people she helped but the way the space itself responded to her presence.

The guards had lowered their weapons. A man who had been arguing earlier now stood quietly with his hands in his pockets.

No one pushed forward in the line, no one tried to take advantage of the moment. They waited.

Voss pushed himself off the wall.

He crossed the lane in a few long strides and stopped beside Felicity just as she finished easing the pain from the old man’s ankle.

Felicity looked up at him with a soft blink.

Voss crouched slightly and slid one arm around her waist before lifting her easily off the ground.

"That’s enough," he said, Felicity made a small surprised noise as her feet left the pavement.

Her ears flicked once in confusion and she blinked at the people still standing in front of her.

"But!"

"People are noticing," Voss said quietly.

Felicity tilted her head slightly. She glanced around the lane as if seeing it properly for the first time.

Several people were watching her.

The guards were watching too. Her mouth parted slightly in surprise.

"Oh."

Voss adjusted her weight against his hip and started toward the end of the lane.

Felicity made another small noise that sounded more like mild protest than resistance but she did not struggle. One hand rested against his shoulder while the other still held the faint trace of warmth from the last healing she had done.

Damien stepped into the lane from the opposite direction just as they reached the corner. His eyes moved immediately to Felicity in Voss’s arms.

Then they moved past her, their pupils narrowed slightly.

The air tasted different, not danger, a presence, a predator had been here.

Damien inhaled slowly.

The scent was faint and already fading but the instinct behind it lingered like pressure in the back of his throat.

Apex.

His tongue pressed briefly against the inside of his teeth as he tasted the trace again.

Unknown male, close, watching, interested.

Damien’s gaze lifted toward the rooftops without moving his head.

Nothing, the presence had already withdrawn.

His jaw tightened.

He stepped closer to Voss and Felicity and slid one arm around her legs where they rested against Voss’s hip.

The movement looked casual,

Possessive. Felicity noticed the shift immediately.

She looked between them with mild curiosity before her expression softened into something fond.

She leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to Voss’s cheek, then she turned and kissed Damien too.

Damien’s hand tightened against her thigh.

The kiss did not stay quick.

He pulled her closer and deepened it immediately, his mouth claiming hers with enough intensity that the small crowd still lingering in the lane forgot to pretend they were not watching.

Felicity’s breath hitched softly, panting for air.

Her fingers curled into Damien’s shirt as he held her against him.

The kiss lingered long enough that her breathing turned uneven by the time he finally pulled back.

She looked up at him with wide eyes, her cheeks warm and her lips slightly parted."Huh," she breathed softly.

Her expression carried that same soft confusion she had whenever his intensity caught her off guard.

Damien’s gaze lingered on her face for a moment longer before his attention shifted back to the lane.

The trace of the other predator had vanished.

But the memory of it remained.

They moved out of the lane and into the wider street where the rest of Snow Team had gathered.

Marx leaned against a railing nearby while Ivan stood beside him studying a map someone had pinned to the wall earlier. Legend sat on the edge of a low barrier with his arms resting loosely over his knees.

Their attention shifted immediately when Voss carried Felicity into view. Then their eyes flicked to her face.

Her lips were still flushed, breathing not quite steady. Marx raised one eyebrow slowly.

Legend’s mouth twitched.

Sarge noticed something else entirely.

Caldrens stood several meters away near the edge of the street watching the group with an expression that carried the quiet tension of someone who had already decided something unpleasant was about to happen.

Sarge stepped away from the wall and walked toward him.

He stopped a few feet away "What do you want."

Caldrens did not look away from Snow Team.

His jaw tightened once "a duel." The word hung in the air long enough for Damien to hear it.

Damien stepped forward before Sarge could answer "I’ll take it."

Sarge glanced at him briefly.

Damien’s shoulders were already loose with the restless energy still humming through him.

Sarge stepped aside.

He moved back toward Felicity and positioned himself a short distance away, close enough to intervene if necessary but not close enough to crowd her.

The small open space in the middle of the street cleared quickly as people stepped back to watch.

Caldrens rolled his shoulders once "No powers," he said.

Damien smiled slightly.

"Fine."

They stepped toward each other.

The first strike came fast.

Caldrens lunged forward with a sharp hook aimed at Damien’s ribs. Damien twisted sideways and let the punch slide past him before driving his own fist forward into Caldrens’ shoulder hard enough to force him back two steps.

The crowd inhaled.

Caldrens recovered quickly and came forward again with a low sweep aimed at Damien’s legs. Damien jumped the strike and caught Caldrens across the jaw with a short brutal punch that snapped his head sideways.

Caldrens staggered, he came back anyway.

The next exchange was faster.

Two punches.

One block.

A knee strike that Damien turned aside with his forearm before slamming his elbow into Caldrens’ chest.

The air rushed out of Caldrens’ lungs.

Damien followed with a final strike that sent him down to one knee on the pavement.

The fight ended there.

Caldrens stayed down for a moment with his hand braced against the ground while he caught his breath.

Damien stepped back.

Felicity clapped immediately.

Her face lit up with bright delighted pride "You won!" she said happily.

Damien glanced back at her, tension still humming under his skin eased slightly at the sight of her smile.

Behind them Sarge’s gaze drifted slowly across the rooftops again.

Because somewhere out there another predator had been watching.