* * *
Ryland
They take her away. They wheel her out as she lays writhing in agony. Her screams pierce my ears and heart as I watch on helplessly, thrashing against my restraints, and I can feel the silver bleed into my skin, my skin melting away under it.
I try to listen, but I am much too weak. I am unable to even focus on my surroundings long enough to focus on my hearing. Looking down, I am still losing blood, becoming weaker by the second as I pray my mates will get to her in time.
Amara’s message rings loudly in my head, and the doom that follows if I fail. I failed; I set a path toward a future that will be snuffed into existence. I feel my link to her grow weaker, weaker as the seconds tick by, and I know my mates can feel my failure.
My agonized scream echoes off the walls as I feel my teether to her snap painfully, like a hot poker is shoved into my chest, removing her soul as she dies. I can almost hear her last breath as I gasp. Tears burn my eyes, and I know I have failed. She is gone; our little mate is dead. They left her with me, trusted me with her, and I failed her.
Hearing footsteps outside the door, I look at it. The door opens, and a man in a lab coat walks in. He is young, only in his twenties, yet I can tell by the way he looks at me with pure hatred he has been raised a hunter, raised to despise anything that isn’t human. His black glasses perch on his nose as he steps into the room.
He walks over, crouching in front of me. “I would say congratulations on your baby girl, but you will never see her. She is just a means to an end,” he mocks.
I growl at him, thrashing, but he doesn’t even flinch; he knows he has the upper hand in this situation. He knows I can’t escape, and just to make sure, he pulls a syringe from his pocket. I identify the green liquid instantly as wolfsbane and brace myself for it.
He brushes his blonde mop of hair from his eyes. His hazel eyes glint wickedly. I thought Thaddeus was evil, but by the look in his eyes, this man is worse. They think we are monsters, yet he is here to get his jollies off over inflicting pain.
He stabs the needle into the bullet hole in my chest, squeezing the plunger as I feel the acidic liquid burn through my cells, gritting my teeth. He seems dissatisfied that he doesn’t get the reaction he is hoping for; instead, he pulls a knife from his pocket. The blade glints under the dim light, casting shadows on the walls as he twirls it between his fingers.
“You think you’re the higher beings of the earth. Little do you know you are just a pawn in our games. Thaddeus, your mate, will fall, and I will watch him die and gladly reap the rewards of being the world’s hero,” he says and pushes the blade into my stomach. The silver slices through my skin like a hot knife on butter and he twists it. His face contorts as he smiles, showing his teeth.
“You’re all dead; every goddamn one of you,” I spit at him, choking on my own blood.
“I don’t think so,” he says, as he turns and nods to the man standing guard at the door with a gun in his hand.
I hear the sound of a trolley and see another man in black armor push the gurney into the room, dripping with blood. He walks beside it, dumping the body wrapped in a sheet at my feet. Evelyn’s limp, dead body falls to the ground with a thud; the sickening sound of her head hitting the concrete as she is dumped on the ground like garbage makes bile rise in my throat.
“Yet you react to her. What is so special about an insignificant human?” he asks, pulling the blade from my stomach and stabbing her in the chest. I thrash as I watch him mutilate her body, mutilate her face. The man in armor throws up on the ground near the door. The man in front of me looks at him over his shoulder and looks back at me, shaking his head in disgust. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, he clicks his tongue. “Some don’t have the stomach for this line of work,” he states as he stands up.
“I will leave you with this,” he says, kicking her body with his foot.
As he walks toward the door, I can’t help it; I laugh. They have no idea what they have done or what is coming for them. The man in armor stares at me, yet I have tears rolling down my face from laughing. They talk of destroying him, yet he will destroy everyone and everything when he finds her, and he will find us. They have no idea what they have awoken, the hell that is about to rain down on everyone and everything.
They stop, staring back at me. The man in armor looks at his boss nervously.
“I would run if I were you. You have destroyed the last shred of his humanity. You have just awoken the devil. He will bring hell on earth for what you have done,” I tell him as I break out into fits of laughter.
“Ignore him; fear does weird things to people,” the man says, pushing the others toward the door and closing it while I continue to laugh. That’s all I have left – the sick satisfaction of knowing Thaddeus is going to destroy them all, destroy all of us.
Thaddeus
Amara is the one who first alerts us; we are on our way back and have just stepped onto the busy main street when my phone starts ringing, making us stop. She utters one word like she has seen it seconds before she rings, seconds before agony tears through me.
“I’m on my way.”
The phone is dead just as I am brought to my knees, and Orion, who is still walking, collapses violently in a heap. My veins feel like they are on fire as I feel Ryland’s pain through the bond, taking my breath away. As I clutch at my shoulder, acid moves through my veins, engulfing everything in flames. Evelyn’s fear hits us, pure panic kicking in, and I can feel that she is running. Feel her getting weaker as she, too, feels Ryland’s pain and her own.
Orion is screaming on the ground, trying to put out the invisible flames consuming him while I try to breathe through it unsuccessfully. People wonder why two people are suddenly on the ground writhing in pain, yet I don’t care; all I care about is getting to them.
Then, suddenly it stops, it stops just as quick as it starts. Orion’s screams die out, and I roll onto my hands and knees, panting as anger courses through me and I stand up. People in the main street back up; the ground rumbles violently beneath my hands, the road cracks, along with the building around me as I feel the darkness trying to take over. But I need a clear mind, need to find them as I focus on them, focus on my mates.
Orion stands. Sweat coats his body and drenches his shirt, something I have never seen on him as he struggles to find his legs. My phone shattered on the ground from where it fell from my hand. Moving, I make my way to Orion, grab his arm, and haul him to his feet as his legs give way from under him.
“We need to move, come on,” I gasp out, catching my breath. Frightened onlookers scatter as we stagger down the street and cars stop as we dart across the road and into their path.
“What did they use?” Orion coughs out, still trying to catch his breath.
“I have no idea, but whatever it is, it has to be ten times worse for Ryland.”
“Evelyn?” he asks, his voice shaking with fear.
“The link severed,” I tell him, knowing they must be unconscious.
We start running, forcing ourselves to move, heading home, praying we make it, and get to them in time. When we hit the concealed driveway, I get a burst of energy as the house comes into view. My Mother and Father, I can hear inside. The front door is thrown open while Amara comes running from the trees beside the house.
“They aren’t here! I didn’t get here in time,” Amara says, fear on her face as her eyes scrutinize our surroundings.
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