“Mom,” I croak as my feet slowly inch forward.
Her fingers twitch at my voice, and that’s all it takes for my body to respond. I’m across the space in a second, the sound of my breath too loud in my ears as I lift her face with shaking fingers and look for her eyes.
They open slowly, unfocused at first, then find me, and her bloody, cracked lips part.
“Briar.”
My bottom lip wobbles and hot tears spring up to fill my vision. “It’s me, Mom. You’re safe now. Papa, Dad, and Father are all here, too, getting the prisoners out.”
A ghost of a smile tugs at her mouth just before her head slumps forward again, seemingly unconscious.
“Mom!” I snap, shaking her head lightly within my palms to try and stir her. “Mom, open your eyes!”
Behind me, somewhere outside the door I forced, I hear footsteps take the corner at a measured pace that doesn’t belong to any who fears for their life. The hair lifts at the back of my neck because I’d know that pretentious cadence anywhere.
The footsteps draw closer, unhurried, each one echoing with the kind of certainty that makes my pulse pound harder in my throat. Terrance always moved like this, like the whole world bent to his pace and he never needed to rush to catch his prey.
As I turn to block Mom’s body with my own, I slowly unsheath Kael and Lyra, pulling on the strength they hum through our bond, to hold back the tremble threatening to overtake me.
It’s one thing to think you can walk back into the place that abused you and stole a piece of your soul, but it’s another to actually be there staring your captor in the face.
“Take a breath and remember he is no match for you now,”Kael commands, his voice leaving no room for argument. It cuts through my anxiety and I do as he says as the steps draw nearer, letting my chest expand with as deep a breath as I can take before slowly blowing it out.“He is an ant. He is nothing. He is here to meet his reckoning.”
The runes at their hilts pulse with a steady energy that threads strength through my spine.
“You have never been stronger than you are right now,”Lyra assures me, her soft voice laced with a steady determination.“He is surrounded by our teams. There is no escape for him, only death, and we are here to deliver it and save countless lives in the future by doing so.”
By the time he slides through the opening, my gaze is narrowed, my breathing even, and my heart and mind focused.
“Briar.” His voice fills the room, smooth and cruel in its calmness. “I was wondering how long it would take you to find us.”
I don’t answer. My fangs ache in my gums as the bloodlust surges forward.
He looks the same and worse all at once–his eyes a little hollower, his hair greasy, but the same smug curve of his mouth is left unchanged. The smile of a man who thinks he’s untouchable, even in the face of his empire collapsing.
He sweeps his gaze over my body and I resist giving him the satisfaction of shivering under his focus. “You’ve grown stronger,” he says almost thoughtfully, like I’m a plant he left in the dark and he can’t quite believe it survived. “I knew what you were the night I laid eyes on you in front of that campus, from the composed and graceful way your body shifted ever-so-slightly. The way your eyes tracked every detail with a rapid speed. Looking at you now, I can see a newfound confidence in your abilities.”
The rage surging inside me burns hotter, nearly blinding. I tighten my grip on Lyra and Kael as I bite back, “You know I’m not here for idle chitchat, Terrance, so let’s cut out the evil villain monologue and get straight to your throat being cut open.”
This time, I’m not chained to his chair. This time, I’m not the victim.
I snarl, stepping forward as the pain and grief I’ve carried sharpen into a single point, every muscle in me ready to strike.
The moment breaks as he yells, “Release the reserve mist!”
I don’t have time to process what he means by that as he lunges first, faster than a man his age should move, but he’s no match for me. Lyra flashes up to catch the blade he pulls from his coat, the screech of metal meeting metal ringing through the room. Kael drives forward in my other hand and I twist my body with the motion, slicing across his side before he can fully block the blow. He snarls, the sound more animal than human, and slams his shoulder into me, trying to drive me back. I meet him head on, my fangs bared as I push him off and spin low, my blades carving shallow lines across his thighs.
“Release it, I said!” he snarls, spit flying from his mouth as his eyes dart to the cameras.
I watch the fear enter his eyes as he realizes just how thoroughly fucked he is. He underestimated the strength of the force we would bring with us, or maybe he was naïve enough to think that his own family wouldn’t pass along every little detail we needed to ensure our victory is decisive and swift.
Rage twists his face and blots of red fill his cheeks as he breathes heavily. “You think killing me will change anything? There are more compounds and people beneath me to run them.We will always fight back against the vermin infiltrating our world.”
A low, humorless laugh bubbles up from my stomach and it only further drives his anger as he spits, “This world will always know how weak you are! How your body looked naked and broken, your skin and hair burned away, helpless to our weaponized scientific advancements.”
The reminder of that violation causes a cold feeling to seep through my limbs, but I don’t let it drag me under. I allow it to remind me exactly what I owe him in return. I could have killed him by now, but part of me isn’t ready for that yet. The bloodlust and thirst for vengeance won’t be satiated with a quick death. He deserves to suffer, to be played with, and to be mocked.
He rushes in once more, bleeding from cuts on his legs, stomach, and cheek. Each time his knife flashes, my daggers answer. The room is alive with the thud of our boots against tile and the hiss of our breath as we circle and strike. He doesn’t land a single one on me this time.
