I’ve been carved open and stripped down to the bone. Now it’s their turn.
“More,”Kael urges, brutal delight threading through the word as I snarl and bury him in the gut of a guard on my left.“Spill his entrails.”
“Don’t stop,”Lyra whispers, her voice trembling somewhere between exhilaration and grief.“They will never touch you again.”
I give in to the bloodlust, each strike faster and sharper than the last, fueled by weeks of torture.
The last of the screams near me fade out alongside their lives, the copper tang of blood heavy in the air in the wake of my destruction. My own breaths are ragged pants in the silent night. For a heartbeat I stand trembling, balanced between fury and grief, before I shove the latter down until only rage remains.
That’s when I see them.
Headlights glow from one of the most recent SUVs to show up, still idling and sending the sound of low vibrations from the engine. Inside, four shadows huddle behind the glass, weapons clutched but unmoving, their fear so thick I can almost smell it.
A bitter laugh claws its way out of my throat as I prowl toward them, my feet sticky against the ground where blood soaks the pavement. “So, without the restraints and sedatives, you’re suddenly cowering babies?” My voice is sharp and drips with mockery as I swing my daggers lazily at my sides, letting the moonlight glint off their bloodied edges. “Pathetic.”
I plant myself in front of the bumper, the white glare of their headlights stretching my shadow long across the ground. Inside,rifles jerk up, frantic hands clawing to aim at me through the glass. But I don’t flinch. With a snarl, I let the daggers fade into smoke and shadow, baring my hands. Fury surges like wildfire through my arms, my shoulders, and my spine, until I feel like I could tear the entire world apart piece by piece.
I squat to grip beneath the front bumper and heave.
The SUV groans in protest as the frame crunches under my hands, and then the whole frame lurches upward, my strength and momentum rolling it onto its side with a thunderous crash that rattles through the night. From inside, their screams for help are frenzied and broken…the wondrous sound of men realizing they are already dead.
My laughter rips free before I mutter, “Fucking pathetic little ants.”
A rifle discarded on the ground catches my eye, dropped by an already fallen guard. I step on him to snatch it up, its weight solid and familiar. With one sharp motion I jump onto the SUV’s side facing the night sky and crouch near the window, staring down at them.
Inside, the four guards thrash, their boots slamming against the trunk door, their voices cracking as they scream, curse, and beg all at once.
“No one is here to answer your prayers,” I mutter, letting my lip curl back in disgust. “So, I guess I’ll be answering my own instead.”
I don’t hesitate, lifting my gun to line up with their heads and squeezing out four shots in quick succession. Each round punches through bone, their bodies jerking once before slumping atop each other.
I don’t linger in the silence that follows, despite wanting to revel in the blood and stillness of the bodies I’ve left in ruin. My fangs pulse with the desire to feed, but a shiver of disgust crawls through me at the thought of their blood passing through me.
I’d rather starve again than feel tainted like that.
I leap down from the overturned vehicle and break into a jog back toward the wreck of our own. We need to get the hell out of here before more guards show up, ones that might potentially be armed with that damned chemical mist. If I had to guess, these fallen guards were just surface-level employees–the ones Dante said don’t know about what’s going on beneath the ground level. On hand instantly for Terrance to command, but no doubt he’s put together tactical hunter teams that are already on their way.
I take in deep breaths, every stride reminding me what’s at stake if I slow for even a heartbeat.
Elias stands next to the ruined passenger door when I reach him, pistol slack in one hand. His dark blue eyes are fixed on me like he’s trying to reconcile the girl bleeding in Terrance’s cell with the creature he just watched tear apart those guards.
“I had to stop shooting,” he admits with widening eyes. “You’re so damn fast, I was nervous I’d accidentally hit you.”
The air stills around me at that admission. My fury falters, unraveling into a jagged mess of emotion that sticks in my chest, making it impossible for me to decipher. His words should mean nothing, not after everything he’s allowed to happen. Not after every time he stood by while I screamed in agony.
I stand rooted at his side, unable to scrape together a response. My body moves again only because my brain remembers we have to keep moving, feet carrying me forward on autopilot.
My thoughts spill out softly. “I’m not quite sure what to say back to that…given our history.”
The words linger in the air only a breath before the sound of his boots scraping over glass and dirt drags my attention sideways. A split-second later a gunshot cracks through the night.
Did he just shoot me?
My gaze drops to my chest, braced for pain and the warmth of blood spreading across my skin. But there’s nothing. No sting or bloom of red. My heart hammers against my ribs as I whip around, the truth colliding with me all at once.
Elias.
He staggers in the headlights shining at us, his pistol slipping uselessly from his fingers as his knees buckle. The hole through his chest is dark and glistening.
