Chapter 1
Pop,pop,pop.My hand was steady, even as I fought the kickback of the gun. I shot my last magic-laced bullet into this werewolf’s skull. His mouth opened wide in shock as the magic was triggered on impact, and the wolfsbane poison I infused into it spread like wildfire, the bullet going through his head and out the other side.
As the body dropped to the floor, all I could think of was the accuracy of the shot and how far away from the target it was then mentally cataloged the information gathered to make any adjustments in the lab. I couldn’t care less I killed someone, that’s what they got for messing with us. I think it had been ingrained in all of us heirs that no one goes against the Syndicate and lives.
It was one of the things I think we all realized when Rayla made her ex apologize to us. She showed us right then and there how dedicated she was to the Syndicate but also to all of us individually. After that, Ax, Avery, and I looked at each other for a second and nodded, letting each other know we felt the same as her. We were the future of the Syndicate and were brothers whether we liked it.
A male cried out, begging for his life, until the crunching of bones and ripping of skin silenced him. To my left, Ax was in wolf form on two legs with a male fae in two pieces on the floor, and his eyes were dull and lifeless.
Supes were harder to kill than humans, usually, because we had our own biological ways to slow pain, heal, and avoid death. Fae and mages have magic and potions to prolong our existence until we get to someone for a more in-depth healing. Werewolves and vampires had biological healing abilities, but if you cut off their head or tore out their heart, there was no going back from that.
I glanced around at the carnage we had caused. A sea of bloody and broken bodies laid beneath me, making it hard to move without stepping on a limb or slipping on the pools of crimson on the floor. Rick was in the corner ripping out the heart of a vampire while he complained about his victim’s haircut and said he was doing him a favor by killing him.
A bloody corpse landed next to me, and Avery grinned down as he descended. “I was thinking of giving this one to Rayla.” He pointed to the body he just dropped with a bloody knife in its own hand and a jagged rose cut into its chest. Avery grinned at me as he nudged me with his elbow and waggled his eyebrows in excitement. “They say girls like flowers, and since our Fierce Girl likes everything bloody and violent, I thought this would be better. Right?”
I turned away from him, not answering his question, as I didn’t think about things like giving gifts to women. My eyes flicked back down, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she would like his ‘gift’? Should I think of my own gruesome gift for her? I rolled my eyes at myself, shaking my head as I turned away from him. What the fuck was I thinking?! That woman was making me feel and think things that were driving me insane.
Rick, Avery, Ax, and I turned as one toward the double doors as a dangerous and menacing presence came our way. I moved the barrel two clicks as I sparked my other hand with fire, bracing myself for anything, not knowing what this Breken had up his sleeve.
The doors flew open as Cosmo stomped his way in and over to us covered in blood like he came straight out of a horror film. His eyes narrowed on us as he said, “Where the fuck is Rayla?”
My pulse quickened as I extinguished my flames and turned my head, my eyes darting around the vast room to search for her.
“RayRay?!” No one answered, and he followed quickly with, “This isn’t funny!” Rick pouted as he took off to search for her, and his face went from mad to panicked within seconds.
“Fuck. Rayla!” Cosmo turned back around, heading toward the hallway we first came through. His eyes grew dark as he bellowed over his shoulder as he spit out, “Find her!”
Ax shifted back into his human form, growling at his command, but still turned around and searched for her, sniffing the air to try and find her scent. I doubted he would find it with all the blood and fear soaking the air in the room, but it didn’t hurt to still try. Rick was zooming around the room, calling out for her as if she were playing hide and seek, but the hitch in his voice when she continued to not respond was evidence of his panic.
Avery flew up into the air, scanning overhead for her. I surveyed the room for any clues as to where she had gone. All the drugs they ruined were near the open bay, lids on the crates were opened, and the glass vials were shattered in the back of the loading truck. A few of them must’ve gotten wise and tried to dump the drugs while we were distracted with fighting. I stalked over, searching for anything to take to the lab. I caught a flash of something in the corner closest to me—a small unbroken vile that must have slid out before being thrown. Or someone pulled it out, meaning to take it with them afterward.
I picked it up and put it in my pocket, knowing we would need this later, not only as evidence but something to run tests on. See if we could find out more about this backstabber through the drugs he was trying to make. As I stood up, a crack in the back door next to the roll-up gate gave me pause.Did she...?
I made my way over to the door and shoved it open. Out came a loud bang, as the door was not as heavy as I’d anticipated, and I called out, “Rayla? Are you out here?”
A noise to my left caught my attention, and I squinted down the pitch-black alleyway. A couple of shadows moved in the distance until one disappeared, almost like it never existed. That made me curious.
I raised my hand, calling my fire element into a ball and pushing it slowly forward to light up the space in front of me. As soon as it got about ten yards away, I caught a flash of familiar ashy-white hair before the figure dropped. Panic rose inside of me like an inferno as I took my other hand and reached out like I could catch her. I was several yards away, unable to get to her before she hit the ground. It was the only time I’d wished I had vampire speed. I could’ve caught her if I was that fast.
I ran. The vibrating of my feet pounding onto the filth-riddled ground was the only thing I felt at the moment. Thoughts circled in my brain;What happened? Why is she out here? Is she hurt?
As soon as her body was in view, I practically slid down in front of her, cupping her face as I turned her toward me. “Rayla? Rayla, what happened?” Her body was shaking, and her eyes were not responding—the effects of a magical overdose partnered with her vampire DNA rushing to process it as fast as possible.
She had her eyes closed for a second, and my worry went up tenfold before she cracked them open, and her rose gold eyes flooded with relief at the sight of her plush, pink lips as she whispered, “Falcon.”
She slumped into my arms like she knew I would help her, knew she was safe, and it drove me half wild. All critical and logical thoughts went out the door; I couldn’t think of anything but her and the pungent floral scent filling my lungs. Nothing and no one had ever captured my mind so thoroughly.What the fuck does that mean? Is this what being mates meant?
Her body shook again as she let out a puff of pain and curled into me as the magic was being eradicated from her body too slowly.What the fuck happened here?My eyes landed on a crumpled-up Breken, body broken and dead, but a small dribble of navy-blue liquid seeped from his mouth. Gathein. The magical drug from the Old Land of Faerie that amplified a fae person’s magic tenfold.
With the state Rayla was in, it’s easy to deduce that Breken took the liquid—probably the only vial he ever had since crossing over from Faerie twenty years ago—to escape Rayla. With his magic being hyperbolized like that, I bet he forced his magic into her mind and body, hoping to drain the everlasting life in her. It seemed she got out of it but was now feeling the effects of her body trying to detox the poison as soon as possible. Looking down at her scrunched-up face, twisted in pain, I realized I wanted to help. I needed to.
I knew that her drinking human, werewolf, or vampire blood wouldn’t help much since this was an overload of magic, and their DNA was only able to handle the magical properties they were born with. If she drank from a fae, the wild magic essentially being the same, it would bring her more pain. I looked down at my hands. My mage magic was naturally derived from this earth and was effective more on the outer shell of the body than the DNA of a body. Since I carried three elements, my magic was strong and could help ease the pain of her body trying to expel the fae poison.
Without thinking on it a second longer, I pushed up my sleeve, flexed my forearm to find where the largest vein was and placed it carefully underneath her fangs. “Drink, Rayla.”
Her eyes popped open as she barely had the strength to squirm in my arms, but I tightened my grip to prevent her from falling out and onto the asphalt.
“Falcon, no. I... I...” Her eyes were bloodshot and wide, and her second refusal was on her lips when I countered.
