“I’ve got you. You’re safe. We’re going to get you back to your parents,” he promises. Her chest heaves as she sobs uncontrollably in his arms, and my heart fucking breaks. Tears well in my eyes, but before they can fall, my grief turns to fury. My creatures roar inside my head, and the need to create bloodshed and chaos begins to ride me hard.
“They will pay,” I swear out loud.
A shout has us leaving the room, and we find Nox has opened two more doors and commanded the two children inside the rooms to shift. Two small boys are carried out by Titus and Micah, while Liam and Brodie remain on alert. Both are sobbing as hard as the little girl and are wrapped in the same dirty, smelly blankets she is.
“Alright, I can’t sift all of us, so we will take the kids, and then I’ll come back and get you. I’ll be no longer than five minutes,” Titus says, holding the boy against his chest. Gem and Micah each put a hand on him while keeping a tight hold on their respective charges, and they disappear.
Hunter and I breathe a sigh of relief now that the kids are free, but Nox is staring down the hallway, frowning.
“What is Gryffin doing?” He points to where the white tiger is crouched in front of another locked door, snarling and scratching at it.
“Do you think it’s another kid, one we didn’t know about?” I ask Hunter, and he shrugs.
“Only one way to find out.” Nox does his tech magic, and the door unlocks. He steps back, and Hunter takes point with Gryffin on his heels. The door swings open, and when I peer inside, I’m stunned into speechlessness.
ChapterForty-Three
Colbie
“Colbie? You’re alive! They told me you were dead.” My mom looks as surprised to see me as I am to see her. I look around, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing. This room is completely different from the ones the kids were kept in. It’s luxurious and spacious in a way that doesn’t surprise me, knowing my mother. It has all the amenities of a fancy hotel room, but it’s a prison nonetheless.
“Oh my god, Mom, are you okay? Are you injured? Come on, let’s get you out of here.” I run in, holding out my hand for her to take, but her surprise turns to fury, and her face twists as she snarls.
“You stupid girl, you always ruin everything.”
I flinch like she physically slapped me. Gryffin lunges, snarling, but Hunter is quick to grab him by the scruff and haul him back. Mom screams and kicks out, thankfully missing.
“What do you mean? What’s going on?” I’m so fucking confused, but before she can reply, a howl and a growl from Liam and Brodie has us exiting to find we have company.
Vallen Tideman is standing at the end of the corridor with a number of guards, all with their guns pointed at us.
“Ah, Colbie, so nice of you to join us. I guess we won’t be needing your mother after all.”
“No!” she shouts, hurrying out of her room to join us. “You promised that you would change me if I helped you. You promised I could be queen if I used my blood to open your stupid book. You said the power and her mates would transfer to me when she died because we have the same blood. I will rule over all shifters, with you as my prime king.”
As her words register, my heart feels like it cracks in half. My mother basically condoned my death as long as she got what she wanted. I thought she hurt me in the past, but every past infraction pales in comparison to this ultimate betrayal.
A tear slides down my cheek as she clings to Vallen’s arm, but I see the calculation in her eyes. She’s saying what she thinks he wants to hear, when I know she has no intention of making him her king. He’s a handsome man, but if she thinks she can have my mates, then she’d dispose of him in a hot second.
“Yes, but why would we use you when we have the original here now?” He waves a hand in my direction, and she snarls and lunges for one of the guards, pulling a knife from a sheath on his thigh before she spins and runs at me, screaming.
“I hate you! You ruined everything, just like you did when you were born.” Fuck, I thought I couldn’t hurt any more, but I was wrong. I can’t stop the sob that escapes my mouth as I put my hands up to defend myself. I’m so broken that even my creatures are cowering in despair.
I grab her wrist with both hands, stopping her from jabbing the dagger into my heart. I think even my guys were shocked into inaction, because none of them moved to stop her, but that only lasts a split second before they lunge toward us. Nox grabs me, tugging me away, as Hunter grips her wrist, squeezing hard. I hear the bone break as she cries out in pain, dropping the knife. Before she can be restrained further, Gryffin lunges at her, tearing her throat out. She lets out a garbled scream before she topples over, clutching her ruined throat. She looks at me with pleading eyes as Titus, Gem, and Micah reappear.
“Holy fuck,” Gem mutters, seeing the blood staining the white fur around Gryffin’s mouth before he makes a move to heal my mother, but I know it’s too late.
I turn away so I don’t have to watch the woman who gave birth to me die. I harden my heart and refuse to feel grief. She never deserved any of my love. I just resent the fact that I’m going to have to make Grampy and Granny sad when I tell them of her passing, but I make the decision to keep her actions to myself. They don’t need to hear what a horrible person she turned out to be.
“God, he’s never going to forgive himself,” the phoenix mutters, tearing his gaze away from my mother to look at the snarling, pacing tiger that almost looks like he wants another go.
“Don’t hold it against him, it was instinct,” he pleads, and I shake my head.
“There is nothing to forgive,” I assure him.
“Well, shit.” Vallen watches with detached interest as my mother takes her last breath. “I guess we really can’t let you escape now. Get her,” he orders his men, who move past him in a wave of force. My guys are ready, and despite the guards having weapons, not many of them get any shots off, and the ones who do come up against a protective barrier that Titus must have woven around us.
“Remember, leave a few alive,” I shout, reminding Titus as he goes on a killing spree, looking as excited as a kid in a candy shop to spill the blood of his enemies. He gives me an absent wave, which I hope is acknowledgement, as Nox and I are pushed against one of the walls and nobody is able to get past any of the others. I consider shifting into hydra form, but there really isn’t any need. The guards don’t seem like they are well trained, and my guys easily overpower them within a few moments, killing most of them while leaving a couple knocked unconscious for us to take with us to interrogate when we leave.
