Cutting into my skin.
But I don’t fucking care.
I walk over and drive the sharp end right into my brothers neck. And then I stab him again. And again. All while he screams into my head.
I can barely hear him over the memory of Ashlyn’s shriek.
All I see isred.
Blood.
Violence.
Rage. Rage. Rage.
The link inside me dies the moment the lights go out in Spruce’s eyes, yet I don’t stop cutting and stabbing until the last strand is severed.
He needs toburn.
But a cry from Nikiski has me spinning toward her as a horde of Alphas approach with salivating expressions.
She can’t stay here,I think.
On it,Cillian replies, reminding me that he’s here somewhere. But not in the cavern.
However, magic shimmers in the next moment as Cillian, Kieran, Cael, and Lorcan, appear together in all black, weapons drawn.
Nikiski jumps into Cael’s side, clinging to him like she knows him, just as he opens fire on the three Alphas who were approaching her.
Then Cillian turns and throws me something that I catch midair.
A miniature fire grenade.
I almost laugh, but instead kneel and pull the pin, then stuff the small item into Spruce’s mouth. Picking up his body, I toss it over his head, and walk away as the thing explodes behind me.
The stench of burning skin follows, my brother’s life fully extinguished.
I glance back, just to make sure he’s truly on fire, and feel nothing other than fury as I watch his corpse disintegrate.
However, I’m not mad at him. I’m mad at myself. Because I should have known he was alive. Sure, he fucked with my head. But I didn’t even feel it.
That backdoor fog, though, explains how he knew about Ashlyn.
And also why he apparently chose to target her.
Though, it doesn’t explain how he came to be in charge of this group of Alphas or what all happened between him and Nikiski.
She glances back at me, her dark eyes wide. Probably because I’m covered in blood and still in feral mode. That’s not going to end any time soon.
“Grey,” she whispers.
“Niki,” I return, using the nickname I gifted her as a child.
She runs toward me and throws herself into my arms, not seeming to care at all about the blood.
“I’m so sorry, baby girl,” I tell her, using another nickname from our childhood. “I’ve been trying to find you since that night…”
“I know,” she whispers. “I’ve seen your efforts, big brother.” She clings to me, her head buried in my neck. “Thank you, Grey. You’re the one that kept me sane. You and Cael, I mean.”
