“I don’t… I don’t want to go.” He was trembling violently. “I’m scared… so scared.”
“No. No, you aren’t going anywhere. You’re too stubborn, you son of a bitch. You hear me?” I spoke through a haze of tears.
Members of the pack had drifted over to us, dozens of them slowly circling us.
Sebastian’s eyes rolled back in his head until all I could see were the whites. I shook him. “Sebastian?” I shook him again, calling his name over and over. I could hear his breathingslowing. My shifter hearing picked up his thready and uneven heartbeat. He was dying.
Without taking my eyes off him, I screamed, “Sinthy.”
133
MADDY
Nico’s mother shoved me, Abi, and Maxwell into the living room. My parents latched onto me, hugging me tight, and my dad reached out and grabbed Abi, pulling her into the embrace. Panic flooded through me as Gabriella burst through the door, slamming and locking it behind her.
“The wards are going to fall,” she said as she turned and leaned on the door. “Be ready to get into the safe room. All of you. When I tell you to go, you go. Do you understand that?”
Though her words were meant for us all, she stared right into my eyes as she spoke. A few weeks ago, I’d have argued and demanded to help fight. Now? I could sense the life growing inside me and how much I wanted to take care of it. For the first time, I truly understood what Gabriella had lost by giving me up. I also knew that if it meant saving the child inside me, I’d do the same thing. I would do it and live with the heartbreak forever. Gabriella’s gaze emitted such strong, motherly love.
I nodded. “We will. You say the word, and we’ll lock ourselves in.”
Gabriella breathed a sigh of relief and gave me a thin smile before looking out the windows. The TV was on, showing thelive report of the situation outside. On screen, we saw another of those missiles barreling toward the protection wards.
The image shown to the world couldn’t come close to relaying the earth-shattering explosion echoing from outside. The house shook as the spells Sinthy had so carefully woven cracked and broke. Seconds later, the first gunshots rang out, and my blood went cold.
My father, probably knowing that I needed it, held me even closer as we watched the disaster unfold on the screen. Maxwell sat on the couch, his head buried in his hands.
A horror movie played out on the screen. I was rooted to the spot, unable and unwilling to look away. The camera couldn’t get close enough to show distinct details, so they were all like ants moving back and forth across the screen. I watched as shifters fell under gunfire. Each one could have been Nico. I dug my fingers into my father’s shirt, tugging and pulling as each second passed.
“They’re getting close,” Gabriella called out from her position at the window.
Icy tendrils of fear sank deep into my gut. The screams, shouts, and gunfire made it seem like we were in the middle of a warzone, which I guess we were. I’d never experienced anything so terrifying in my life.
“If they get to the cul-de-sac, you run for the safe room and get inside.”
My birth mother’s voice was strained and tight. I wanted to go to the window and see what she saw, but fear held me in place. Instead, I turned back to the television. The battle was turning a bit. Three figures were hunched near each other. One was on their knees, their hands on the ground. The other two were huddled together, one holding the other. Even at that distance, there was something familiar about all of them. Then I heard it.
Sinthy’s voice thundered over us—even from inside the house, it sounded like she was inside our heads. Mom and Abi sank to the floor, covering their ears. Flinching, I buried my face in Dad’s chest. I didn’t think anything had ever been so loud. But I was wrong. As soon as she uttered her final word, there was acrackthat could have broken the world. One of the windows in the kitchen exploded inward, and Gabriella had only managed to get out of the way in time. The rumbling and shaking slowly subsided, and silence finally reigned.
I’d barely managed to get my bearings when the scream came from outside again.
“Sinthy!”
It was Nico’s voice, terrified and broken. Nothing could stop me from going to him after hearing that. I yanked out of my father’s grip and rushed toward the door.
“Maddy, no,” Gabriella said. “We don’t know if the fight’s over.”
“Nico might be hurt!” I pushed past her and ripped the door open.
I was halfway down the porch steps when I heard the others rushing out of the house behind me. Nico sat on a grassy mound less than fifty yards from the house. He was holding someone and rocking back and forth. It was bad. Even before I reached him, I knew it was bad. Something about Nico’s body language told me that whatever it was, I didn’t want to see it.
Pushing through the slowly gathering throng of Nico’s pack, I found exactly what had him so distraught. I gasped in horror, my hands flying up to cover my mouth. Nico had Sebastian cradled in his lap. Sebastian’s head lolled back, and blood pulsed from a gunshot wound in his chest.
“Oh God,” Abi whispered beside me.
I hadn’t even realized she was beside me. I glanced over and saw she was crying. My own eyes were hot with tears. Abi and I sank down to the ground on either side of Nico.
“Sebastian, please. Come on, buddy. Please, God. Please.” The desperation in Nico’s voice tore my heart in two.
