Kellan met Teddy’s eyes and sneered. “I suppose the ruse is up, then. That lover of yours really is annoyingly persistent. I should have killed him years ago.”
Teddy bucked in the restraints.
“Sir? W-what should we do?” the woman asked.
He spun on her, suddenly losing his supposed calm. “HOW ABOUT YOUR JOB! WHAT DID I GIVE YOU MAGIC FOR? GET RID OF THEM!”
She scrambled away and Teddy laughed. “You should have thought twice about hiring a bunch of low-level, untrained casters as your army. You may have thought you were unlocking the next step in evolution, but they have no real idea how to use what you’ve given them. You’re trapped down here with no way out and no options.”
“I won’t need them after this is done.” Kellan turned to the assistant in the room. “Accelerate the process.”
The man fumbled the controls. “But we’ve never done it this fast—”
“NOW!”
The man started pressing buttons with shaking hands. He was reaching for a dial when screams rang out from outside their door. Bloodcurdling and terrified, they echoed through the cramped, musty space before cutting off abruptly.
The man at the computer froze, pushing his chair back slightly as if to step away from the insanity.
“GET BACK TO WORK!” Kellan screamed, turning to Teddy again just as the door to the room burst open.
Teddy watched as Wren ran inside looking like a god of vengeance, a gigantic creature at his side, some mixture of big cat that was fearsome and deadly and could barely fit through the doorway. Behind him were his brothers, Sable and Blu, and Teddy’s team. The creature’s mouth dripped with fresh blood and Wren was covered in scratches and bites. They had fought to get here.
Kellan growled in frustration and stepped behind Teddy, using him as a shield as he positioned the prepped needle against the crook of his bound arm.
“You’re too late,” Kellan hissed. “The process is almost done. Nothing you do now will save him.”
Teddy locked eyes with Wren.
I love you, he mouthed at him, heart breaking at the tight pinch of Wren’s lips and the tremble in the hand he hid in the animal’s nape.
“I’m rarely late,” Wren said.
“Rarely isn’t never,” Kellan said, letting out a maniacal laugh before Teddy felt the needle pierce his skin.
An explosion of pain and fire coursed through his veins. Someone was screaming. A lot of people were screaming.
And through the final breaths he could pull into his lungs, he saw Wren pull the computer guy up by the hair on top ofhis head and push his face closer to a bloody muzzle before his vision blacked out and he sank into the fire.
Wren
Wren held the man’s head to the liger’s mouth with force.
“Turn it off,” he growled at him, feeling mad with rage and fear, Blu screeching in agitation at Wren’s anger and fear.
“I-I…”
“TURN IT OFF!” Wren screamed at him, and the liger echoed his anger, roaring in the man’s face and spraying it with the remnants of blood.
“Kellan!” the man cried out, as if he would help him.
“An unfortunate circumstance,” Kellan said, scanning the room for a game plan as he kept close to Teddy, his only leverage.
“If you release Teddy now, I’m sure the authorities and Nexus will be slightly more lenient on you,” Hart said.
“Fuck that,” Ash growled, holding up Betty. “If he doesn’t let go of him, I’ll smoke his ass.”
“Get in line,” Heir growled, hand tight on his axe.
