When Ryker steps away, the guards move forward to rip Lula from Fi, who cries out for her.
“No, please,” she begs. “Don’t take my baby. Please.”
Lula kicks her feet like the fighter I know she is, but she is no match for the two men dragging her away.
Ryker’s laughter at Fi’s distress and Lula’s crying has me seething. “I love hearing you beg,” he says with a sickening smile. “Just like when I took your husband’s life.”
I’m going to kill this motherfucker in cold blood.
Lula screams as she tries to reach out for her mother with one hand, but is restrained. Then her eyes meet mine with pure panic, begging me to do something. I scurry to my feet as Ryker has me frozen still. I don’t fight the force field he’s placed around me; I need to save my energy if I’m going to pull this off.
Lula’s life will be on the line if I don’t.
“Wait,” I heave through my chest.
Ryker spares me a bored glance. “What?”
“Sacrifice me instead,” I say through heavy breaths. “Let her go, and you can have me.”
The air turns eerily quiet as everyone stares at me in shock, probably wondering why I have a death wish. But I’m getting out of here alive.
Ryker stalks towards me with narrowed eyes. “Why would I sacrifice you?”
“Because I’m sure draining your own bloodline will give you the powers you so desperately crave.”
His eyes narrow at me before he smacks me in the face. My head snaps to the side as my cheek begins to burn. “You think you can humiliate me?”
“Just speaking the truth.”
Ryker releases a low growl. “Who do you think you are?”
“Your son.” I flash him a grin to get under his skin.
“Do you really think you’re smart, trying to save that worthless girl?”
I resist the urge to strangle him; instead, I keep my breathing even.
“Because once you’re dead, nothing is going to stop me from destroying her and her pathetic mother.”
My nose twitches as I release a slow breath. “Then sacrifice me. You’re going to do it anyway. Why not get it over and done with? You want to break me, but you won’t. You never will. So take me off this Earth for good so I can stop inconveniencing you.”
Ryker’s breath brushes my face, and I try not to grimace. “I can’t wait to share the news with your beloved pack that you’re dead—nothing but dust. And once I take over, I’ll do the same to them. Including your mate, whom I will personally torture for the rest of his life. You failed them.”
I bite down on my jaw to stop myself from reacting. He won’t be able to touch a hair on Evan’s head when I’m done with him.
Ryker waves a dismissive hand, and they release Lula as Fi scrambles for her, tugging her back into her embrace. The two guards reach for me instead, pull me out of the cell, and lock it.
Lula breaks free from Fi’s grip and rushes towards the bars, gripping onto them as tears leak down her face. I don’t draw my eyes away; I keep them on her as they pull me down the hall.
I mouth one word that has her eyes widening.
Eleven.
Dominic stands at the end of the hall, his arms rigid at his sides. We lock eyes again, and I despise that I can’t tell what he’s thinking. This is the time I need him to take my lead, and prove that he wants a better life than working for my father.
When we reach the top of the stairs, my eyes burn from the lack of sunlight, but I blink through it rapidly, trying to stabilise myself as quickly as possible.
A cold rush of air hits my face, and I glance over the stained glass windows. Before I can appreciate their beauty, I’m shoved down onto my knees in the middle of the room, his four guards standing around me, holding me down by my shoulders.
