“Malcolm,” Ian whispers in surprise.
Charlotte passes us as we get back to the center space, and I tip my head in respect, hoping that she can see the sincerity in my eyes. She returns it before moving past me without a word.
Arms about to give out, I sink to the ground before I drop Hawk, Ian forced to go down with me, not that he’s complaining. Ethan lopes towards us, shifting fluidly and pressing two fingers to his son’s neck before closing his eyes in relief. As much as he could hear his heartbeat, with the blood saturating the air and adrenaline running high, nothing soothes a person more than actually seeing with their own eyes and feeling firsthand that someone they care about is actually alright.
“He’s in and out of consciousness, but there’s no way he’s walking out of here on his own.”
Ethan leans forward, resting his forehead against mine for a brief moment. “Thank you. If I had lost him too,” he trails off, not needing to finish the statement.
“I know.” Swallowing, I shove down the tears that burn the back of my eyes, well aware of how lucky we’ve been up to this point. “I know.”
“Upstairs?” I hear Rhey ask Malcolm, the man’s face pinched as if in pain.
Clearing his head, his answer is distracted as he strides across the room with determination. “Handled. Melissa called after your men got my people out, sacrificing their freedom so they had a chance to escape.” He walks right up to the woman in the chair with a look of absolute fury on his face. “However you made them suffer, it wasn’t enough.”
He starts freeing the woman’s bindings when Hawk shouts a warning in all of our heads.“Stop him!”
Rheyas is the closest, but even he isn’t fast enough to stop the mage before the woman’s eyes fly open and she lunges at Malcolm as if possessed. He was already bent over her, so it takes only a few inches to close the gap, her teeth sinking into the side of his neck.
Ava raises her gun, face devoid of emotion as she lines up her shot. She fires, but rather than embed in the vampire’s forehead, the bullet hits a shield Malcolm reflexively conjured. The heat coming off of the currents of energy bellowing off of the mage is enough that the bullet melts, a thin line of liquid metal trailing to the ground. Rheyas’ fist smashes into it, but he pulls away with a curse, his knuckles burned.
Holy fuck, are we sure Malcolm isn’t siphoning from people?
“He’s not,”Ian replies with equal awe.“His company isn’t the only reason the underground wanted an alliance with him.”
Frozen, I’m stuck staring at the man, not sure what to do. “Then why isn’t he stopping her?”
My words make everyone take a second look, helpless to do anything to stop what’s happening because of his impenetrable shield, heads canted to the side or eyes narrowed in confusion. Gently sliding Hawk towards Ethan, I slowly rise to my feet for a better angle, barely breathing. If the vampire escapes Malcolm’s shield, I have no worry that Rheyas will intervene before she tears our heads off. One vamp against a strong mage or shifter isn’t the same level of threat as dealing with an entire nest. Maybe that’s Malcolm’s thought too; keeping her trapped until he can restrain her again.
Or I might think that, if it wasn’t for the soft gasp he makes, tilting his head to give her better access to drink from him. One of his hands grips the top of the chair, and the other palms the back of her head, holding her in place.
“What in the world?” Charlotte mutters, and I’m not even sure how long she’s been standing beside me.
The vampire pulls back, but not tearing out a chunk of flesh with her. Her lips are stained a deep red with blood, and she flicks her tongue over them, simply staring at Malcolm. Her eyes are still rimmed in the telltale red that gives away what she is, but as Hawk claimed to see upon their deaths, there’s a sense of clarity there too.
Only she’s very much still alive.
“What did they do to you?” Malcolm murmurs as if entranced, his hand sliding from the back of her head to cup her cheek.
She opens her mouth as if to speak before closing it again. On her next attempt, a strangled sob slips out that she tries to bite back. But as silent tears start openly flowing down her face, her entire body shakes as she forces herself to remain quiet, shrinking in on herself.
“Ssh, it’s alright,” he murmurs, sliding an arm beneath her knees and lifting her from the chair, pulling her against him. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again. We’re getting you out of here.”
We’re all just stuck, mouths agape, as Malcolm cradles a lucid vampire to his chest and starts walking towards the exit. Sidestepping the carnage, he glances at Ethan, unperturbed at his nudity. “My team will handle clean up. A few vans will arrive shortly to transport the remaining victims a few towns over to a more-“ his mouth twists in distaste, as if the thought of how society is set up absolutely disgusts him “- tolerant hospital. I suggest you get your people out of here before that happens.”
With that, he simply… leaves. No comment on the vampire in his arms, no details of how he’s going to explain away the pile of bodies. Just a polite ‘get the fuck out’ and he’s on his way without waiting for a thank you for saving our asses.
Charlotte recovers first, jerking her head towards the door. “Come on.” Ava rushes over to her sister’s side, face pale, and holds it open.
Ethan grunts as he slings Hawk over his shoulder, walking towards the exit. Rolling his eyes, Rheyas grabs the wolf by the scruff of his neck, plucking him from the man like he’s nothing more than a puppy that got into trouble.
Ian grabs my hand, gently tugging once to get me moving. “Story time later, remember? You can process in the car, but we need to get out of here while we have an opening.”
My feet move on autopilot, more affected by what just went down with the vampire than all of the mutilated bodies surrounding me. I glance at a few of the slumped figures still caged, but there’s a disconnect I know I should feel guilty about, yet don’t. I didn’t come here to save them, I came for my mates. I used to think it was a side effect of how us mages are raised, but after seeing Malcolm just now?
I think I’m just a terrible person. I lack the empathy that I should naturally have for others, but still, the low burning embers in my chest are fanned to life. Not for some noble desire for justice, but for vengeance. These people suffered, and while it’s hard for me to put myself in their shoes and sympathize, it’s as easy as breathing to be furious at the people that got off on hurting others. They might be dead, but it doesn’t really change anything.
Nobody in this town would have cared what those men were doing to these people if they found out. All that would have upset them was that a handful of mages gained some extra power and it wasn’t fair, because they’d be jealous.
