Chapter 7

JASE

"You couldn't have heard her," Kellan argues, punching the wall as his fury bubbles over. "Stop putting shit like that into our heads! We saw her. Buried her fucking ashes, Jase!"

"I know what I heard!" I yell, getting in his face as my fists clench.

"You need help." Mel's concerned voice only fuels my anger. For three hours I've been trying to convince them, but no one wants to believe me. I'm not crazy. I'm not. "Denial is a stage of grief. It comes before anger and depression," Mel adds. "You have to move on to a new stage, Jase. You're going in reverse."

If she wasn't the girl I've always known as my sister, I'd probably strangle her right now. It's still hard not to.

"Mel, I'm not crazy. I know I heard her. She said cerium . I've looked it up. It's a mineral that grows in the northeast region of the Unaligned. I'm going there with or without your help." I turn to Kellan again. "You're a better tracker than me. If—"

"So what?" he growls. "I can't track Aria in the northeast region of the Unaligned when I know her ashes are buried alongside the Seminole compound. We all saw her. She. Was. Dead!"

The door swings open, and Simone comes in holding old notebooks.

"Unless it was a ploy to make us think she was dead," the brilliant, most sane person in the room says, freeing me from my prison of solitude on this matter.

"Thank fuck! Someone finally believes me." I almost want to hug her right now.

"Not you, too, Simone," Kellan groans. "If you keep on, Araya is going to have another attack. Her savage has been under control for almost a millennium, and two weeks ago she almost destroyed everything. You have to stop. Brazen might not be able to talk her down next time. I can't believe he did it this time."

Ignoring him, I turn to my only ally.

"Why do you believe me?"

"Because you don't know the first damn thing about minerals, and it's the first thing Aria would look for—clues as to where she is. That means she was probably still under the influence of the poison when they took her body, and she more than likely didn't get to gauge her route to wherever they took her."

Kellan drops to a chair, muttering something about denial and crazy people, but I ignore him.

"What poison?" I prompt, hoping she fills me in on her thought process before my legs give out and drop me to the ground. Nothing in her mind is making any more sense than what is coming out of her mouth.

"Dead man's blood. My mother's death was faked the same way. It's nearly impossible to manufacture anymore since the earth was healed, but if someone managed to get their hands on the right ingredients, they'd be able to make it. There is no scientific way to tell the difference between the faked death and a real one. It has to be someone with deep insight to old world knowledge to accomplish this.

"It takes a dry climate with exaggerated heat to grow the Hera plant that is the main ingredient. Most people thought the ingredients were extinct. Do you know what mineral is always close by the Hera plant?" she asks, acting as though this is science class, or botany class, or what the hell ever.

"Do I look like I know?" I snap impatiently, barely staying on the edge of sanity's ledge.

"It's always in the same area as cerium. Aria is trying to tell us where she is, and she's using the wavelengths of her empathic abilities to reach you through your mindreading. She's projecting. I can't believe she's doing it this far away, but she's fucking doing it. We have to get there. Maybe you can hear more if we're closer."

"She's really alive?" Araya asks from the open doorway, too many tears still staining her cheeks.

Her legs go weak, and Brazen is suddenly there, catching her and scooping her up, cradling her to his body like she's weightless as he kisses her head. "You'd better be right about this. I'll kill you for giving her hope and taking it away," he warns, his eyes threatening me more than his tone.

"I know I'm right. I'll assemble a team."

"No," Araya interjects, doing all she can to take a breath. "I'll handle this myself. When we find her, I can promise you that none of you are going to want to be in the way."

"Fuck," Rex growls as he walks in. "I can't get a damn thing. If she's alive, I should be able to find her. Why is she sending you messages instead of me? She could project an image to me just as easily as she's projecting her voice to you."

I don't have time for a pissing contest.

"If this is real," Mel says with little faith, "then she's projecting to Jase because she knows you'll most likely go savage. Jase hasn't ever gone savage, and Aria believes him to have found his counter—making it less likely that he'll lose control. She wants to be rescued. Setting you off will leave her stranded. Speaking of which, you need to take more olophine."

The caution and concern in her eyes tells me he's been getting dosed with as much of that shit as they've been forcing into me.

Aria still thinks Erin is my counter, but right now, the only thing I can really think about is the fact that she's alive.

She. Is. Alive.

A lone tear escapes my grasp and rolls down my cheek, carrying with it a grain of hope.

"Let's do this. Mom can level them after we locate Aria," Rex prompts.

"How the hell are we going to find her?" Kellan asks, sounding more as though he believes it's a possibility now. "The northeast region of the Unaligned doesn't exactly narrow it down."

Before I can try to answer, a thunderous pounding erupts against my skull, and I drop to my knees. A roar of pain breaches my lips and resounds through the room as I grip the sides of my head.

"Hyven. Hyven. Hyven. Hyven. Hyven."

Air cracks against my lungs as I heave and strangle. Mel is screaming in my ear when my senses return, and I look to Simone.

"What the hell does hyven mean?" I ask, my voice barely a whisper as I wince in pain.

That was fucking powerful. Aria is definitely trying to talk to me. I just wish she'd give me more than one word on repeat. And I wish I knew the fucking words she was giving me.

Simone and Kellan exchange a look, and then she scrambles to grab a map from the table.

"Hyven only grows in certain places. Rarely in the Unaligned. Given the first clue and the new knowledge about dead man's blood... I think I know where she is. Well, not exactly, but I can narrow it down to a thirty mile radius. Maybe then you can hone in on her wavelengths that she's using to contact you."

I nod rapidly, and Kellan stands, his body radiating tension. Everyone is hopeful yet terrified. I can't watch her die again. We have to get there in time.

"Here," she says, pointing to a section on the map, and that hope inside me swells to be painful.

But a vicious scream echoes through my ears, only this time, it's not my own. I look over just as Kellan drops to the couch, his body writhing painfully as his eyes start to dilate. Fuck!

"Get the meds!" Brazen yells, looking toward Simone.

"No!" Araya says, dropping from his arms with a newfound strength. "Let him lose it. He'll find her quicker this way."

My heart breaks, knowing Kellan's savage is coming out and in seconds, he'll be going after the girl I love. But knowing we have a chance at saving her... Nothing else matters.

His pupils fully dilate, and his low, rumbling growl comes out as Araya steps in front of Brazen, protecting the only true full blood in the room. Kellan snarls, sniffing the air and letting his threatening glare land on Brazen.

Brazen tries to move Araya out from in front of him, but she's stronger and pushes him back as her eyes dilate by her own will. She's the only one to have ever mastered control over her savage. Kellan's not in control. At all. He's mindless, and he'll kill any full blood he sees.

But then he breaks the eye contact and jerks his head to the window, as though he feels or hears something none of us can. It has to be Aria. He's sensing her.

Without another word, he starts blurring across the room, and the glass shatters as he breaks through the window, never slowing down.

"Follow him!" Araya urges, running by me, and we all follow, crashing through the rest of the windows and dropping to the ground.

Mel and Rex jump into the convertible, and Rex tosses me the keys as I take the driver's seat.

"I could lose it," he explains as I slam the car in drive. "It's better if you're driving in case my savage breaks free. It's barely staying contained."

Kellan is narrowly visible, his speed almost too much for the roaring engine. Normally I'm faster than him, but with his savage in place, there's no way I can keep up.

"I wasn't complaining," I murmur, pushing the car into the last gear, and surging forth. Araya and Brazen are right behind us, driving at the same wicked speed, and Simone is behind them, driving alone.

Thank God there aren't any woods around for a while. Araya will have to go savage so she can have the speed to follow him if we run into congested, wooded areas.

I'm able to cut across the open plains as Kellan veers left, moving toward the border. I'll have to call them so that they have the gates open when we reach them. Nothing is going to slow him down.

I refuse to think about what's going to happen when we get there. Right now, all I can think about is saving Aria. Seeing her alive with my own eyes is all I need.

"What phase is he?" I ask, gritting my teeth when Kellan roars again, acting as though he's feeling the same pain Aria is.

I'll kill every son of a bitch that has touched her.

"Three. I've rarely seen anyone go from sober to phase three so quickly. Aria's pain must have finally reached him the second he believed she was alive. Or else the waves she spoke to you on breached his mind, since it happened almost simultaneously."

Kellan turns again, and I skid sideways to keep up. We'd sure as hell better make it in time.

ARIA

"That's enough, I said!" Captain Fricks growls as Hedin drops the uranium-tipped whip.

I can't help the few cries that escape me, even though I desperately wish I could. I don't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing my pain. But it's just too much.

"You're feeding her too much blood," Hedin hisses. "Every time she drinks a drop, her savage tries to break free. She's going to kill us all if you keep taking pity on her. Remember why we're doing this."

"You think I don't know why the hell we're doing this?" Captain Fricks barks.

The whip has struck my body at least thirty times in the past hour. Every time a surface has rattled, Hedin has offered a painful lashing. My body is covered in my own blood, and the uranium is bleeding deeper into my veins. Ordinary hybrids would be dead by now. Even with my ability to heal without blood against uranium, I'm growing closer to the cusp of death.

"I'm the one who has dedicated my life to bringing Penelope back! But we're not monsters, Hedin. Penelope wouldn't want this. We can take her blood humanely," Captain Fricks continues, and I turn on the table to spit up a wad of my own blood as my body shakes, overloaded with too much pain that I can't lock out.

How do you humanely rob someone of something as precious as their entire body's blood? Twice? Fucking psychos.

I've tried everything. I've sent messages to Jase, Rex, Kellan, Mom... anyone my emotions have ever connected to, but I don't know if any of it has worked. I've only ever thought about it in theory and regret never having tested it.

I'm pretty sure I would have been rescued by now if my messages had gone through. I've all but given them my exact location. With the ten clues I've sent, they should be able to stand right on top of this underground bunker.

"And what do you think will happen when the Scorpions get her? Do you think they'll show as much mercy as we have? I'm trying to keep this bitch from killing us. That's it. The needles aren't creating enough pain. The pain is what shuts her down."

Bastards. They've exploited every weakness I have, and I served myself up on a silver platter. I should have kept my empathic weaknesses a secret instead of sharing them with the world.

"If we could have—"

His words are interrupted as something vibrates the entire building, and it's sure as hell not me, even though Hedin's eyes narrow in on me like I'm the source. Captain Fricks turns pale, though, and relief washes over me.

Mom. It has to be Mom. Thank God.

Chunks of the ceiling crumble and crash to the floor as the vibrations become violent, and volatile explosions on the surface ring out.

"Fuck. She found us," Captain Fricks spews, reaching for a gun from the wall and loading it with shaky hands.

That's when Hedin's eyes grow wide and he becomes an ashen ghost of a man in front of my eyes. "How?" he whispers.

"Fuck if I know," Captain Fricks growls, and I almost weep with joy. Mom's here. She's finally here. They got my messages.

Then the top of the bunker is ripped off like the lid on a can of sardines, and the fresh night air meets me for the first time in so long. But it isn't relief I feel when I stare into the purple eyes glowing brighter than even mine.

"There you are, James. And look, you found her for me. You must have forgotten to call me," the woman says while dropping to the concrete floor. Her knees barely bend, and then she stands in front of me, her eyes taking in every tortured bit of my body.

An army on the top becomes visible—faces covered by ski masks. They're dressed in black combat uniforms, and they all have guns trained on us. While I lie here exposed, wearing my tattered clothes and remaining chained in place, a promise of death whispers through the wind.

Tethered to the table, I'm forced to watch as Hedin and Captain Fricks both tremble in fear. She slowly struts toward the captain, her eyes washing over me once more and then returning to him. She looks so much like my mother, and I really don't like that.

She has her dark hair, her high cheekbones, and even her sassy walk. It's unnerving and shudder-worthy.

Captain Fricks tightens his lips and stands taller, prepared to die with dignity. She kisses his neck as she circles him, and he grimaces as though her touch is sickening.

"That reaction is a little insulting, James," she says, seeming to enjoy his obvious disgust. "You've spent centuries in my bed. Lying to me, using me, fucking me, and manipulating me. Now you're acting as though my touch is worse than uranium," she hisses seductively, pushing her lips against his neck again.

Captain Fricks stupidly reaches for his gun, and with barely a wink, Alice sends him sailing across the room, pinning him to the wall with his arms spread as though he's on a crucifix. The gun drops from his hand and clatters to the floor. Hedin tries to run, but the bored emergent exerts no effort to sling him across the room, pinning him in the same manner beside the captain.

Casually and calmly, her cold, dead eyes turn to face me. I've always wanted more family, but a demonic grandmother isn't what I had in mind. It'd be nice if some people stayed dead.

"There you are, granddaughter," she says, an ominous edge to her voice. Her eyes trail over to see the large tank that holds my blood, and a wicked grin curls up on her face. "And it looks like someone has done all the hard work for me."

"NO!" Captain Fricks yells, but he's punished for his outburst when she flicks her wrist.

I can't see the damage being done, but I can hear his wails of pain, and I cringe.

"Get the blood out of here. I want to make sure it's not a trick before I try it. And it needs to be diluted." She glances over my tragic body, and then back to the men. "Probably need to strain the uranium out of it as well, judging by the looks of her. Then we'll test it on the other emergents," she says to the military of men above us. "Take it back to our new base."

Thank God she's not sick enough to drink it straight.

Two men drop down to the ground, and they make their way over to my tank. The lines connected to my arms are sliced by the sharp edge of a knife, I drop my head back when my blood begins spurting from the line.

They take away the tank with effortless ease, and they disappear back through the hole. Seconds later, I hear them driving away, carrying my blood off to create an army. I should have just killed myself.

"She has to stay alive for the blood to work. Otherwise it's pointless," she says with a smile that makes me sicker. "But make sure she's in pain," she adds.

I'm in enough pain. The lashings from the whip are still burning through my veins.

She turns her attention back to Captain Fricks and Hedin, and her threatening smile only grows. Just as she lifts her hand, familiar purple electricity surges through, wrapping around and electrocuting any threat in the room. Kellan shouldn't be that strong. That's too strong.

Guns fire wildly as the men holding them begin writhing in pain, and my attention comes back to the room. The first hopeful tear falls from my eyes and I sniffle while daring to smile when I hear the sky above crackle and watch as red lightning drops from the sky.

They're here. Fucking finally.

A low, snarling growl emanates from the woman beside me before she leaps through the hole, almost looking like she's flying when she launches herself into the air. Streaks of fire shoot across the opening just as the electricity stops and begins aiming at the threat they now see.

The relief washes away as fear settles in, and my smile turns to a look of terror. I would never have summoned them if I had known Alice would be here. No! They don't even know she's the monster that has been decimating compounds.

I cry out when I try to move, desperate to warn them. Jase. He's up there. That's his fire. He's not strong enough. Shit. She'll kill them all!

"Stop," I gargle, choking on my own blood as it spills from my mouth.

Captain Fricks and Hedin drop from the wall, thudding to the ground and heaving for air when Alice loses her grip. I hear the roar of power out there and the cries of pain. She's trying to tear them apart.

"I have to try and kill her," Captain Fricks says. He's crazy. Like he can kill her.

"Get me off this fucking table!" I snap, ignoring the blood that once again pools in my mouth.

"I'll sneak her out the back," Hedin says, but he's suddenly flying backwards and crying out by an unseen force.

I've seen that power. It burns like uranium, but it's not. Melania is here.

Rex is the one to drop through the hole first, and he kicks several of the unconscious men on the floor that Kellan took down. I can't stop the onslaught of tears, and his eyes grow dark when he sees me.

"Not now, Rex! Damn it. Get me out of here before you lose it!" I bark, biting back the scream that begs to be released as the pain sinks deeper into my bones.

Vaguely do I see Fricks scramble to the top, unseen by my brother.

"Blood," he says to Melania as she lands beside him. "She needs blood. Find Kellan."

"Hell no," I hiss, looking at him like he's crazy. "Find Jase."

His eyes widen as though I've lost my mind, though I can't fathom why. Surely he knows that Jase killed that bitch because she wasn't really his counter.

Then I feel it; the pull I hoped I'd never have to face. The tug of destiny's unrelenting rope that tries to coil around my throat. Chills wash over me as the power calls—he calls. Kellan is savage. It hits me hard across my body, sinking into me and gliding over me with a gentle cling. I can feel it, but it's nothing like I expected. I thought I was supposed to go into a mindless trance.

The second Rex gets the damn chains off me, I curse them, lashing out as though the chains can actually understand me. They shouldn't have been strong enough to hold me, but with so much uranium in my system, I was as weak as a human for most of the time.

"Get me up there. I have to help," I say through a wince, ignoring the slices on my skin.

"You need blood."

"Good luck finding your way around here. I've only seen this one room, so it's not like I have a damn clue where they store the blood."

He studies my eyes and then frowns.

"You're freaking me out," he says while clutching me.

"Mom's up there facing the thing that has been tearing compounds and cities apart. Can we have this stupid discussion some other time?"

Fear and realization drench his eyes, and in the next second, we're topside. Kellan is launching his electricity with more force and beautiful power than I've ever seen. My body tries to go to it, screams for me to get closer, but I deny it, backing up and fighting our gravity.

Jase is by his side, launching his flames in rapid succession, and I almost feel the heat from this far away. Mom. No!

"Mom!" I whimper, staggering when I see her body limply tossed on the ground as Uncle Brazen hovers over her protectively, firing at anything that moves toward them.

"Her side," Captain Fricks yells, lying on the ground as his blood gushes. Kellan screams out and drops to the ground, and my heart thuds in my ears, banging fiercely to let me know my counter needs my help.

"Shoot her in the right side. Just below her ribs," Captain Fricks says again, grasping for his own gun that is just beyond the reach his extended fingertips.

Rex goes to shoot, but the bitch with violet eyes turns to us, and I feel my body trying to turn inside out. In my weakened state, I fall, praying for death before I even hit the ground. I never thought the whip would seem gentle in comparison to anything.

"Aria!" Jase yells desperately, and Kellan's roar of determination follows as his savage forces him to get stronger for me.

Simone drops down from a treetop, firing a gun all the way down in her descent, and she strikes the bitch right in the side, but apparently it's not the right place. Jase starts firing rapidly while running toward me, emptying the clip of his gun.

But something strikes him, and he cries out in pain as he drops to the ground. I'm choking on my own blood as my gargled screams escape. He tries and fails to get up, doing all he can to contain his screams as blood falls from his mouth.

My heart pounds as Captain Fricks continues begging someone to shoot the indestructible bitch. I have to get to Jase, and that's all I can focus on, but my body is too destroyed to move. I'm stuck in hell as I watch everyone falling, no one measuring up to the woman with the most power.

"You only have a dime size space. Aim for the center of the bottom rib. It's hard as hell to—"

A bullet strikes from Uncle Brazen's gun, cutting off whatever Captain Fricks was going to say, and I watch it in almost slow motion as it rips through the otherwise impenetrable flesh of the psychotic grandmother I wish I had never met. She screams out in pain, and grabs her side, her eyes narrowing in on Uncle Brazen as he fires again, striking her through the hand that isn't so invincible now.

It slices through her flesh, and cracks the same spot. He prepares to use his unparalleled sniper abilities once more, but in a blur, the monster is gone, rushing through the trees and disappearing into the darkness.

"Go after her! They have Aria's blood!" Captain Fricks yells.

No one follows or acknowledges him. Everyone is too injured to chase down my blood. Simone is trying to help Jase up from the ground, and my heart breaks when I see his arm is broken in at least three places. He hobbles as though his leg has been broken as well, and I try to stand, only to fall back down.

Kellan is suddenly stalking toward me, and I gaze up into the determined eyes of a man ready to claim his counter. I feel it, and if I was a normal hybrid or even a hybrid like my mother, it would be enough to send me in a downward spiral of lust and need. But...

"Stop," I say weakly, scrambling backwards, but he doesn't stop.

He leans down, prepared to claim me and make me his in front of everyone, and I scream at him this time. "Stop!"

Mom wearily raises her head just as my counter bends to kiss me. No. He can't. I have too much of my blood still pouring from my lips.

"Sleep," I hear Mom whisper in her savage voice, saving me from the love I don't want.

Kellan drops almost instantly, proving his untamed savage isn't as strong as her controlled one, even though they're the same breed of hybrid. He's breathing peacefully as he thuds to the ground, and I breathe out in relief while dropping back myself.

"You need blood," Rex says, looking over to Melania who has also been struck by the crazy bitch.

He rushes away, leaving us all while he disappears into the woods. I hear trees cracking when he knocks them out of the way in his mad dash to find blood. Though I don't know where he'll find it.

Jase falls to his knees beside me, biting back a grimace when his broken leg hits too hard. He reaches down with his good hand and strokes my cheek as tears try to fall from his eyes.

"You're really alive," he whispers in awe.

He bends to kiss me, but his eyes drop to the blood on my lips, and he glances around. "You need to heal. How bad is it?"

I don't want to tell him the truth.

"Why can't I hear you?" he asks, his eyes narrowed in on me.

I glance down to see Kellan's arm just barely touching my leg. Even in his slumber he's blocking Jase's mindreading abilities for me. That's good. Because I feel like a chainsaw massacre is going on inside of my body right now, and I don't want him to know my true pain.

"How did you deny him?" Simone asks in shock, forcing me to look up.

"That's the question you have for her right now?" Mom groans as Uncle Brazen helps her up.

She looks like hell. Her battered face is covered in black bruises and swollen skin. Her body looks to be falling apart, and Uncle Brazen scoops her up, seeming unaffected.

"How did a full blood fair better than an emergent hybrid?" I ask, wanting them to talk so that I don't have to.

I hold back the bloodcurdling scream that is erupting inside my head as the pain only grows. Rex needs to hurry with that blood.

"Simone and I took the treetops to fire down. The bullets were ineffective, and your mom looked like a target. That woman zeroed in on her. Even when I stood over her, she concentrated all of her power on Araya. I swear she has a vendetta against her."

Christ, this is going to be a tough conversation. How do I tell my mother that her mother wants to kill her?

"I'll kill her next time," Mom says, glancing toward Captain Fricks, and her lips curl up in a snarl. "After I kill him."

"Don't," I say through a pained breath. "We're going to need him. He knows both sides of the players ready for a new war. We need his intel."

"And you think he'll just give it to us?" Mom growls, her hands itching to pull the trigger inside her twisted mind.

"I know he will. I've got something he needs."

That's all I can speak. Jase leans me back and onto my side as blood starts spilling out of my mouth. I look over to see Kellan is bleeding, but it's not fatal. Thank God everyone survived.

"You won't be able to kill her now," Captain Fricks says in a nearly muted whisper, shaking his head as he tries to sit up.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Mom barks, wincing thereafter.

She gazes at Uncle Brazen's shoulder longingly, acting as though she's about to heal right here and now, and my stomach rolls.

"She has Aria's blood. There's no stopping her now. It was the final piece... of... the..."

His voice trails off as he passes out, the pain taking him down. His legs seem to be broken in ways that would make the strongest stomach sick. I have to look away when I see just how mangled they are.

Everyone turns back around, and Jase wraps his good arm around me and pulls me as close as he can get me. There's no telling what lies the traitor is spewing. But Jase can read his mind once we're back home. Right now, I just want him holding me the way he is.

"The woman is strong," Simone says, still pursing her lips as she studies me like I'm her next science project.

I know what she's wondering—what they're all wondering. But the answers they want aren't anywhere in my mind. I don't know how I denied my counter, but I did. Kellan... I wish for his sake he could deny me just the same.

"I've got blood!" Rex yells, barreling back through the woods on his way to us.

I try to speak, but it's just too hard. The pain is too much, and my eyes are just too heavy.