Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

MIKO

T he winged biter flung the cage door over its head, charging into the cramped space.

"No!" Lance screamed, the beefed-up zombie's pink claws taking a swipe at him. The werelynx alpha clambered past me to the back of the cage, pressing his boot on my spine. He pushed me forward into the trajectory of another attack.

Fuck.

I managed to duck, my head spinning, my body as useful as wet tissue paper. Being forced out of the mind walk had seriously messed with my system.

Not good when facing down an evolved biter.

I'd been so close to answers…

"Take him!" Lance wailed. "Take him."

What a prick. Because of him, we were in this cage. Because of him, his people in this damn factory were a buffet for biters. And his one-pack plan, along with that Operation Lance bullshit, was now shot to hell.

The dying screams of his followers bounced off the walls along with the loud, squelchy noises of the biters devouring their flesh.

Nice.

I growled, dodging more strikes, running out of time. I wished hard for the strength to take off this zombie's right arm and beat Lance to death with it.

The biter moved deeper into the cage, its bat-like wings scraping the top, pink smoke spilling from its open mouth.

Pink eyes. Pink fucking everything. This was next-level evolution, thanks to Dawn.

I've got to end it…

Lance kicked me again. I shot my arms out to catch myself, my hands making contact with the biter's bare chest.

Oh. God.

The zombie paused, the tips of its claws inches from my face. "I eat…I…I…I eat…" Its lips twitched, his head drooping slightly.

What the hell?

"I eat…I…I will grow…I will… Eat." The biter grunted, locking its vibrant pink gaze on me.

"Is it glitching?" Lance asked, as if reading my own inner question.

"Yeah. Think so." I slid back, the movement painful. Lance kept his boot on my back, stopping me from backing up too much.

The zombie twitched again, its bottom lip trembling.

My heart jackhammered, my reaction-time tuned into the undead fucker's frequency.

The sounds of dying blood magi and shifters faded to a few whimpers.

God, all I wanted was to sleep. Every inch of my skull ached, nausea clinging to me like a needy best friend. But what I craved most of all was Orion. My heart threatened to break thinking of him over in Faery, sealed behind those gates without me beside him.

What the hell did his fellow fae want with him?

I loved my mate so much. My treasure, my everything. I'd do anything to get him back into my arms.

"What's happening?" Lance asked, his voice cracked with terror.

Coward. We might both be shitting a brick, but to use me as bait? Dirty move from a dirty prick.

If we survived this, he'd better make the most of his life because I'd be ending it shortly after.

"Evolve," the biter said through gritted teeth. "Evolve. Eat. Evolve. Eat." Pink goo oozed from its nostrils and leaked from its tear ducts.

"Now what?" Lance asked.

The pink stuff trickled from the biter's ears, seeping through its teeth and dripping down its chin onto me.

"Eat…" It sprayed me in the face as it spoke, pink smoke wafting from its mouth.

What the hell was going on? The fucker still didn't move, frozen above me in this weird stasis. Any second now, it'd snap out of it and snap those jaws on my jugular.

Not a chance. I might be jelly, but I wasn't going out like this. Not while my mate still drew breath, while I felt the thumping of his heart within mine.

"We should try escaping," Lance suggested.

The hissing of the biters Orion called speedies filled the factory, along with the faint groans of slowies. There was a banging coming from the left, a set of doors rattling against the pressure from a hungry horde vying to get in.

Once they were finished with the buffet downstairs, they'd be ready for the dessert waiting inside this cage up here on this platform.

The winged biter's left eye twitched, its skin stretching like playdough. Its cheeks split open, pink smoke streaming out, pink gunk slipping out of its mouth.

I tried sliding back, Lance's boot still on my spine. I pushed against him, my efforts useless right now.

"You have to let me move," I said.

"Stay where you are!" he snapped.

The sounds of greater activity came from downstairs.

"We have to get out of here," I groaned, my head spinning.

Fuck this. Fuck this hard with a chainsaw.

"Eat. Evolve. Eat…"

The winged prick exploded with a mighty bang, pink goo going everywhere, the force of it shoving me back hard. Lance's boot gave way, my body crushing his against the back of the cage.

He hissed out a curse as the goo and gore rained down on us. My God, I was covered in the shit, my eyes the only part of me spared.

The biter exploded? What the hell?

"Eat!" a speedie roared.

I tried getting up, but Lance pushed me off him. He clambered over me, cracking me in the cheek with his elbow, probably on purpose, and scurried from the cage.

He paused outside on the platform, goo running down his body. "Better run, Miko. Have fun." He threw me a smirk then ran away.

"Eat!" the speedies cried.

Oh. Fuck.