Chapter 55

Idon’t see Alyssa for the next few days.

Fortunately, she deems that I’m worthy enough to have food and water. A guard delivers a single bottle of water and a block of bread through a slit in the door every day. It doesn’t completely alleviate the hunger, but it helps pacify it.

Loneliness consumes me. At the Compound, I yearned for solitude. Now that I have it, I want nothing more than to rip all my hair out and scream at the top of my lungs.

I miss the guys fiercely. Bronson’s overprotectiveness. Kai’s leadership. Abel’s jokes. Cain’s snotty quips. Damien’s cold stare. Rion’s rambles. It’s like I was given something infinitesimally precious and had to watch it shatter into thousands of pieces. Try as I might, I can’t fix what I inadvertently broke.

I’m cold, dirty, and hungry. I want to cry, but I fight against it. Still, I can’t stop the few tears that slip out. I’m surprised I even have water left in my body.

I attempt to clamp down on my emotions and think of a way out of this mess. If Alyssa has it her way, I’ll be nothing more than a breeding mare, but I can’t allow that to happen. I can’t allow her to take that piece of me—it’ll be the final nail in my coffin.

I feel like an animal. Actually, I feel like less than one. Animals, at least, are washed and fed. How long can I last like this? With the bare minimum of food and water?

Once again, tears threaten to choke me, but I stubbornly hold them in. Barbed wire coils around my heart, and venom pours into my blood.

You can survive this, Nina. You have survived worse.

With that pep talk, I allow my lashes to flutter shut.

This time,I’m not shocked when I enter one of my guys’ minds. He’s taller than the others, his head nearly brushing the tunnel’s ceiling.

Bronson.

His eyes are intent on Rion as the shifter crawls forward. It appears as if he’s on a black and gray checkerboard. He places his hands on the square directly to his right, and the tile breaks with a resounding crack. It caves in on itself, collapsing into a black abyss.

With a curse, Rion moves to the square on the left of him and repeats the process. Like before, the square cracks and breaks.

Bronson, I say. He jumps, startled, and whips his head around. Behind him, my other men are leaning against the wall, sweating and panting. Scratches and bruises mar their skin. Damien’s white dress shirt is completely coated in blood, and he has a wicked scar on his cheek. Kai has nasty bruises on his neck, and he’s favoring his right arm. Both the twins look as if they’ve been through the meat grinder, tiny cuts freckling their handsome faces.

“Nina?” Bronson asks, and all heads snap to attention.

I’m here, I soothe. Where are you? What is Rion doing?

“We’re still in the fucking Labyrinth,” Bron snarls. “It never fucking ends. And Rion is attempting to survive another puzzle.”

Puzzle?

Bronson turns back to Rion just as the shifter crawls from one square to another. He breathes a sigh of relief when it doesn’t immediately crumble.

“Tell my Buttercup that we’re almost to her. And that she’s the speckle to my shine. Actually, don’t say that. It doesn’t make sense. It’s one of those things that sounded much cooler in my head.” Rion cuts off abruptly as the square in front of him falls away and a spear pops up where it once was. “Fucking hell! That nearly took out my face. My sexy, beautiful face.”

“Hurry the fuck up,” Kai rumbles, stepping in front of Bronson and crossing his arms over his chest.

Tell him to be careful, I cry, fear skirting through me.

“He’ll be fine,” Bronson assures me. “Now, tell me what’s happening.”

Quickly, I tell him about Alyssa’s visit and her claim about my tribrid status. Bronson doesn’t sound surprised when I tell him I have angel, demon, and human blood in me.

“I had my sister do some digging,” he explains somewhat guiltily. “Before I could tell you…” He trails off as a growl resonates through his chest. He stalks away from Rion and the others, pressing his forehead against the grimy stone. With a deep, fortifying breath, he whispers, “Please tell me you’re okay, my love. I don’t think I’ll survive if anything happens to you. I can feel you, feel your pain, and it’s killing me.”

My heart swells with love and longing for this brave, beautiful man. His rough features belie a gentle soul and kind heart. He sheathes me in a cocoon of light, making me forget all about my monsters and demons. The darkness can’t reach me when he’s there to fight it off.

Bronson, I love you, I whisper reverently. I love you so much that sometimes I can’t breathe.

He lets out a choked sob. “Hang in there, Babygirl. Hang in there for me. We’re coming for you, okay? Just hang in there. I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you. But I feel like…” He gulps audibly, hands tightening on two rocks that protrude from the wall. “I feel like I’m failing. Failing at being your mate, your friend, and your protector. Failing at loving you the way you should be loved.”

You have been anything but a failure,I protest adamantly. You were the first person in the prison who showed me what it means to be loved. You cared for me when I didn’t know how to care for myself.

My resolve hardens, strengthens—a wall of steel and cement around my heart.

I’ll come back to you, Bron. To all of you. I promise.

It’s a promise I intend to keep, come hell or high water. Not even death will separate us.

Before Bronson can respond, I’m wrenched out of his head. It’s like traveling through a whirlpool. My mind spins wildly until everything settles.

“Good. You’re awake,” Alyssa chirps, patting my cheek harder than necessary.

“Let me go,” I groan. Almost instinctively, I slip inside her mind.

She’s hovering over me with her hands on her hips. Pressing the toe of her heeled shoe to my stomach, she laughs.

“See? This is why you’re an asset to me. Your powers are unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Unlike anything we’ve ever created.” I imagine her ruby red lips pulled into a smile. She oozes satisfaction. “You’ll be a perfect little spy for me. You’ve heard of that awful man Lionel Green? Of course, you have. I’m sure your twins told you all about him.”

“Go to hell,” I mumble weakly. The slap comes out of nowhere, stinging my cheek. A red splotch in the shape of a handprint darkens my skin.

“You’re going to spy for me, Nina,” she says in a dark voice. “You won’t like the consequences if you refuse.”

“What are you going to do? Kill me?” I laugh humorlessly. “Go ahead. I dare you, you spineless bitch.”

Her hand snaps once more across my face, sending my head flying to the side. I lie on the ground, trembling, unsure of how to fight back. I know I need to—I promised Bronson—but I’m so painfully weak. My eyelids are as heavy as lead. I can feel blood trickling from my busted lip, but I don’t lift a hand to brush it away.

She crouches down beside me until her face is only slightly higher than my own. “Don’t talk back to your mother,” she hisses.

“You’re not my mother.”

She sighs, as if my answer pained her. The next moment, she grabs my collar and hoists me to my feet, her other hand encircling my throat. Her strength surpasses that of even Bronson’s. I dangle in the air, panic thrumming through my veins, as her hand tightens around my throat, cutting off my air supply.

“I can make those guys’ lives a living hell. The shifter. The dragon. The mage. The twin demons. The wolf.”

My panic turns into rage. No one—absolutely no one—threatens my men.

Before, I was scared and slightly irritated. Now, I’m furious. The anger coils around my heart like a piece of rope, tightening incrementally with each word she says.

“I’ll have fun ripping the scales off your dragon. One piece at a time. I wonder if he’ll cry? Hmmm. We never were able to break him in the Compound, you know. We tortured him like we did you, but he never cried. Not once. The only time he cried was when we made him watch you get your skin peeled off.” She laughs at the stricken look on my face. “You didn’t know that, did you? Ha! We realized pretty quickly that the way to destroy the dragon was to destroy you.”

I begin to struggle in earnest, clawing at her fingers. Only one thought echoes through my mind: vengeance. For me, for Kai, for all the other experiments throughout time. How many people has she killed? And how many people are like me, confused and alone with powers they can’t even begin to understand?

My rage continues to manifest deep in my stomach. It’s unlike anything I have ever felt. It burns me. Each word she says is tinder to the roaring flame.

“I think I’ll keep the twins,” she continues with a lilting laugh. “I’m not sure if you know this, but I used to visit them at the club. They’re good fucks, am I right?” She nudges me conspiratorially, and I see red. It coats my vision like shutters being drawn closed. “Of course, they don’t remember that. I had a mage wipe their memory each time. Lionel recommended them to me.” She loosens her hands, and I desperately take in air. My lungs are aching, my breaths raspy.

She drops me back to the floor, stepping away, as if I have a particularly pungent smell. At this point, I’m not sure that I don’t. Through her eyes, I watch myself stumble to my feet, eyes livid and lips pulled back from my teeth.

“Don’t get me started on that handsome wolf. Did you know it was his sister that found the information concerning your blood?” She tsks her tongue disapprovingly. “I suppose I’ll have to kill her now. And her mom and sister. Poor Bronson will lose his entire family because of you.”

It’s that, more than anything, that sends me spiraling over the edge. Something inside of me clicks into place, something I can’t define or name. My rage continues to grow and grow until it threatens to explode. I’m an active volcano, and this murderous woman happens to be in my vicinity. Anger is a living entity inside of me. Fire spews through my veins, setting me aflame.

“You won’t touch them,” I say through clenched teeth. Through Alyssa’s eyes, I see myself change. Dark horns, similar to the ones I saw on Cain’s and Abel’s heads, poke through my black hair. My eyes take on a crimson quality, the pupils rimmed in coal black. Sprouting from my back are two luminescent white wings. Each expands the length of the cell, the feathers white with a pearlescent shine.

I look beautiful and deadly.

Wrathful.

I am vengeance personified.

“You won’t hurt them,” I say in a low voice, and Alyssa actually stumbles away. “You won’t hurt my mates.”

“Nina, think about what you’re about to do,” she begins placatingly, but I’ve heard enough.

With a roar, I lunge for her, tackling her to the ground. I wish I could see her face at my attack.

Are her eyes wide with fear?

Is she trembling?

I can’t focus on anything through the blinding, incandescent rage. I pummel her face with punches, enjoying her pained moans. They reach a part of my mind I can’t access, a part that is buried beneath years of hurt and anger.

She wraps her legs around my waist and throws me off her. My back slams against the far wall, but I regain my balance quickly.

“Think about what you’re doing!” she screams, spit hitting my cheeks.

“I am.”

She comes for me, but I remain where I am, watching through her eyes as she comes closer and closer. At the last second, I spring to action, throwing my fist out and catching her in the neck.

The hit rattles her, and she releases a guttural cough.

I spin her so her back faces my front. Wrapping my arms around her throat, I hiss in her ear, “You’re done.”

“You think killing me will stop the Compound?” she gurgles. “They’ll always exist, and they’ll always come for you. Their perfect specimen.”

“Let them come,” I say darkly. She scratches at my arm, but I squeeze tighter. She begins to go limp, body pliable, but just before she can hit the ground, I release her. “You’re never going to hurt me again.”

With a ferocious cry, I spin her around and shove my fist into her chest. I see my face through her vision—I look exactly like the monsters I once feared.

Strange choking sounds emit from Alyssa, and her vision steadily begins to dim before it turns black completely.

I remove my hand from her chest, still holding her heart in my hand.

“You won’t hurt any of us again,” I whisper brokenly.

Noise alerts me to the incoming assault a moment before the door to the cell is broken down.

“Freeze! Hands where I can see them!” a voice screams. I hear pounding footsteps against the cement, but all I can do is stare blindly in their general direction. “Get down on the ground! Get down on the fucking ground!”

Slowly, I come back to myself. I feel my wings retreat into my body with an audible snap. My horns lower until I can no longer feel them anymore.

Oh, God. What did I just do?

Panic gushing through me, I drop the heart and slowly fall to my knees. My body is shivering uncontrollably.

What did I do?

What did I do?

What did I do?

I bring my hands behind my head, only to have them brutally wrenched behind my back. I feel the familiar sting of handcuffs rubbing against my skin.

“Nina Doe, you’re under arrest for the murder of Councilwoman Alyssa Timmer,” a familiar voice sneers in my ear. I recognize him as the detective who arrested me for Raphael Turner’s death. William.

And this time, I’m actually guilty of the crime.