35. Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Sage
The night had a gut wrenching hold on me. We had to go on a mission to get my mother, and although it wasn’t as dangerous as infiltrating VRC, there was still a sense of concern. We had gone over the plans a few times, making sure that only the people going knew about it, and no one else in the camp. When I got out of the shower, there was another foreboding sensation growing in my chest, exactly like the one I felt at the hotel. I’m not sure if I was correlating the feeling with the one I had before Marcus’s death or if my witch senses were working, but I absolutely knew one thing.
Someone is going to die tonight.
We hopped in my Jeep, heading to our meet up and I refrained from mentioning the nervous alarm to Luka.
He drove the thirty minutes and I absentmindedly picked at my cuticles, feeling a mix of anticipation and anxiety. Eventually, we turned onto a dirt road with tall pine trees forming a natural canopy on either side. I glanced at the GPS and swallowed the lump in my throat, knowing we were only a minute away. And possibly only a few minutes from the death of one of my friends . . . again.
“What’s your mom’s name?” Luka asked, bringing me from my wretched thoughts.
Tearing my gaze away from the towering trees, I turned my head toward him. “Janene, why?”
“Because I can’t call her mom. I haven’t even met the woman.”
I let out a nervous laugh, trying to hide my unease. “She’s sweet. You’ll love her.”
Luka turned into a large gravel parking area where my mother and Naomi stood illuminated by our headlights. He parked, then killed the engine.
My breaths quickened and I instinctively turned to my breathing techniques to regain control over my racing heart.
Winnie laid a hand on my shoulder. “Remember to push the necklace if you feel uncomfortable.”
I nodded, then opened the Jeep door.
Meeting Luka at the hood of the car, he took my hand in his, Winnie walking on my other side.
My mother stood nervously next to Naomi, fidgeting with her hands. Her eyes shifted from me to Luka, her face lighting up with a radiant smile.
With a sudden tug, Luka pulled my hand, forcing me to come to an unexpected halt. “There are others here. I can hear them.”
“Sounds like three extra heartbeats,” Winnie added.
“Are you alone?” I asked, my eyes scanning the empty parking lot.
My mom’s face turned confused. “Of course we are.”
While I trusted her, I couldn’t help but cast a skeptical glance toward Naomi, unsure of her intentions. “Who’s with you?”
She held her hands up in a non-threatening manner. “I swear we came alone.”
“That’s a lie,” Winnie snapped, his voice sharp. “We can hear their heartbeats.”
A shadow on the ground caught my attention seconds before my father emerged from the darkness with two armed guards. “I knew the spray the lab made would keep you from smelling us, but I hadn’t considered you hearing our heartbeats.”
Growls left both Luka and Winnie, and if I could have growled, I would have.
“Fuck, that’s not good,” Luka muttered in a low tone.
Within moments, the roaring of four vans filled the quiet night air as they zoomed into the parking lot, causing small pebbles to scatter.
Luka locked eyes with me—a silent question.
“I’m not leaving my mom,” I said fiercely. “I’ll die first.”
“This will be fun,” Winnie mumbled, cracking his knuckles as tons of people piled out of the vans.
Over twenty Venom members surrounded my dad, one of them pressing a handgun to Naomi’s temple, causing her to freeze.
When another guard grabbed my mother from behind, doing the same to her, terror shot through me, stealing the air from my lungs. But the fear that consumed me quickly vanished, leaving behind a seething anger.
I yanked my hand away from Luka’s. “I suggest you get your fucking gun away from my mom!”
Luka pulled me back by my arm. “This is what they want. Don’t react.”
My dad’s gaze went to the guard. “Remove your weapon from my wife’s head if you want to live.” The soldier lowered his gun, and my dad locked his eyes on Luka, tilting his head. “So, you’re the one my daughter threw her entire life away for.”
My attention immediately shifted to Luka. His jaw flexed before he uttered, “And you’re the one who’s willing to kill everyone to keep her from being with me.”
“Because she was raised to kill vampires, not fuck them,” a familiar voice echoed, sending shivers through me.
Every bone I had locked, each muscle quivering as my uncle strolled out of the treeline and into the glowing lights of the parking lot.
Luka squeezed my hand and I forced myself to look in his direction. His eyes briefly flickered to my necklace before averting his gaze. I raised my hand, forcefully pushing the pearl necklace over and over, sending an alert to our friends as fear ran through my body. Hopefully, they had a better plan than our non-existing one.
Ben’s hazel eyes raked over me, siphoning every ounce of self-confidence I had, leaving me feeling like a teenager again, vulnerable and helpless.
A small whimper left me, as small as I felt under his malevolent stare before his eyes went from us to my father. “Maybe you should’ve had a son, instead of a slut.”
Knowing how Ben was, I should’ve expected something horrific to come out of his mouth, but his words utterly shocked me, causing my jaw to unhinge.
Luka snarled, veins adorning his face like strings of lights on a Christmas tree. “Say another word about her and I’ll rip your fucking throat out and savor every drop of your blood as I drain you dry.”
My head turned toward the oncoming headlights, hoping it was our friends, and more concern filled me when two cars pulled in with a van behind them.
The white Cadillac passed behind us, the windows so tinted I couldn’t see inside. Whoever drove parked the car facing the exit, far away from where we all stood. They stayed inside, the engine running.
The black Escalade parked to my right, behind where Naomi had, and when the short, stumpy driver emerged, I had no clue who he was.
The man slammed his car door. “Well, I see everyone showed just as planned.”
“What a conniving weasel,” Winnie shouted. “I see you like hanging out with the enemy, Finneas.”
Finneas.
He was one of the leaders of Save who Winnie and Luka both had suspected was a rat working with Venom. Now their suspicions were confirmed.
“I could say the same about you two.” He cocked his head toward Luka. “Back from your vacation, already? I knew we should have sent you to another state like your brother.”
“Fuck you, Finneas!” Luka snarled, his fists balled to his side.
Another snarl filled the night sky and I shuddered when I realized it came from my uncle. He left his mouth wide open as he panted.
Even though I’d learned about him being a new species that we were unfamiliar with, reality hit when I noticed his fangs. Like all vampires, Ben’s two canines had elongated . . . but next to those were two sharp incisors. Four fangs ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
With his growl, the van unloaded another five people, each of them marching their way to stand beside Ben.
Winnie sniffed the air. “Those are fucking hybrids.” There was a tinge of fear in his voice I’d never heard from him before.
My gaze darted across the hybrids guarding my uncle, before it went to the Venom members with my father. They seemed confused by the situation, and I immediately realized they had no clue what was going on. They were mere pawns being used for a sinister game.
Another black Venom van skidded into the parking lot, slinging rocks. Erik and Lyric jumped out, both carrying AR’s. When Lyric noticed my uncle, her gaze darted to me, her eyes wide. She stood next to Winnie and raised her gun, pointing it at Ben.
“Holy fuck,” Erik muttered from the other side of Luka before locking his gun in the same direction.
Engines roared and tires screeched as the rest of my friends arrived. Zeke and Marcus exited first and ran toward us, pistols ready, and I had no idea where Drag was.
Ravage and Peach got out of the other van, leisurely strolling toward us. She stopped in front of me, hands on her hips. “Hello, gentlemen,” she snickered, “and Finneas. Did you miss me, old friend?”
Finneas’ face twisted with fear, revealing just how terrifying Peach could truly be.
His fingers nervously smoothed down the front of his dark suit jacket, his attempt to appear composed, but falling slightly short. “Ah, Heather, when did you start associating with wanted criminals?”
“Since the day you decided to ruin everything I built from the ground up.” She shook her head. “Mixing Save with Venom was never in my plan. You went against your own kind and must be punished.”
Ravage tsked. “Do you want me to kill him for you, Peach?”
“No,” she answered sharply, before raising her finger toward Finneas. “That kill is mine.”
“Kill her!” Finneas screamed, and the hybrids all lifted their guns.
Peach didn’t even flinch. “At my age, it would take a thousand bullets to take me down.”
A door slammed shut and I caught sight of a naked Drag seconds before he shifted into a large wolven. The second his gray paws hit the ground, he howled, the haunting sound making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
The forest unleashed a menacing presence as wolven, some with red fur, others with black or gray, along with one white, prowled out. Their snarls and snaps echoed, creating an eerie symphony as they took up roost behind Drag.
Two enormous wolven—one black, the other red—took their places on either side of Drag. It became clear that these three were the alphas of their packs.
My uncle locked gazes with me, attempting to make me shrivel in terror once more. But this was a war, and he had once told me something I would never forget.
There is no room for fear during a battle.
I grinned arrogantly, ready to take on the challenge. “Your move, uncle.”
With speed I’ve only seen from a vampire, he grabbed my father from behind and locked his arm across his throat, pinning him against him. “Do you actually think you can control this situation? The destiny? I’ve been controlling everything that has happened.”
He raised his gun to my dad’s head and my heart stopped.
Of course, I was still angry with my father for everything that happened since my induction night, but I didn’t want him dead.
“Every play made has been done with my approval,” Ben continued, his voice confident and unwavering. “From you killing that arrogant vampire to Sorin waiting to kill Luka. If you wouldn’t have been there, he’d be dead, and none of this would be happening! You’ve repeatedly fucked up my plans.”
Luka growled, along with at least half of the wolves.
“Did . . . did you send Mannie to kill me?”
Ben’s eyes betrayed him, answering my question when they darted to Finneas.
Pure hatred zoomed through my veins at lightning speed and I clenched my fists. “You’re my uncle! My blood! How the hell could you do this to me?”
“To you?” Ben clicked his tongue and sneered. “It’s always been about you since you were born. You took everything from me!”
Confusion filled me and I shook my head profusely. “I’ve taken nothing from you.”
“Do you have any idea what it’s like being born two years after the person who inherits everything, Sage? I’ve been second place to him my whole life.” Ben tightened his hold on my father’s neck, making him groan. “I was promised I would become the president once he retired, but it would only give me a short time to be in power. You can’t turn an entire society around in two years. I was going to kill him in his early thirties, giving me enough time to take Venom to the next level. Then you were born only one year before, leaving you as the heir to Venom, ending my plans for any future career.” Ben’s lips curled into a scowl, his four fangs showing. “I should have suffocated you when you were a baby instead of waiting until you became a bitch!”
Luka growled, stepping forward. I tightened my grip onto his shirt sleeve, as I drew deep breaths, my own anger threatening to consume me. “You’d kill me for Venom?”
Ben cocked his head, his gleaming smile filled with arrogance and malice. “Venom is worth much more than your pathetic life would ever be.”
The anger took hold and the trauma of everything I’d been through in my entire life consumed me. “I know how much it’s worth,” I spat, taking a step forward, my fists clenched. “I’ve repeatedly paid the price for being born into this society! My childhood was nothing but begging for your and my dad’s acceptance. I have lost my family, my home, my life, my friends, and all because I paid the price over and over and over! All because you wanted to be the president! You can fucking have it. I don’t want a tainted society filled with hate and lies!”
“I don’t need to take it because I already have it. I only need to kill all of them,” he nodded his head toward the Venom members, then to my dad, “him,” then his cold eyes locked on me, “and you.”
My dad scowled, pulling on Ben’s arm. “The hell you—”
A gunshot rang through the night sky, echoing through the woods, making me wince and my mother scream. I stared wide eyed as my father’s limp body tumbled to the ground, blood oozing from his skull.
The howls of the three alpha wolves covered the sounds of my mother’s horrific screams as they commanded their packs to attack.
The world in front of me darkened and every feeling that once threatened to consume me unleashed, a primal need to kill taking over my every move.
With my gaze narrowed on my uncle, I yanked the gun from my holster, aimed it toward him, and pulled the trigger twice. Two bullets landed dead in the center of his chest. One of his hands went over the wound and the other lifted his gun at me.
With no time to move, I squeezed my trigger again, aiming for his head, and a force slammed into me, sending my bullet on a wayward trajectory. My side smashed into the rocky parking lot, and one of the hybrids landed on top of me. I lifted my fist and punched him twice and he didn’t even flinch.
Luka snarled, forcefully yanking him off me and hurling him ten feet away. In an instant, another hybrid charged at him with incredible strength.
By the time I jumped up from the ground, people were shooting, throwing fists, snapping necks, snarling, scratching, and biting.
Finneas’ scream rang through the night as Peach ripped him to shreds.
Suddenly, my attention was diverted as a Venom woman lunged at me from the side. I swung a right hook into her face, then lifted my leg, kicking my boot into her chest, causing her to fly backwards.
“Ahh!” my mother screamed, and when I looked toward her, she was being shoved into the Cadillac by a hybrid . . . and my uncle.
Fast shallow breaths left me, my body now propelled by pure hatred and a need for vengeance. I yanked my gun from the ground and sprinted toward them, shooting the hybrid in the back twice.
He let go of my mom and she fell to her knees crawling away. I plowed into him from the side, slamming him into the car door.
My actions were fast as I pushed off on my feet, hurling myself toward my uncle. My nails caught his face and a deafening noise resonated in my ears, sending vibrations throughout my head . . . and my heart raced.
Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.