Chapter 9
CHAPTER
NINE
Ihear the door open, but I do not move, giving them the illusion of safety.
My arms are chained and stretched out to my sides, the strain on my shoulders a familiar sort of pain.
I’m kneeling, which is not a comfortable position, but it eases the pressure on my arms. My head hangs down, my long hair shielding my face.
The hunters are back for my next dose, but the moment the door shuts, I sense something different. I cannot smell the usual telltale drugs on them as they move closer with shuffling steps.
Prods are pressed against my throat in warning, as if that will stop me. Three men—no. I inhale deeply. They are not human, neither is the female with them. Her soft scent wafts around me as if trying to entice me to trust her, and I almost scoff at that.
Do the hunters think I am foolish enough to fall for that? They have tried many different ways to break me.
This will not work, and I am tired of their games. I have been waiting for them to return, my powers growing after their attempts to keep me sedated and tame. The drugs are no longer in my system, and I am in control.
I will show them exactly what type of monster they trapped.
“What is his name?” The feminine voice holds strength and power, and for a moment, I let it flow through me before my hate pushes it out.
“Nobody knows,” a deep male voice rumbles. “I know you are not asleep.”
“I was not pretending to be so,” I respond, lifting my head. My hair falls into my eyes as I glare at the invaders.
They stumble back a step, and I get my first look at them. The three large males are supes. One tastes like ice, the second like the wilds, and the third like satin sheets. My eyes lock on the female. Her power is harder to read, wrapped in a foggy vice, but it’s there.
“Shit,” one of the men mutters as I run my gaze over them, my mismatched eyes glowing.
“Turn your weapons on yourselves,” I order, my voice filled with power. The suggestion burrows into their brains far too easily.
I laugh as the males electrocute themselves and fly backwards towards the door.
Their groans reach me, and then I look at the female, and with a jerk of my head, she soars backwards, hitting the wall hard and sliding down to the floor.
She pushes to her knees, coughing, the men groaning at her side.
I need to order them to unlock me before I kill them, but I want to play with them first.
“Ram your heads into the walls.” My smile only grows as they follow my command.
Even the female slams her head into the floor, her cry filling the air as blood drips down her forehead.
Her eyes spark with delicious fear as I invade their minds, make them mine, and turn their own bodies against them.
With a simple thought, I gather everything they hide deep within, their biggest fears and nightmares, then I unleash them until the hunters claw at their heads and scream. I watch with a bitter, ugly laugh.
“Fight each other until only one survives.” That one will set me free, but first, I’m curious who will win.
The large man whose mind feels like ice picks up the one who feels like silk sheets and throws him into the farthest wall. His skull cracks as it hits it, and then the icy one turns in time to meet the man who tastes like the wilderness as he tackles him.
I observe in amusement as blood begins to spill. My mind pushes deeper into theirs, building their hatred and bloodlust until they can’t see past it. I bury their animals deep where they cannot reach, cutting them off from them. This is all about strength and will.
While the others are slamming each other into walls, the female looks at me, her body twitching, but she isn’t fighting like the others.
Despite the agony running through her, she stumbles forward, fighting the orders in her mind. Her blood drips down her face as she does her best to ignore my suggestions.
Something no one can do.
Narrowing my eyes on her, I focus my powers wholly on her, sliding into her mind to rip it to pieces until she is bleeding from the inside out. She sways as she stumbles forward, intent on getting to me.
“Stop,” I demand, but she keeps coming, so I tear at her mind. “Stop!”
She shuffles towards me, and I jerk backwards. “Stop.” This time I feel panic, and when her shaking arm lifts, my eyes widen. I expect a killing blow, but all that delicate hand does is cup my cheek.
“I am sorry,” she whispers, and I freeze, even as I tear her mind apart. She falls to her knees in front of me, blood running from her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, yet she does not look away from me. “I am so sorry, Luan.”
That stops me. How does she know my name?
Nobody alive knows it, but this creature does.
It’s then I realise I was so busy attacking her mind that I left mine open, and somehow, this creature broke into my head and saw the horrors I hide there.
I don’t know if she can even see anymore, since her body is failing, but she keeps her hand on my face.
“I’m so sorry for what they did to you.” Her mouth bubbles with blood as she speaks.
“I’m so sorry. We are not here to do that.
Look inside—see me, Luan. See me the way only you can.
Look. My life is in your hands. I will not fight you. ”
The world fades until it’s just us, and despite my own determination, I slip deeper into her mind, really looking for the first time.
Her soul is so pure, and I almost stole it.
Pulling out of her thoughts, I stare into her bloodshot eyes. Her hand slides around from my cheek to the nape of my neck, and she presses the button there I cannot reach. The collar falls and the chains loosen, dropping to the floor as she pulls back.
She released me.
Even knowing I plan to kill her and the men with her, she released me with the last strength in her body.
She sways, and when she starts to fall, I jerk forward and catch her, curling my body over her as she blinks up at me, then she smiles. “Welcome back to the world, Luan.”
Her eyes close, and panic fills me.
Jerking my head up, I focus on the others. “Stop!” I order them. “Help me! Help her!”
They converge on us. The one who feels like ice snatches her from me and races towards the door, while the other two aim their prods at me. I climb to my feet and stare after her, wondering if I just killed the only being to ever show me kindness.