Chapter 4
Nyxeris
The entryway is entirely overrun.
The foot of the stairs and beyond are swimming with people I’ve never seen before, flowing in from the front door and spilling out the back. They’re all ages, none of them wearing the same thing, unlike the GBE soldiers they fight.
Curses flare, burst, and explode in a myriad of colors, leading to screams and blood.
Some of the soldiers who acted as security at the academy for years have torn the patches from their uniforms, or taken their jackets off completely, and they fire at the other Betas in the crowd alongside us Cursed.
The sight stops me midway down the last stretch of stairs, but I’m one of the only people to pause.
Years of oppression, abuse, being treated like sub-humans have boiled over into bloodthirsty rage.
Students I have taken classes with, trained with, murder armed soldiers with madness in their eyes.
Most of the bodies on the ground are Betas, but not all of them.
Regardless, this is an absolute slaughter.
A hand grips my shoulder, and instinctively, I know it’s Erich. I can nearly feel the concern pouring off his aura.
I place my hand atop his, squeeze his fingers one time, then follow Lowe to the ground floor, where she disappears in a puff of purple-black.
I turn wary eyes behind me on Erich, then Laurant. Erich’s jaw is set, his pale eyes glisten as he scans the room. Laurant’s brow is tight, as are his evergreen eyes. When our gazes meet, he swallows hard, tries to look strong.
A bullet whizzes past my ear, and I shriek at the same time Erich roars with fury, his clenched fists rising above his head, flames licking his fingers.
I turn back to the foyer as columns of fire blaze from the floor, consuming a group of soldiers who I can only assume were the ones who fired at me.
Heart racing, lungs stuttering, anger quickly washes away my fear.
We have every right to live. Every right to exist. Every right to love.
I rush through the crowd, placing my hands on the head of every soldier I pass, pushing my electric energy into their brains, their eyes, and gaping mouths lighting blue from the inside of their skulls, flashing before smoke seeps from every orifice.
There are still hundreds of soldiers, and I know I won’t be able to take them all down, but I’m not alone.
Another breath, and Erich is right at my back, so close I can feel the warmth of his body. He follows my every move, mirroring me as I maneuver my way to Lowe across the room. Even this far away, the blood that covers her face and hands is clear, her wild smile not something I’ve ever seen on her.
The density of people seems to grow until I’m squeezing through the crowd, turning my body sideways to make my way across the room, all the while alternating kills with Erich, Laurant now the closest to my back.
When we reach Arlowe at last, she’s hissing like a feral beast, her purple eyes wild as she lets out a howl of laughter and tosses three heads in the corner of the room, their necks cut almost completely smooth, blood oozing and trickling from the force of being pitched.
When she sees me, she grins, white teeth stained pink, and a pressure in my chest grows painful.
What the fuck are we doing?
An arm wraps around my waist, and back, the ocean breeze and bluebell scent that follows the movement envelops me in a calming energy as I’m pulled into Laurant’s chest. He feels my worry, knows every emotion that flows through me.
That’s when I realize, it isn’t just me he can feel.
That frightened expression on his face was only partly his own reaction.
I look up into his eyes, my hands lightly gripping his jaw, thumbs rubbing beneath his eyes tenderly.
When Erich rubs my scalp with his fingertips, and I’m touching both my Alphas at the same time, something inside me shifts. This coiling beast in my chest yawns and stretches like a house cat, claws extended and ready to defend. An eerie calm settles over me.
That’s when my ears begin to ring.
And not just mine, by the way everyone in the room gasps and holds their ears.
Then I see them: An Alpha and an Omega floating into the room above us all. The Alpha’s arms are spread wide at his sides, his mouth is open.
He must be the one causing this terrible sound.
The floor begins to rumble beneath our feet, and in a blink, thick vines flow into the room from the back door, nearly filling the space. There are screams as soldiers are lifted, the vines wrapped around limbs, dangling them high above the ground.
Every Cursed still alive has the same plan and backs up against the walls, clearing the center of the foyer, pulling with us any nearby Beta defectors, although the vines appear to somehow know friend from foe.
There’s a clatter as weapons fall from soldiers’ grasps to the floor below, then the vines all grow gruesome, large thorns the size of machetes. The screams are blood-curdling as soldiers are pulled apart, limbs yanked from the joints like a child playing too roughly with their action figures.
Only these men aren’t toys.
Blood and sinew rain down from the sky, and my forearms cover my head with a gasp, but nothing touches me.
I blink up to see the gore hovering but flattened by gravity, like plates of glass shimmering with a rainbow of colors surround us, blocking their fall.
It isn’t until everything falls startlingly quiet for a few moments that the bodies still held by vines are dropped and swept away from those of us huddled along the walls.
As quick as they filled the room, those vines retreat, slithering like fierce snakes out the back door where they came from, the shimmering force holding back the remnants of carnage shifts and moves, dropping blood and bits on top of the body parts already on the ground.
I don’t know how long I stand with my back against the wall, Laurant and Erich on either side of me.
A movement stirs, a murmur grows into chatter as groups of Cursed form, friends, and the unfamiliar. Some of the unknown rebellion members mingle with students and the Beta defectors. Then a familiar face catches my eye coming in from the front door.
“Mira!”
Careful to avoid slipping in gore while keeping my gaze averted as best I can, I run to my friend, who somehow appears both gorgeous and disheveled, her dark hair flowing in waves about her shoulders, those silver eyes beaming with happiness at the sight of me with Lowe at my side.
We both embrace her tightly.
“I knew you’d make it back,” I whisper, swallowing the lump of emotion in my throat.
“She wouldn’t shut up about it.” Arlowe’s tone is a mix of sarcasm and tears. She steps back and smacks Mira’s upper arm.
Mira’s eyes swim as she looks at us. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” Her voice cracks. “I knew you’d fight when you were able.”
“This one,” Lowe smacks my arm now, “has fried all sorts of Beta assholes.” She grins proudly.
My eyes roll, heart clenching. “I didn’t have much of a choice.” I look over my shoulder at Laurant, who still looks ghostly pale, and Erich, who stares right back at me.
“That would be Erich.”
I turn back to Mira, watch her grin conspiratorially at Lowe after guessing correctly.
I let out a huff, and that intake of air beforehand fills my lungs with a delicious scent I’ve never come across before. It’s like dark cherries mixed with lilac blossoms. The blood flees my face as my eyes capture the source of that scent, drawing saliva into my mouth.
The most beautiful, male Omega approaches. His face is too skinny, revealing a too-sharp jawline. His eyes are lilac, like part of his scent, and they’re as crazed as the devastatingly handsome smile on his face.
“Well, well.” His eyes never leave my face as he speaks, the lilt in his melodious voice soothing. “This is the most pleased I’ve been to escape my life as a lab rat.”
My blood runs cold at his words. Lab rat? What has this Omega been through?
Arlowe lets out a huge laugh, gripping her middle as she bends over with the force of it. “I don’t know whether to hate or pity you,” she says to me between laughs.
But I don’t find any of this funny.
My blood sings for this Omega, just like it does for Laurant and Erich. Which can only mean one thing.
Complication.
After who I assume are the powers-that-be give a rousing speech I’ll never remember, the Omega female who controlled the vines requests volunteers to help dispose of all the bodies.
The lilac and cherry Omega claps his hands, making me jump, along with Mira and Arlowe. “Well, that’s my cue, ladies!” he sings grandiosely before turning from us and walking over to a group on the other side of the room.
Erich is there, too, and he stares the Omega down with a wary gaze, receiving a totally unhinged grin in return.
Growing up, I never imagined finding one fated mate.
When my parents abandoned me to the GBE, and I found Erich, I had no idea if I should be happy or devastated. I decided to ignore our connection instead, pretend it wasn’t real. Safer for us both.
Then I moved from the juvenile facility to the academy and found Laurant.
To be together with two Alphas I was fated for, our connection and instincts outlawed under penalty of death…
I cried a lot when I first got here. Then, I went back to ignoring them both.
Now, I’ve found another fated mate. A complete stranger. Another Omega. And he obviously has… issues.
We all do.
But what does this all mean?
The rebellion, the slaughter of all these GBE soldiers, the liberation of this facility.
Will we be allowed to act on our instincts now, without the looming threat of execution?
And if so, what kind of uphill battle awaits us all?