Chapter 45
“What the fuck?” Bronwyn asks, stepping closer to us. “Did someone just scream?”
A crowd of people begins to chatter, glancing toward the bar to see what’s going on.
Crew’s eyes land on me, and my system starts to pulse with anxiety.
Beads of sweat form on my brow from the tight crowd of people, and I feel as if the oxygen thickens around us, making it impossible to take a solid breath.
“We need to go,” Damien says, and Bronwyn nods again, this time more frantically. “I’m not sticking around to see what that was about.”
Another scream echoes through the narrow hallway, causing people to rush toward any exit they can find, including the bathrooms, to escape from the central part of the building. Crew looks over the heads of the crowd, and his eyes widen. A darkness seeps into the room mixing with the dense fog.
“Crew,” I hear Damien shout over the crowd. “That’s…”
“I know.” Crew cuts in.
As the crowd begins to part in all directions, my eyes land on something shifting within the bar’s main area.
Demons in their true forms scatter, snarling at anyone who crosses their path.
Large leather and feathered wings fill the air, and screams erupt all around us, mixing with the heavy beats of the bass.
“Don’t let her go,” Crew says to Damien, pointing to Bronwyn.
He grips her hand tightly. “Wasn’t going to.”
She gazes into his eyes, and I see worry painting her beautiful face. I turn to Crew, whose eyes are still an ungodly black, prepared to fight if necessary. He squeezes my hand tightly and pulls me toward the back door.
“It’s my father’s right-hand demons from the Jade Order,” he says, as calmly as possible. “I think my time is up.”
I glance over my shoulder again, and the crowd runs in all directions.
It’s chaos as the music stops, making the screams echo through the large building.
It doesn’t take long before the coppery scent of blood fills the air.
Darkness fills the club, mixing with the madness, and a dread washes over me like an ice bath.
“Why would they be here?” I ask.
Crew jerks his gaze to me as he continues to pull us forward. “I can only imagine one reason, Mara.”
They know.
They’ve found out.
A fear I’ve never experienced runs through me, like acid in my veins. Lowell won’t kill me if he catches me, but he will make sure that I want to die. And if Lowell knows, then there is one other person I fear may be here right now.
A woman runs up to Crew. She looks familiar, and I realize I saw Crew disappear with her the night of the masquerade ball after I stabbed him. Her shoulder is dripping blood, and a wild look stains her eyes. “They are looking for you, Crew. I heard them talking. You need to leave now.”
“You heard who talking?” Crew shouts.
She glances behind her as if she’s scared to say the name.
“Meg,” he barks at her. “Who?”
“Carver.”
Crew’s gaze darkens, and I hear a growl escape Damien’s throat as he transforms into his true form alongside Crew.
The humans scatter around us—either too terrified to notice or too scared to care any longer—as Damien’s large leather wings unfold around his back.
Razor-sharp claws peak through their hands, and although I’ve seen this before, it shocks me every time.
A darkness begins to ooze around us, and I glance at Bronwyn, who watches Damien as if he’s something she’s never seen before.
Teeth as sharp as glass jut from their mouths, and Crew grips my hand so tightly it sends a shockwave of pain through my arm.
I let him lead us forward, nearing the door that will take us to the back of the building, where we can run.
But where?
I scan the crowd, the chaos filling us all with confusion, and I channel my energy to summon all my strength.
I feel a warm glow within my chest that combats the darkness surrounding us.
Bronwyn follows the same steps, preparing her body for what may lie ahead, and together we seem to be complete opposites of nature merging in a deadly light.
She rummages through her purse, revealing a small pistol. Bronwyn grabs Damien’s hand with her free one and lets the weapon hang ready at her side.
I whip my head around as Crew pulls me forward, never taking my eyes off the opening to the central part of the bar.
My heart races while Damien and Bronwyn stay close behind.
The thundering footsteps of the crowd don’t drown out the screams of the people being ripped to shreds just a few feet behind us.
The crowd parts, and I snap my gaze backward.
Anger rises in my chest and pushes aside the fear I was feeling, causing me to stop in my tracks and Crew’s hand to slip from mine.
I square my shoulders and lower my gaze as I notice a familiar frame appear.
Shaw stands in the crowd, watching us race to the exit.
His bright hazel eyes show nothing but hatred toward me.
“Mara!” Crew shouts.
I narrow my eyes and step forward, letting the crowd close around me, separating me from the others. The distance I create between Crew and me makes the bond scream in pain, but I push on, allowing the anger from my emotions and Crew to blind me completely.
“Mara!” Another demonic scream rattles the walls behind me.
I push past the people rushing for the exit and storm toward Shaw’s large frame, blocking the entrance to the center part of the building.
I glance around, not seeing any of the others, and pick up my pace, ready to tackle him.
My gaze lowers, and I see a black pistol clenched in his grip.
I swallow hard, silently telling myself he won’t shoot me.
I hope.
I hear cries fill the air again, but this time I realize they are coming from behind me.
I whip my head around to see darkness envelop the space like thick smoke, no clear beginning or end to the chaos.
Crew pushes past each person in his way, ripping their chests or throats, blood spraying into the air like crimson rain.
He’s panicked and has completely lost his ability to think.
My eyes widen as I watch him tear down people and demons as if they are weightless, and I know it’s all to get to me. Damien and Bronwyn follow close behind, and her face is contorted in sheer horror at the scene.
I glance back at Shaw, getting within a few feet of him.
“You see what he is?” Shaw snaps. “Do you see his true nature now?”
“Crew isn’t the fucking monster. You are.”
I glance over my shoulder again to see the crowd so tightly packed that I can no longer see the others.
“Did you bring them here?” I spit. “Did you cause this?”
He narrows his gaze. “I did what was right, Mara. He is corrupting you. Crew is changing who you are, and he is going to destroy you and everything we’ve worked toward.”
“We have worked for nothing,” I respond. “We’ve never been a team, and you know that, Shaw.”
His lips form a thin line. “You know that isn’t true. We’ve been there for one another for over a decade.”
The screams continue behind me, and I open the channel between Crew and me, trying desperately to send calmness through the bond. The rage and fear I feel is like electricity hitting me, and I gasp, clutching my chest as the bond swings wide open.
Shaw stumbles backward, realizing what’s happening between Crew and me in this moment, and he pales.
“There is no fucking way,” his mouth falls open.
I cut my gaze back to Shaw.
“You are sealed to him?” he rages. “That disgusting demon leech. Do you know what you’ve done?”
“What I do is none of your concern, Shaw.” I step forward. “But I do know what you’ve done.”
His face pales, and I watch his jaw tense. “You don’t know anything.”
“I know Lowell asked you to kill my father. And you did, with zero regard for me. Your best friend. Your goddamn family!”
He lowers his gaze briefly, choosing his next words carefully. “I did what I was asked. You should understand that more than anyone, Mara. You also should understand the consequences of disobeying. The scars on your back prove that.”
I huff at the bullshit spilling from his mouth. “Then you lied to me for years. You let me hate someone who never deserved it, and you watched me suffer because of your own doing. You took away the one person who loved me.”
I step forward, letting a wave of power run through me.
“You don’t know the half of it, Mara,” he bites.
“I know everything, Shaw. I know what happened that night, I know you have been betraying me for years, and the difference between then and now is, I know what I’m capable of.”
He steps forward, his grip tightening around the gun.
“You know everything then, huh? Do you know how similar Crew and I are?” Shaw’s voice turns deeper. “Do you know the truth?”
I watch him, hearing shouts from behind me as Crew and the others close in on me with each passing second.
“What are you talking about?” I hiss.
Shaw laughs. “So, you don’t know everything, it seems. Comical, he left this part out.”
I lunge forward, wrapping my hand around his throat, and swing with the other, connecting with his cheek.
I squeeze as he slowly raises the barrel of the gun to my temple, ignoring the throb that runs through his jaw.
Another surge of anger flows into my chest from Crew, and I suck in a breath.
The cold barrel of the gun presses into my head, and I grind my teeth in his face.
Shaw’s mouth inches toward mine, whispering. “You are sealed to him. Linked forever to someone who will one day leave you too soon. Can’t you feel it?” Shaw smirks. “The weakness that oozes from him?”
“Shut the fuck up,” I seethe. “Shut. Up.”
My grip around his neck slackens as his words register, but I swing my fist again, slamming it into his jaw once more.
No.