Chapter 21 Panic
PANIC
RAE
My breathing was too loud, but the inhuman noises beyond the bins masked it. I didn’t know what was happening—whether they were angry I’d given them the slip or something else had gone wrong. I wasn’t about to get up and find out. I wasn’t sure I even could.
A shadow passed over the bins and I whimpered, slapping my hand over my mouth to stifle the sound. I hugged my purse to my chest as a creature stalked back and forth on the other side. I wondered if the scent of my blood gave away my hiding spot.
After several minutes, the low growls moved away from the bins, and I let out a sigh of relief. My adrenaline was crashing, making me all too aware of the pain radiating down my leg.
I could call for help. Would they even come?
The princes won’t save you.
I squeezed my eyes shut, shoving the words from my mind.
Ash would come. So would Zeke. But Ezra and Cyn? Ezra had saved me before, but maybe he did it to help Ash, not me. Would he come now if I called?
I had to try.
“Rae! Rae, where are you?”
“Raelynn!”
I almost dropped my phone at the sound of Zeke and Ash’s voices. They’d come. But how? How did they know how to find me? How did they know I needed them?
“Found her!” Zeke reached into the gap, hauled me out, and crushed me to his chest. “You scared me.” He trembled, his breathing labored. “Why did you run from us?”
“What?” I tilted my head to look up at him in confusion. I didn’t run from them.
“When you saw us, you screamed and ran away.”
I squinted. “I—what?”
“She probably couldn’t tell it was us. It was dark and we were in our alternate forms.” Ash pulled me from Zeke and lifted me into his arms. “We need to get her out of here. She’s injured. Ezra and Cyn have it taken care of.”
I screamed as a boil-covered creature with leathery russet skin leapt onto the bins and swiped at Ash’s head with its long black claws.
Before anyone could respond, a clawed black hand impaled the creature through the chest and ripped its heart free from its body. When the creature collapsed over the bins, I saw Cyn.
He stood in the same form I’d seen the night we met, chest heaving with every heavy breath. His pitch-black eyes burned as he speared me with his gaze. Blood splattered his sharp jawline, dark fluids and chunks of flesh clinging to his clothes.
His gaze snapped to my wounded leg, and his upper lip curled into a feral sneer, revealing the elongated double fangs I’d only glimpsed before. A deep, primal growl rolled through him, vibrating the air.
It wasn’t just a demonic growl. The sound was a warning, a promise, and something darkly possessive that sent heat curling low in my stomach.
How did I know that? How did I know the sound wasn’t something to fear?
The renewed pull beneath my ribs told me I had nothing to fear. Not from him—at least not right now.
“Get her out of here,” he said, barely holding onto his restraint.
His hand tightened around the still-beating heart, crushing it. His eyes met mine one last time before he dropped the remains of the bloody organ and disappeared into the fray.
Too many questions swirled in my mind as Ash ran across the parking lot with me in his arms. “How did you get here? How did you know where to find me?”
“Your phone. Cyn tracked you,” Zeke said, keeping pace at our side.
I wanted to be angry about the invasion of privacy, but it might have saved my life. One of those “pick your battles” situations.
“We used a taxi service to get here,” Ash said, skidding to a sudden stop.
Five infernals resembling the one that clawed my leg with acidic saliva blocked our path.
Zeke grabbed Ash’s arm. “The elevator!”
Ash pivoted and sprinted to the elevator, charging inside as the doors opened with Zeke on our heels. I had no doubt that if they weren’t trying to protect me, they’d be in their infernal forms, fighting alongside Ezra and Cyn.
I hoped they were okay.
When the doors closed, Zeke looked at the number pad. “Where should we go?”
“Down,” Ash said. “We need to put as much distance between this place and Rae as possible.”
“Wait! What about Ezra and Cyn?” I wiggled, and Ash set me down. I stumbled a little, righting myself by gripping the railing. “We can’t leave them alone with those things.”
“They’ll be fine as long as they stay together.”
“There’s too many of them!”
Ash pressed the ground-floor button. “You don’t understand how powerful Ezra is.”
Within seconds of the elevator’s descent, a roar echoed above us and the elevator screeched to a halt.
I gripped the railing, losing my balance. “What’s going on?”
“They’ve cut off our escape.” Ash smashed the buttons, trying to restart the elevator, but nothing happened. “We’ll have to wait for Ezra and Cyn.”
“Are we safe in here?” My gaze darted to the ceiling.
Could they get in through the shaft? They seemed to materialize from the shadows, so I didn’t put it past them.
Ash followed my gaze and shook his head. “We’ll hear them before they get in. We won’t let them hurt you.”
I buried my face in my hands, bending forward, the pain in my leg becoming hard to ignore.
I dropped my hands and scanned the elevator, freezing when I noticed Zeke. He’d been silent the entire time, and now I understood why.
He crouched in the corner, hands over his head, slender fingers trembling as he clutched at his hair.
“Ash,” I whispered, and he turned from the control panel to me, only to curse when he followed my gaze to Zeke.
Zeke whimpered, nails digging into his scalp as the lights flickered.
Ash stepped forward, but his heavy footfalls made Zeke tense and shrink further into the ball he’d curled into. “Only Cyn can reach him when he’s like this.”
“Like what?”
Ash dragged a hand over his face. “This is all Cornaith’s fault.” He looked at me.
“What do you mean?”
He looked torn, glancing from me to Zeke. “He wants to use Zeke’s abilities for his own personal gain and keep Cyn under his thumb, so he’s never treated Zeke right.”
Thinking about what “never treated right” meant, given Zeke’s behavior, made my stomach clench.
Ash sighed. “I won’t go into the details; it’s not my place. It’s Zeke’s story to tell. But this,” he said, waving a hand at Zeke in the corner. “This comes from locking a child in a small space with no light over and over for years, for hours or days at a time.”
“What?” My heart cracked hearing that. “Why? Why would anyone do that?”
“Control,” Ash spat. “What better way to ensure we did whatever Cornaith wanted than by going after someone we love?”
“That’s cruel. Why didn’t his parents do anything?”
“You don’t understand how the council works, but Zeke’s parents follow Cornaith’s orders without question.” Ash clenched his jaw. I saw the anger flaring in his eyes, but I knew he held himself back, steadying for Zeke’s sake.
I looked at Zeke again. My chest ached, and I rubbed my sternum. I couldn’t leave him like this.
Ash grabbed my hand when I took a step forward. “What are you doing?”
“I can’t leave him like this.”
“He can be unpredictable like this.”
I shook my head. “He won’t hurt me.”
Zeke didn’t seem like he’d hurt a fly, and something in my gut told me he’d never harm me. He’d been there for me in my grief. I couldn’t live with myself if I abandoned him now.
I pulled away from Ash and limped toward Zeke, trying to keep my steps slow and soft. When I stood behind him, I kept my voice low and called his name.
He flinched.
“Can I sit with you?”
He shifted as if to make room for me to sit beside him, but the elevator groaned and wobbled. The lights cut out, and the air stirred next to me as feet shuffled across the floor.
“Rae?”
“I’m fine,” I said as the lights came on and I caught Ash’s worried expression.
I glanced over to see Zeke standing in the other corner with his back pressed against the wall, hands white-knuckling the railing. His wild eyes darted from me to Ash.
“Zeke,” Ash whispered.
Zeke whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut.
Ash stepped forward. “We just want to help. Cyn will be here soon, but let us help for now.”
“No!” Zeke’s eyes flew open, and he looked between us, trembling. His chest rose and fell with labored breaths. “Don’t come!” His hands went to his head, and he tilted his face to the ceiling. “Don’t come. Don’t come. Don’t come.”
His low moan of agony pierced my heart.
I met Ash’s eyes. I couldn’t let this continue.
Ignoring Zeke’s repeated pleas, I rushed forward, forcing down the pain radiating from the wound on my thigh, and wrapped my arms around his torso, squeezing him.
He jolted at the contact, words cutting off as he froze, staring down at me.
I lifted my head and looked up into tortured eyes.
It broke my heart.
When it didn’t seem like he’d run away from me, I unwound my arms from his back and lifted my hands to the sides of his face. “I’m here,” I whispered, thumbs brushing his cheeks. “You’re not alone. No one is going to hurt you here.”
His wide, wild-eyed gaze darted around the elevator, landing on Ash.
“We’ll always protect you,” Ash said, voice low and measured.
Zeke looked down at me, and I watched his eyes turn glassy as he returned from wherever his trauma had dragged him. His breath hitched before he released a pitiful moan and collapsed to his knees, taking me with him.
He clutched me to his chest as he sobbed, shoulders heaving as he gripped me like I was his only lifeline.
I placed my hand on his chest and curled against him, allowing him to hold on to me for support until his heartache softened and only the sounds of sniffles remained in the quiet elevator.
When I tried to lift my head, he clutched me tighter.
If he needed me with him until we got out of the enclosed space, I’d stay.
No one deserved to suffer the way he had.
I hated Ezra’s father for what he’d done to Zeke.
I caught Ash’s eye, and he smiled faintly, settling against the far wall.
He’d said only Cyn could help Zeke when he spiraled like this, and I wondered how often they encountered the situation. How often had Cornaith confined Zeke? Was it only in childhood? Did it still happen? I couldn’t ask the questions now. I didn’t want to trigger another episode.
I ran my fingers over his forearm, tracing patterns on his soft skin.
I wasn’t supposed to get attached, but the more I learned about Ash and Zeke, the harder I found it not to. I wanted to help them find a way home, but I hoped it wouldn’t hurt when they left.