SUN #3
Ragnar laughs. The sound is truly demonic.
"Try me! You stood there for years watching Moon suffer. Watching Summer suffer. Watching Sun suffer. You’re part of their fucked-up empire of silence.
People like you, who keep their mouths shut, are the worst. Even Anzo would agree.
Your father said nothing when Tito castrated him! You’re no different!"
Luca grits his teeth. The words hit him hard.
Bone protrusions burst through his shirt as his transformation accelerates.
Eliano and Mauro stare in shock, their faces white as chalk.
Luca’s transformation is just as fast as Ragnar’s. Bone plates slide into place, shielding every vital area, even his eyes. And suddenly, there they are, two monsters facing off in this goddamn room.
It’s all so surreal.
I can’t even process what I’m seeing. I even forgot the miracle that just happened. That I could heal myself.
The only thing I know is that Moon was right when he told Anzo that I had a gift. He knew it before anyone else.
So maybe…
Maybe he was also right when he said our paths lead to happiness , after all?
Is there any way out of this twisted, impossible situation? Because right now, it really doesn’t look like it.
All I see are two beasts facing off, and then, in a split second, Ragnar lunges at Luca.
They collide with a sickening crunch.
What happens next moves so fast my eyes can barely keep up.
Two massive bodies slam into each other, wrestling, shoving, trampling, ramming.
They push each other into the cages. I notice Luca starts pushing Ragnar toward Summer’s cage, and when Ragnar’s body hits it, Anzo has to fight for balance.
It strikes me as odd, but I could swear there’s something deliberate about it.
Then I notice that Anzo tries to reattach the IV to the venflon, but it has shifted and he has a problem with it. The whole fight, shaking the cage and making their bodies sway from side to side, interrupts him.
The purples growl in inhuman, monstrous tones, trading blows that land on their armored bodies with horrible cracking and grinding sounds.
They tumble around. One of them goes down, the other pounces, but seconds later the roles reverse. It’s almost impossible to follow, it’s insane how fast these huge creatures can move.
Their spiked arms lock together, the protrusions jamming their movements. It looks almost like a perfect tactic for stopping your opponent, if it didn’t trap you too. That’s why most of the fight is a contest of brute force: pushing, rolling, slamming each other into the walls of the cages.
At one point, I see Rocco crouch behind the cage where Anzo and Summer are.
He tries twice to shoot Ragnar, right in the split second when Ragnar breaks away from Luca.
But the window is too narrow, and of course, the bullets bounce right off Ragnar’s armor.
One even hits Luca in the shoulder. The second ricochets and smacks into the ground.
After that, Rocco gives up trying to interfere.
I'm desperately trying to figure out whose chances are better. I think Ragnar is somewhat heavier, but Luca seems more adept at fighting, which is not surprising since he did cage fighting for years.
They’re smashing each other so hard… I know purple alphas have that silicon carbide-based cerametal armor. Ragnar’s plates look like they have a slightly glossy top layer that Luca’s doesn’t, but in the end, it doesn’t change much. Except for one thing:
It soon becomes clear Ragnar is fighting with more determination.
I’m almost certain Luca isn’t even putting his full strength into this.
It looks like he’s mostly on defense, just blocking Ragnar’s attacks.
It’s bizarre, but I’m relieved. Maybe Luca does not want Ragnar to lose?
Is he pretending to fight? If he subdues Ragnar, Anzo wins.
But who wants that, really? With every second of their fight that passes, our chances are improving.
I glance at Summer, and I swear his eyelids twitch. Is he waking up? If he does, the fight’s over…
Honestly, I don’t get why Anzo hasn’t just shot Summer in the head while he’s unconscious.
Is it that hard for him to accept the possibility of losing his precious weapon? The one he put so much effort into figuring out, the one he’s pinned so many of his future plans on?
There’s a scary thought that won’t leave my mind: What if he’s planning to use Summer when the FBI shows up?
The possibility sends a chill down my spine. This whole thing could end in a total massacre if it spins out of control.
Swallowing hard, I stare at the fight, painfully aware that if Luca takes Ragnar down, Anzo’s going to threaten Summer, saying he’ll kill his brother. And Summer will be forced to knock the FBI agents out.
Suddenly, Ragnar shoves Luca hard, and they crash into the corner of the room. Ragnar raises an arm and slams it down onto Luca’s neck, the spikes digging into the armor plates at his throat.
I can imagine it clearly. If he manages to wedge those spikes underneath the plating, Luca’s done for.
I stare, tense, but it looks like Luca is saying something. He’s mumbling, quiet, low, just for Ragnar.
It’s indiscernible. I can’t make it out.
Then, without warning, Ragnar pulls back!
He lifts his hand. The spikes stop pressing into Luca’s neck, and instead, he punches him. Just a clean, hard shot to the jaw. Like he’s trying to knock him out. Luca goes limp. Is that really enough to make him pass out? It didn’t even look that strong. Strange.
Ragnar rises and leaves him lying there.
What the fuck?
He turns and walks toward Anzo.
Anzo’s jaw is clenched tight. I see sweat beading on his forehead. This is costing him more than he’s letting on.
"One more step, and your parents are dead. I’m in contact with guys sitting with them via my cyber implants."
"Do it. Now."
I freeze, hearing those words. Anzo locks his eyes with Ragnar, as if in disbelief. It’s a rare sight—this expression on him. What does Ragnar plan to do?
There is a long silence, and Ragnar tilts his head.
"Now… Let Summer go. You know damn well that if you hurt him, you’re not walking out of this room alive. I’ll tear you to shreds," he slowly leans and puts his hands on the cage bars, his voice growling low, "And then castration will feel like a fond memory, you son of a bitch!"
"I think I’ll take that risk," Anzo growls back. I almost admire him. It takes serious balls to talk like that to a silver-plated, spiked monster.
Ragnar can tear him to shreds, no question. And I know he will, the moment Anzo hurts Summer.
Anzo spits it out, "Sun still has one job left, he has to heal me. He’s the only one who can make my dick grow back. No one else. Just him!"
"That’s not true," I say, my voice trembling. "There’s someone else. You forgot, Anzo."
Anzo doesn’t even look at me. His black eyes stay locked on Ragnar, who’s obviously standing way too close for his comfort.
But I don’t give up. "It’s your True Mate, Anzo!
You just have to find him. When you enter the Joining, the True Mate Bond will heal you.
It’s the strongest magic there is, and it always works.
But what I have… I don’t control it. I discovered it just now!
I don’t know how to trigger it. I wouldn’t even know where to start.
Your True Mate is your best chance to be healed! "
Anzo’s jaw trembles. Sweat drips down his temples. His eyes are still on Ragnar.
"You think I haven’t thought of that? I asked Moon to tell me where he is!
But Moon just kept clinging to this one path.
‘Sun’ , he kept saying. Over and over. Like he couldn’t see any other option.
Every time I tried to get him to tell me how to find my fated mate, Moon would slip into that damn trance of his, repeating like crazy, ‘Only Sun, only Sun, he will make it happen’, over and over and over.
It didn’t matter what I did, what drugs I gave him.
He just kept saying the same thing. So what am I supposed to believe?
I take it literally. That you can heal me.
And hell, it fits! You’ve got that healing power, don’t you? So when you're under pressure—"
"There could be other meanings, couldn’t there? ‘Make it happen’ could mean anything. Set it in motion, maybe? It doesn’t have to be about healing!"
Anzo exhales sharply.
"Moon couldn’t explain it either. He said there were too many variables, too many paths. That everything’s like jelly. That’s why you’re my last hope."
He suddenly cuts off mid-sentence. His eyes go blank for a second, then his face drains of color, pale as a corpse.
"Fuck," he spits, whipping around toward Rocco, who’s cowering in silence like a mouse in a trap.
"They’re here. Fuck! They’re really here!"
"Who?" Rocco asks, his face dumb and clueless.
"The FBI, you idiot! The goddamn feds! Whole army of them, they’re surrounding the building!"
Rocco goes pale, wild panic flashing in his eyes.
"We need to get the fuck outta here, we have to go to the tunnel," he growls.
Then, just like that, without waiting for anyone, without looking back, he bolts upright and takes off toward the door like a rocket.
Even I just stare after him, stunned. He clearly doesn’t give a shit about any of his brothers or Anzo, for that matter. I don’t even think this raid is about him, but he sure as hell plans to make sure he’s not here when they show up.
Anzo clenches his jaw so hard, his muscle twitches.
"That bastard. But back to the point! I’m not letting you go until Sun heals me. Do it now, or Summer dies!" he snarls, pressing the barrel of the gun harder against the unconscious omega’s head.
Unconscious?
…Wait. Wait…
A split second later, the gun in his hand is yanked away, ripped from his grip, and goes flying through the bars, hitting the wall behind the cage with a loud clang.
The next moment, Anzo’s body collapses to the floor like dead weight.
Silence crashes over us.
"Summer?"