Chapter 31
Thirty-One
BECKS
We’ve been searching the tunnels for over an hour, and even though we’ve only scratched the surface, something inside is telling me we’re getting closer.
It might only be wishful thinking, but I’m holding on to the hope that it means something because it’s keeping me together right now.
Ahead of me, Kade gestures that we’re going left, but that doesn’t feel right. I’m about to say something, when Jax speaks up, quietly saying that he smells something in the other direction. As a wolf shifter, he has the most sensitive sense of smell out of all of us, and Kade knows it, so he nods.
We take the turn and move quickly through the passage. We’re almost to the T at the end when a scream pierces the silence, echoing off the walls and hitting me like a dagger to the heart.
Haven.
I take off, not bothering to see if anyone is following. It won’t matter. If that demon is hurting Haven, I won’t need backup. I’ll pulverize it.
The lingering pain from my injuries disappears as I sprint through the tunnels, my heart beating wildly as I follow Haven’s screams through the underground twists and turns.
The cries grow in intensity, letting me know I’m getting closer. Each one is like a fresh wound.
Scales break out on my skin as a war rages within me, my beast wanting free from its reins. But there’s not enough room in the tight space. If I shift, I’ll just collapse the tunnel around me.
I run faster than I ever have, splashing through the thin layer of water. Shouts call from behind me, but I don’t slow. I can’t until I find her. I won’t ever stop until she’s safe in my arms.
The screams are louder than ever, and when I turn a corner, there she is, hanging suspended in the air at the far end of the tunnel.
Black tentacles are twisted around her, holding her aloft as she screams in pain.
I’m halfway down the tunnel when I realize she’s not alone. A small female stands to the side, eyes closed, arms outstretched. Inky tendrils, wrapped around Haven, snake from the woman’s open mouth.
The demon.
I don’t fully understand what’s going on, but whatever it’s doing to Haven, it’s clearly hurting her.
My magic is already at the surface. I don’t need to reach for it. I unleash it.
White-hot fire blasts from my palms, slamming into the demon and catching it off guard. It crashes into the wall hard enough to crack stone, the dark ropes snapping back into its body.
Haven drops.
I’m too far away to catch her, but I create a burst of wind beneath her, cushioning her fall just enough. Even so, she hits the ground hard and doesn’t move, her body slack against the stone.
My heart lurches violently in my chest.
“Haven!” I shout, already sprinting toward her, dread clawing up my throat.
The voice that answers me isn’t hers. The low laughter is like nothing I’ve ever heard before. Slow, deep, throaty. More beast than creature or human.
I skid to a stop, spinning back toward the demon just in time to see its eyes snap open, an endless void of black. The body of the human girl it’s inhabiting looks broken, one of her arms and a leg twisted in an unnatural way. But even so, the laughter doesn’t stop.
Its evident glee in the face of defeat makes my blood run cold.
The demon convulses, and then, just like the others, a dark substance starts leaking from the girl’s body. But this time, the dark vapor doesn’t dissipate. It gathers in the air above her.
I watch in horror as it shapes itself into a distorted humanoid form, long limbs unfolding one by one, fingers tapering into sharp, unnatural points.
The smoke thickens, hardening in places into scaly flesh.
A jagged slash splits across its eyeless head, lined with multiple rows of black, serrated teeth.
The thing steps fully free of the girl’s body and she deflates behind it like an empty shell.
Putting myself between it and Haven, I unleash another blast of my magic, aiming for the demon’s center, but as soon as the stream of fire reaches it, the monster dissipates, evaporating into the darkness.
Its eerie laughter echoes off the tunnel walls before it utters its parting comment.
“You’ve already lost.” Its words scrape out, raw and serrated.
My heart stops. Haven.
Spinning, I drop to my knees in front of her, my hands shaking as I carefully roll her onto her back, brushing her tangled hair out of her face. Her cheeks are pale and cold, making me fear the worst, but there’s a slight rise and fall of her chest, letting me know she’s breathing.
Thank the Creator.
I gently pull her into my arms, pressing my forehead briefly to hers. “Haven,” I whisper. “Stay with me.”
Her lashes flutter.
“Becks!” Kade calls from somewhere deeper in the tunnels.
“Over here,” I yell over my shoulder, gathering Haven closer and standing.
She’s freezing, most likely injured. I need to get her out of here.
Footsteps beat against the wet stone as Kade and the others round the corner and race toward us. The others hang back a little as Kade comes up to me and asks, “Is she . . .?”
“She’s alive. But the demon did something to her.”
He gives a quick nod, his face as hard as stone and not giving away a hint of his true emotions. His gaze drops to Haven’s friend, lying motionless on the ground.
“The demon?” he asks.
“It’s gone,” is all I say.
I’ll have to tell him what I saw, but later. First, I want to take care of Haven, make sure she’s safe. Then we can deal with the fallout of whatever I interrupted that demon doing to her and the fact that it was able to hold a shape and speak separate from its host.
Another nod and Kade goes over to the girl, dropping to the ground to check her over. Probably in vain. I’ve seen what the demon leaves behind after it leaves its vessels.
Haven’s low moan draws my attention, and I glance down in time to see her eyes crack open. Seeing her beautiful brown eyes loosens the knot that tightened in my chest the moment I realized she’d been taken.
“I’m here, I’ve got you,” I quickly assure her.
Her eyes flutter again, and I think she’s going to pass out, but then she blinks them open, fighting against the exhaustion trying to pull her under.
“Tate?” Haven asks, her voice weak.
I’m about to shake my head, when Kade speaks up. “She still has a pulse.”
A relieved sob shakes Haven, and I clench her tighter as Kade hefts the limp body of her friend into his arms.
He turns to me, his face grim. “Let’s get out of here.”
Haven’s sleep is not peaceful as she lays in the bed.
Her eyes move back and forth beneath her closed lids, and she jerks periodically.
I want to wake her up, pull her into my arms and soothe her, but I was told very explicitly not to bother her, that she needed rest to recover, and waking her would do more harm than good.
But watching her now, I don’t know if they’re right.
My gaze drops to her hands. They look so pale and delicate, placed on top of the thin blue blanket draped over her.
I reassure myself that this is the best place for her.
The Order has some of the most highly skilled creature doctors in the country here in the New York City headquarters, but the instinct to wrap her in my arms and take her somewhere safe, just the two of us, flares anyway.
As it does, teal scales flash along my forearms.
Haven makes a whimpering sound, and my resolve cracks. She needs sleep, but she’s clearly distressed. I’m not going to sit here and watch her suffer. Not when it’s within my power to do something about it.
As gently as possible, I slide an arm around Haven, lifting her slightly so I can fit on the bed with her, holding her as she sleeps.
She rouses slightly as I shift us into position, but after only a few seconds settles again, falling back to sleep.
I don’t even think she was aware enough in that moment to know where she is.
Once I have her wrapped in my arms, I notice how cold she is. She should be warm by now, but that’s something else I can help with. Good thing dragon shifters run hot.
At first, Haven still seems agitated, but as the minutes tick by, her body relaxes. Eventually, her breathing evens out and the jerking stops. She sinks into a deep, restful sleep.
I haven’t forgotten the conversation we had before everything blew up. She found out about my history with Locklyn, and I hadn’t been the one to tell her.
She’s mad. Feels betrayed and lied to. But it makes warmth fill my chest to know that on a subconscious level she feels safe with me. That I can soothe her in this way.
I don’t want to think that this will be the first and last time I get to hold her in my arms like this, but it very well may be.
When she wakes, she may never want to see me again.
But the slowing cadence of her heartbeats and the evening of her breathing gives me hope that she’ll at least hear me out.
Because Haven is not Locklyn, and I need her to know that.
I’m worried about the future, about the demon, what it did to Haven and what else it wants from her. About how we’re going to defeat it and how I’m going to keep Haven safe. But in this moment, with her resting in my arms, I’m at peace.
I don’t want to miss a second, but my body is still healing, my adrenaline spent, and the weight of the last several hours crashes into me all at once.
My eyes grow heavy and I must drift off, because when I blink my eyes open again, it’s to find that Haven has turned in my arms and is resting on my chest now, her sleepy gaze fixed on me, undoing me completely.
She’s so beautiful.
“Hi,” she says, her voice rough.
She winces, making me think that even uttering a single word must hurt. Her throat is probably raw from screaming. The thought of that pains me.
“Shh,” I say quietly. “You don’t have to talk.”
She nods, but then asks, “Where are we?”
“The medical floor of the Order’s headquarters in New York.”