Chapter 54
Chapter Fifty-Four
APRIL
I think that my bones have bones because I feel the pain of all of them breaking.
If that was not enough, the excruciating pain of everything healing back together and returning to its rightful place finally makes me blackout.
Not enough to go unconscious. I’m not that lucky.
I can still hear the shouts and muffled words somewhere above the roof and stairs covering my body.
So I wait. I know I’ll eventually crawl out of this grave they made for me, but I need my arms for that, and by the way my fingers are twitching uncontrollably I know they are not healed yet.
I really need a break, I think to myself while grinding my teeth so I don’t cry out in pain. Crushed pieces of brick sting my eyes when I try to open them. Blinking profusely, I let the tears run down the sides of my face in hopes it’ll clear the stubby little bastards before I go blind.
“She is under there, dig.” Sebastian’s deep voice snaps from somewhere above me.
Of course, he is already out. I don’t doubt the broken building even bowed to the arrogant ass while moving away from him.
Sometimes, I honestly believe that even the ground he is walking on is in awe of his presence.
That’s just the aura he has surrounding him, and it leaves the rest of us following like puppets.
Funny how my mind decides to concentrate on stupid things just to avoid thinking about the pain.
“April?” This time it’s Marcus, and he sounds like he is right next to me.
Delirious from the agony from my mending bones, I snicker, imagining all three of them standing on top of broken pieces of the building with smoke billowing around them while they slowly burn alive.
The gruesome thought snaps my eyes open, and ignoring the crushed rock and hurt, I curl my arms at my chest and start pushing on the concrete wall pressing me down.
“No!” The scream sounds like it’s in my head thanks to the tiny pocket of air I have available around me. “Run! Don’t die because of me. I’ll get myself out.”
“She’s here.” Marcus sounds excited.
“Of course I’m here, jackass. Get away from the sun.” I think my right arm is not healed yet because I feel the bone ripping into a muscle when I push on the flat wall. “If my arms heal awkwardly, I’m going to bring your ass to life just so I can kill you myself.”
The wall flies off me, and I blink stupidly, wondering if the panic has given me enough strength to fling it away one-handed.
Of course it is the Sire asshole looking down at me with worry in his dark eyes who removed it.
My idea to look like a badass goes down the drain when I forget about the still broken arm, and I use it to lift myself up.
With a pathetic yowl, I drop back down, cradling it to my chest.
“She’s fine,” Sebastian says dryly, pissing me off. “Even more stubborn than ever.”
I glare at him. He smirks.
“At least your ass is not on fire. Unfortunately.”
I glance quickly at Marcus and Andrei, who are choking and coughing to cover their laughter. I think these two will eventually swallow their tongues with all the times they are suppressing their laughter. All my thoughts disappear when I see the dark sky above our heads.
“How long was I under the rubble?”
“A few hours.” Scooping me up, Sebastian stands. “It took a while to come around. Then we had to wait for the sun to go down before crawling out from under the wreckage.”
“Did the mages kill the humans?” I flop around, trying to look around us, and Sebastian almost drops me.
“Calm down, April. Only a few were lost.” Squeezing the words through clenched teeth, he tightens his hands around me, trapping me to his chest.
“You really need to stop telling me to calm down when I’m angry.” Snapping at him, I shake with the urge to slap him. “It pisses me off more.”
“Let’s move away from the open, shall we?” Ignoring my outburst, he turns, walking over broken pieces of the hotel. “You can be as angry with me as you’d like as long as we are away from prying eyes.”
“Did we get them?” Deciding it’s not worth it to argue with his stubborn ass, I stare at the broken lobby. “The magic assholes, I mean. Did we kick their ass?”
“No,” he snarls, pulling my attention to his face. “After they brought half of the building down, they must’ve left. The humans were guarding the destroyed lobby while we recovered. No one attacked after that.”
“Humph…”
“What?” At my huff, he looks down at me.
“It just sounds stupid.” Shrugging a shoulder, I turn to see Marcus and Andrei, who are walking next to us.
They climb over bricks and furniture with thoughtful expressions on their smudged faces.
“All that hassle so they can leave when most of us are incapacitated. It’s not what I would’ve done, but I’m not a mage so… ”
“And what would you have done, my redemption?” Sebastian moves like a goat over everything, not taking his eyes off me.
“I would’ve dug them all out to kill them.
” I’m surprised to feel that I actually spoke the truth.
I’ll feel no remorse killing those idiots.
“Or…” When I trail off, he nudges me with his chest in a silent demand to keep talking.
“If I couldn’t do that, or I didn’t have time, I would try to hide close by so I can do it the first chance I get. ”
“Precisely.” He smiles at me proudly.
“If I had any doubt these two are a perfect match, I don’t have it anymore,” Marcus tells Andrei conversationally, like we are not even here.
“Ha, ha,” I tell him blandly before ignoring their chuckling. “So, what’s the plan? We search for them?”
“I find it peculiar that you are your normal self.” Sebastian grouses, dismissing my question.
My entire body freezes, realizing how right his words are.
It’s nighttime, the crescent moon the only light in the dark, cloudless sky.
And I’m me, April I mean. I’m not angry, nor do I see through a red haze.
Is it possible that I somehow returned to normal?
Then I remember my rapidly healing bones, and I throw that stupid idea out of my mind.
Grinning as wide as my mouth can stretch, I look at all three of them.
“I’m me! You guys, I’m not a crazy, murderous monster anymore.” If I expected cheering, I was disappointed.
Ignoring my excitement and pooping on my parade, the three of them talk like I’m not there.
I so want to scratch both their eyes out, but then I remind myself I’m not a crazy monster anymore, so I keep grinning like an idiot, tuning them out completely.
That’s until the asshole carrying me kills my smile, as per usual.
“I have a theory. And we are just about to test it.”
He stops walking, and I see we are halfway through the hotel.
The destroyed part is at our back. In front of us is the still standing end of the building.
Large pieces of the broken walls have been dragged and propped up to cover the open part like a fence around a house.
Cracks between them are left open, wide enough for one person to walk through.
After Sebastian’s statement about having a theory, anxiety gnaws in my stomach, and I want to jump out of his arms and bolt back the way I came.
“This theory of yours…” I keep staring at the gap between the propped walls like I’m expecting something to jump at me. “Is it me turning into a monster as soon as we enter the standing part of the hotel?”
“No.” I release the breath that I was holding way too soon. “It’s anger turning you irrational when the blood of the others is within sniffing distance.”
‘I’m not a dog!” Snapping at him, my eyes widen. “Dog! Where is my dog? Mutt!” A scream is ripped from my chest, scenarios of the poor dog being crushed under the rubble playing in my head and going from bad to worse.
“He is alive, April.” Marcus hurries to reassure me. “I went to fetch him while Andrei helped Sebastian search for you. He wasn’t in the room I left him in, or under any rubble in that area. My guess is he somehow snuck out and will return at any moment.”
“Unless he is crushed under something.” My chest feels too tight.
I can’t feel him around the building, my redemption.
” Sebastian gets my attention, and I watch him, praying he is right.
“That creature is too smart for his own good. I don’t doubt he sensed something isn’t right and broke free to investigate.
He’s done it before, once or twice during the nights. ” His mouth twists unhappily.
“You better be right. I’m going to destroy everything if something happens to my mutt.” If they thought I was a bloodthirsty monster before, they don’t know what’s coming if I don’t find mutt.
“He will come.” Kissing the top of my head, he peers at me through his thick lashes. “Ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Blowing an anxious breath out, and with thoughts of Mutt being hurt somewhere under the destruction, I brace myself when he crosses the hole between the propped walls.