Chapter 26 - Nova #2
I shifted back into my human form and lunged at him, pressing my thumb into his warm, slippery eye socket.
There was a wet, fatal pop, and he screamed—a high, animal sound that bounced off the cave.
I jumped away from him just as his hands came up to his face, blood slick between his fingers as he tried to catch his dangling right eye, but it was too late for that one. It was already squished like a grape.
In his panicked state, he froze when I leaned closer to his ear. His breathing was ragged and terrified. “If you don’t want to lose the other eye,” I said, my voice cold as the stone around us shook, “you’ll tell me about this doctor. Who is he, and what are you doing here?”
Choppy breaths stuttered out like he was trying to think of what to say, but he hesitated too long.
I drove my claws into his chest and felt ribs splinter under my strikes.
On the second plunge, I caught a rib between my fingers and slowly twisted it until I heard a sickening snap.
His screams finally collapsed into a hoarse, broken croak. “Stop. N-no more.”
“Don’t make me ask again,” I growled.
“H-he’s… lake… b-bank,” he spat, each syllable a wet, useless thing. My mind ricocheted through possibilities like bullets.
“Lake? What lake?” I pressed. The room began to shake. Fuck!
His body trembled. The swollen muscle that had towered over me before slackened, deflating at a rapid pace. His remaining eye flicked down, going wide before he glared up at me.
“They’re coming,” he rasped. “You won't… survive.”
Blood foamed at his mouth. His pupil rolled back, body violently shaking, and I let him go.
A wave of red heat shimmered across his chest, settling right above his heart.
A sharp crack split through the air. His chest ballooned, then caved in right before my eyes.
His body folded to the ground, now lifeless.
What the fuck?
Curiosity took over, so I dug my claws into the warm mess in his chest, tearing through fistfuls of blood-slick tissue until I got to the spot where his heart was.
The inside looked blackened, almost charred, as if something had detonated beneath the sternum. Smoke-scented ash clung to the edges. His heart was nowhere to be found.
The dome above us rumbled, shaking the whole room. A slab of stone separated right above me, and I jumped out of the way. A loud thud sounded right behind me, shaking the ground. Dust choked the air, and stones fell from the ceiling like gravel sprinkles.
Looking up, I saw the knife in the wall, a shining glow rippling across the blade. I wanted that knife, needed to understand what kind of magic it held. Quick on my feet, I bolted for the wall, dodging the speared rocks falling from the ceiling.
Wrapping my fingers around the handle, I heaved with everything in me, but the metal resisted, clinging to the rock for dear life.
“Come on, come on,” I hissed. Blood and dirt under my nails, I put both hands around it and yanked. When the blade finally ripped free, a small, high-pitched scream came from it. I stared at it for a second, trying to make sure I heard that correctly.
I had to get this to my family and figure out what the fuck kind of magic this was.
No sooner had I freed the knife from the wall than the ceiling surrendered. Rocks rained down in chunks, and I knew this space would cave in in a matter of seconds. Taking off as fast as I could, I ran for the entrance.
Pushing my legs harder, pumping my arms faster, I kept a firm grip on the knife. Just as I saw the crack split and rock shift right above the entrance, I dove, rolling through grit and heat with a prayer.
Bursting out of the mouth of the mini cave, I rolled right into another rock wall with a thud. Dust and rocks flew at me as the passage collapsed behind me in a final, choking roar.
Slumping against the ground, hoarse, ragged breaths dragged from my lungs, and I spat out grit that coated my face. My whole body ached underneath the skin, and that was when I realized my outfit was buried under tons of stone.
Fucking… whatever. I shrugged to myself. I could steal a shirt from one of the others later. The image that pushed me into motion wasn’t clothes… it was them, the men I wanted to check on. Who knew if that cave-in caused something to happen on their side? I needed to make sure everything was okay.
Stabbing the knife into the ground, I quickly pushed myself up. My legs gobbled up the distance between me and the main chamber within seconds.
A thought surprised me as I sprinted toward them.
I wanted to see Conrad’s steady, calm smile, the way Deslen’s face would light up when he saw me, Zeth standing proud with his hands on his hips, and Nick.
I wanted to catch that millisecond when Nick’s eyes widened, impressed with what I’d done and survived.
I wanted time with them, real time. The teasing, the easy laughter, the way their eyes lingered on me until that spark of hunger took over.
That thought alone tugged something open inside my chest, the tiny fracture letting in a sliver of warmth I hadn’t felt in years.
Maybe… just maybe… I could get used to that.
Their voices carried down the tunnel, rough and echoing, and I quickened my pace. When I broke into the clearing, I stopped in my tracks.
Nick was on the ground, one hand rubbing his neck, glaring at Zeth with eyes sharp enough to cut.
A human boy hovered over him, wide-eyed, hands shaking as he apologized for something.
Across the space, Zeth strained against Conrad and Deslen’s hold, teeth bared as he shouted, “Who the fuck are you? I’m only going to ask once more before I shove these two aside and beat it out of you. Who are you, Officer Cordova?”
Officer?
The word hung in the air like a gunshot. Everything went still.
I turned to look at Nick, every motion being cataloged and assessed. The way his eyes dropped, the hitch in his pulse, the tremor that ran through his fingers. The boy beside him kept glancing between Zeth and Nick, inching his way closer to the latter for safety.
My heart hammered, beating against my ribs so hard they shook. Each thud begged me to reject what my eyes were telling me, to tell me he hadn’t been the one to stab a blade into the fragile trust we’d built. He was supposed to be mine.
My feet moved on their own like I was in a trance. Someone called my name, but it didn't get through to me, didn't register. Every inch of my being narrowed on the man in front of me, on Nick, the turned wolf who always had one foot in and one foot out of both worlds.
Nick’s head snapped toward me, and his eyes filled with something raw—guilt. That look cut right through my heart, making it bleed, making it hurt even worse than before.
I watched the confession form on his lips before he spoke, but everything felt numb. My mind. My body. The only thing bleeding was my heart, but you couldn't see it.
My steps were steady, but my hands trembled as I kept walking toward him. Up close, the little tic in his jaw, the quick hitch in his breath—all of it confirmed what my gut had already felt.
He lied to me. He was the enemy. Trying to tear me down. Trying to tear the Syndicate down. Trying to take from my family. That spark of rage lit up inside me, and while my heart screamed no, my mind burned with a yes.
“Nova, I—” he started in a small voice, but that didn't stop me.
My fingers flexed on instinct. I pictured grabbing his throat, flinging him across the clearing, and beating that handsome face until it matched the way I felt inside. The boss in me rose to the surface. Punishments were lessons; betrayals were unforgivable.
You don’t betray the Syndicate. You don’t betray me. The rules tasted metallic on my tongue.
Something howled in my chest, my wolf snapping in protest of my vision of how I wanted to handle the situation.
For a single brutal second, my hand obeyed the rage, reaching out for his neck.
Chaos descended in my mind, my wolf doing everything possible to fight the urge to make him pay while my mind insisted that this was only going to keep happening if I didn't put a stop to it. I needed to make an example out of him.
But he’s your mate… for better or worse.
Pain surged over the rage, and when it was washed away, all I was left with was a hollow hole in my heart. My hand stilled. The damage was already done, and no amount of blood could take that away.
“Don’t.” The word slipped through my teeth, low and hard. My gaze drilled into those golden eyes that always set something raw and hot under my ribs.
His mouth flattened; disappointment cut across his face, and he straightened, every inch the righteous soldier. The cop. He looked at me like I was the traitor.
“Did your captain put you up to this? Are you a spy? An assassin? A rat?” Questions rattled out, rapid-fire, but that last one was laced with venom. He flinched and swallowed hard before he spoke.
“Yes.” His quiet confirmation set off a bomb in my soul. “They sent me to watch you, to make sure no humans got hurt under you, and to tell them if they did.” His eyes went to the boy next to him. The loaded gun.
A hollow laugh escaped me, sharp and humorless. “So, the plan was to cozy up to the mafia queen, win her trust, then plunge a blade into her back later? Mating be damned.” I flicked my hand dismissively.
Nick’s jaw tightened. “It started out as a job, a mission,” he said, the words stumbling out. “But it…” He barked a wry laugh, looking off into the distance. “It switched.” He turned to look at me. “I started… I couldn’t stop… fuck… I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
I shook my head. Words. Just fucking words, Nova. Actions were how you learned about someone, how you got to know who they were, and his spoke volumes.