Chapter 24 Xeni #2
“Stop here and wait three minutes before you drive to the distribution center,” I command. “You don’t know what happened to me.”
She nods slowly, hands on the steering wheel.
I’m shaking and sweaty from the use of so much magic as I jump out and run to the back. Light invades the shadows as I fling the door up, and I slide the lid off the crate.
“Hurry!” I yank Gideon to stand and help him climb out of the cramped box. “Your brother is waiting down the right side alley and through the blue door. Go!”
He doesn’t need to be told twice and jumps from the truck before bolting out of sight. I follow behind him, stopping to close the roll-up door when the crunch of gravel makes me turn.
Fuck.
A military vehicle parks only feet away.
“Stop right there!” a soldier orders as the doors fly open.
I sprint in the opposite direction as Gideon, refusing to lead them to the others.
To Bash.
Adrenaline replaces my sapped strength as I force myself to speed up. I shove through the rear entrance of a restaurant and into a busy kitchen. Surprised shouts call out as I push brooms and boxes in front of the door, and I charge through the lobby and into the bright sun of the main street.
It isn’t as crowded as I’d like, making it impossible for me to get lost among the people. My feet thunder against the pavement as I charge toward the alley across the way and duck into the shadows as more shouts follow.
Lightning bolts of pain shoot through my legs as I pour all my energy into running. We mapped this area, and I try to picture the diagram that showed the closest escape. There should be a sewer entrance a few blocks away.
I fly around the building and collide with a soldier who snags my arm.
“Let me go,” I command, and his grip on my biceps slacks. Nausea twists my stomach from expelling too much power, and I stumble as I start running again.
I round a corner, and two more soldiers block my way.
“Fuck,” I wheeze. “Why are there so many of you?”
My hands and arms tremble as I dig for the remnants of magical reserves swirling in my gut.
The bigger guard charges first, and I focus all my intention onto him.
“Stop… your partner,” I rasp.
The smaller soldier yelps as she’s shoved against the brick wall.
My vision sways as a hot drop of blood trickles down my lip, but I keep running. I burst out onto the crowded main road, crashing into a few people who shout in alarm as I attempt to catch my footing.
A sudden weight hits me from behind. The air is pushed out of my lungs as I hit the ground with a body on top of me.
“Let me… let me go,” I try to order, but the world tilts, and there’s nothing left.
He chuckles in my ear as my wrists are zip-tied. Rough hands yank me to my feet, and I’m nearly feral, baring my teeth and slinging curses.
There are too many of them, though, and I’m surrounded.
The big fucker behind me—a Bhotan, of fucking course—yanks on my elbow so hard my shoulders twist, and I call out as he drags me along. Spectators stop and stare, and as we approach the same alleyway this all started in, the string around my middle cinches.
My gaze swings desperately into the crowd, searching for him in the chaos. It lands on Cato and Jayce, both wearing somber stares as they restrain Bash between them.
He fights them with everything he has, thrashing and straining to break free.
My heart shatters as I recognize the shape of my name on his lips.
It’s that day all over again.
Those same desperate eyes burning with helpless fury, and the same screams tearing from his throat. He reaches for me, ready to charge headlong into an army if it means getting to me.
He’ll share this fate, gladly, when I only ever wanted to shield him from it.
“Xeni!” he shouts, the sound cutting through the noise like a knife.
I struggle to keep my gaze locked on him as I’m shoved toward the car, the world blurring around the edges from my exhaustion.
“No, Xen! I’m coming!” he roars, but the crowd swallows it, muffling his pleas as the guards haul me closer to the open door.
I’m leaving him again, I realize, after I swore I wouldn’t.
All those tentative threads of possibility, the quiet moments of almost-believing we could heal, the fragile hope we’d only just begun to rebuild… they’re crushed.
Destroyed.
The pain of it steals my breath amidst the struggle, with hands grabbing and voices barking orders, and I only have one thing left.
One truth I can give him before they take me.
“I love you,” I whisper, hoping against all odds that he can read the words on my lips.
He screams my name one last time as I’m shoved into the backseat of the sedan, and the door slams with a finality that echoes like a gunshot in my soul. The silence that follows is deafening, and my head falls against the back of the seat.
Two guards say nothing as they climb into the front, and my consciousness wanes as the car pulls forward. I have a fleeting thought that I hope Leuce made it out of this unscathed.
Twists and turns lead us back onto the main road. I should pay attention, but exhaustion and defeat are crushing. Instead of planning my escape, I listen to the hum of the tires.
Traffic gets louder as we drive, and the taller buildings grow closer. The familiar shape of the skyline feels alien as my sluggish heart thuds in my chest.
Darkness encompasses the vehicle as we pull into an underground parking area. The door is flung open, and I’m yanked to my feet fast enough to make my head spin.
In a pitiful act of rebellion, I jam my heel into the guard’s shin. An exhausted smile tugs at my lips at his outraged howl, but my amusement fades as I’m yanked into an elevator and the doors close behind us.
“So, do you come here often?” I ask.
The guard holding my left side gives me a hard jostle while the other snorts. “Shut your mouth,” he growls.
I click my tongue as the elevator keeps climbing. “Is this the part where you frisk me? Because if you’re looking for weapons, I’m only carrying one. If you can’t figure out where it is, I’ll give you a hint.”
“Shut… up!” he snarls, and pain lances through my shoulder as he shakes me again.
“You aren’t very good at this game, are you?” I ask with a popped brow. “Okay, fine, I’ll tell you. It’s—”
“I said shut up!” he bellows.
“—between my legs.”
The front of my body is slammed against the wall. My vision blurs from the impact as I gasp for a breath.
“Is this your idea of foreplay? Come on, choke me properly if you’re gonna play dominant,” I wheeze as the elevator dings. “I’ll even call you sir while I come.”
The doors slide open, and the air becomes thick. Bodies move in my peripherals, but my missing eye keeps me from being able to see much besides shadows.
“Do we have a problem here?”
The deadly calm voice makes me freeze, and the guards release me to stand at perfect attention.
“No sir, no problem, sir!” they bark in unison, their eyes dropping subserviently to the floor.
Dread clenches my stomach as I stand straight, turning towards the open door.
Calm arrogance lines his voice as he steps closer. “Imagine my surprise when I learned who was wreaking havoc in my city,” he says, taking a judgmental sweep of my body. “And here I heard you were dead.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I retort.
He moves quick as lightning as he clutches the neck of my armor. “Do not take that tone with me, boy.”
His teeth are bared as he sizes me up, and he snatches my eyepatch and rips it off to expose the hollow socket and scarred skin that surrounds it.
I drop my head so my hair falls to shield it, but he grips my chin and lifts my face to his.
Hate shines off his features, bright as the sun and just as hot.
A Cavese like me, but his build is thicker and his horns are much longer, twisting and curving to represent the hundreds of years he’s lived. His solid white eyes are shrewd, and his pearly hair is pulled back in a series of intricate braids that expose the harsh points of his ears.
My gaze drops to his leather-covered chest and all the patches that mark him as important.
A High Commander.
One of the six most powerful leaders in existence. They run the world, make the rules, and enforce their whims.
But this one…
He’s the worst.
The Architect.
The one who planned the invasion of this world and overthrew the humans. Tossed them into cages and killed anyone who dared speak up against his master plan. Cold and calculating on a good day, cruel and maniacal on most.
He can order a man to drown himself without breaking a sweat and can orchestrate an army with his mind. He fancies himself a king among royalty.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself, Xenesis?” he demands.
My eye snaps up to his, showing him every ounce of the hate that lives inside me. I lift my chin and plaster my most perfect smile on my face, coating my tone in syrupy subdued anger.
“So great to see you, Father.”