Chapter 37
Light shutters out around me, becoming gray and gloomy as I quickly land and draw my wings back in. But as soon as I get a look around me, I freeze wondering if I’ve accidentally landed in Hell.
The sky is like a never-ending nightfall.
There are monstrous dark mountains in the distance, large pits of black flames spread out before it, mounds of dark rock and ash weaving in and around the entire landscape and a loud constant shrieking that claws at my ears, making me feel like they’re about to bleed.
Hundreds of different dark creatures, some on four legs, others on two, stretch across the landscape. All of them are crawling, trying to get out of pits and viciously attacking one another.
Those nearest to where I’ve landed haven’t noticed me yet, too busy fighting amongst themselves, but it won’t be too long before they do.
I turn around to make sure everyone else made it so we can get moving, but I’m immediately engulfed in a hug.
“Fuck,” Theon whispers, his grip tightening on me for a moment before releasing me to check me over. He doesn’t get the chance before I’m wrapped in another hug and another. Each of my mates checking me from head to toe making sure not a hair is out of place before finally relaxing.
“You’re an Alita?” Zane says, coming up around the guys with a frown and face full of frustration. “What the hell is Levington thinking about allowing you to come here?”
I raise a brow. “You said it yourself, I’m a good fighter. What the hell does it matter if I’m an Alita?” I ask, but Zane completely ignores me as he starts pacing back and forth.
“An Alita is not supposed to be here.” He looks at Cassius as if something just dawned on him. “Open another rift and get her out of here.”
Cassius stares at him like he’s stupid. “Do you even know how much energy it takes to open a rift—”
“I don’t care, she’s a fucking Alita,” Zane points out as if I’m the only thing that matters right now, forgetting completely what we came here for. To save everyone.
Cassius sighs. “If I open another rift, it will be the last rift I open for a long while and none of us will be getting out of here.”
“It’s not up for discussion,” I tell them, narrowing my eyes on Zane. “I’m staying. I’ve earned my place here just like the rest of you so let’s get moving before anything decides to eat us.” I glance over to the vicious creatures.
Zane clenches his jaw but shares a look with his team, silently agreeing to something before staring back at us and nodding.
He moves closer to me, and my men immediately tense up.
“Fine. But you stay close to us—” he starts but Malakai moves in front of him while attempting to block me from view.
“She stays with us,” Malakai grits out.
“She’s an Alita,” Zane replies, his tone just as angry but I see something move out of the corner of my eye and turn to find some of the creatures pause and take notice of us.
“Just because she has wings doesn’t make her yours,” Theon points out.
“Actually, that’s exactly what that—” Theo starts but Malakai cuts him off.
“She’s our mate. Touch her and you won’t have to worry about anything killing you here. I’ll gladly do it.”
“Mate?” Zane asks in shock, his eyes wide. “There hasn’t been a mate in—”
“A while,” Knox says rolling his eyes. “We know.”
Zane, Theo, Colton and Ajax look between us in shock. But I’m too busy watching the chaos around me. The real chaos as the creatures starts moving closer and closer.
Shit.
“How…” Theo asks but then stops himself. “I mean…”
“We need to move,” I tell them, cutting into their pointless discussion. I raise my shield and span it out as a group of creatures rush toward us.
“What the—” Ajax starts, still frozen in place like the rest of his little group.
“What part of fucking move don’t you understand?!” I shout as I make a run for it. My mates quickly rush after me, with the others catching on quickly and following.
We get far enough away from them while I hold my shield and weave it along the long thin paths around the pits and mounds.
A large mound that appears more rock than ash catches my attention and a thought pops into my mind.
I rush up the mound and wait for the others to follow, my eyes immediately drawn to the large dark mountains across from us.
There are creatures and beasts fighting, pits, flames, wide open cracks in the ground. Around the mountain is a small, thin winding path that is barely big enough to fit two people.
Most of the creatures are gathered just before the dark mountain with more and more spilling out around it.
The heart stone is the heart of the Hollow and the thing that creates this realm and the creatures in it. So wherever most of the creatures are, will be where the heart stone is.
I’d bet my life on it.
“Sena—”
“There,” I point across from me. “We need to get there to find the heart stone.”
Cyrus stares across to where more and more creatures are crawling out.
“If the heart stone is the heart of the Hollow’s power,” I tell him. “Then it makes sense that it be where the most creatures and beasts are born.”
Cyrus’ gaze follows the path across from us and everything we’d have to pass to get there and looks at me like he wants to just pick me up and get me the hell out of here.
“Fuck,” Knox whispers, when he sees everything across from us. Malakai and Theon don’t seem happy about it either. But Zane and his group have a look in their eyes that tells me they’re already calculating a way across.
“What’s your plan?” I ask him and he dips his head to the left of the mountain. A large section of it drops and winds down, coming far enough out that it wouldn’t take long to get to.
Maybe we could climb on top, I start to think, before a loud shriek sounds out above, interrupting the thought. I glance up, my eyes widening and stomach dropping when I spot dozens of huge creatures with bat-like wings, long snouts, and huge claws flying near the mountains.
I drop to my knees and the others follow, watching them closely.
We appear to be too far away for them to notice us, but it’s close enough for us to see them swoop down and grab a creature up, slicing into it and ripping it apart in seconds.
Flying is out of the question. I guess I’m lucky they didn’t spot me when I flew in here first.
I’m about to tell Zane his plan is looking like less of an option now when he gestures and we move closer to him while keeping our eyes on the flying creatures.
“It’s a cave system,” he points out and I whip my head around to the rocky mountain path once more. It’s large enough to look like one. I just can’t spot the opening from where we are.
“How do you know it’s a cave?” I ask.
“I spotted it when we were down there, a little closer to it,” he says but I still don’t know if it’s our best path.
“There could be even bigger beasts hiding in there,” I tell him but then I glance back at the span of landscape directly across from us. The creatures are ripping into one another, one move from something near them and they whip around and attack it.
“It’s our safest option right now,” he says but with a tone that tells me he’s not too happy about it either.
I share a look with my mates. I can see it in their eyes that they hate this. Hate that I’m here.
I hate that they’re here too. But this isn’t just about us. It’s about millions of lives, Shadows and human alike.
“We’ll make a run for it,” I tell them. “I’ll shield us for as long as I can—”
“How did you—” Zane starts but Cyrus cuts him off.
“No. I’ll get us to the cave,” he says.
“How?” Theo asks and Cyrus merely smirks at him before taking my hand and helping me down off the mound of rock.
The others quickly follow but look to Cyrus to see what his plan is.
While my other mates have complete confidence in him, Zane and his team appear wary.
That quickly fades when dark shadow like smoke rushes out of Cyrus, building and building, parting and growing as tall as two mountains on either side of us.
Cyrus raises his hands and the mountains of thick, dark, shadowy smoke surge outward, completely covering everything around us, except for the path he’s created in between.
“What the fuck are you?” Theo asks looking in shock from Cyrus to the smoke.
“I’ve never…” Ajax starts.
“They have an Alita as a mate,” Theo says. “A mate… Of course they have special abilities too.”
“Yeah, but they have no wings,” Colton points out finally speaking, earning four glares as my men narrow their eyes on him.
He gives them a smirk and wink. “Don’t be jealous.”
“Why would we be jealous?” Malakai drags me closer to him. “If I wanted wings, I’ve got direct access to them any time I want.”
I mean… not exactly any time.
Zane’s team quickly lose their little smug expressions as they morph into four glares.
Shrieks, howls, and hissing sound out between Cyrus’s shadows, quickly reminding us of where we are.
“Let’s get moving,” I tell them, and we start making our way through the path Cyrus created.
It doesn’t take us long to reach the halfway point to the cave system, but I catch Cyrus wince every now and then while his face grows a little paler. I reach over and take his hand silently asking him if he’s okay and if he can hold it.
Managing to create something this big while keeping everything away from us must be taking its toll on him. But if it’s going to hurt him, we can think of something else.
As if reading my mind, he squeezes my hand and shakes his head with a little smile. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” I tell him quietly watching another wince and bead of sweat slide down the side of his face.
He squeezes my hand again. “We’re nearly there.”
We are. But I don’t like how pale he’s grown. Nor the pain in his eyes or the way his breathing has turned short and shallow. Like he’s completely exhausted.
Wishing I could do something to help… I almost stop when I realize maybe I can after all.