Thaddeus
Amara is the one who first alerts us; we are on our way back and have just stepped onto the busy main street when my phone starts ringing, making us stop. She utters one word like she has seen it seconds before she rings, seconds before agony tears through me.
“I’m on my way.”
The phone is dead just as I am brought to my knees, and Orion, who is still walking, collapses violently in a heap. My veins feel like they are on fire as I feel Ryland’s pain through the bond, taking my breath away. As I clutch at my shoulder, acid moves through my veins, engulfing everything in flames. Evelyn’s fear hits us, pure panic kicking in, and I can feel that she is running. Feel her getting weaker as she, too, feels Ryland’s pain and her own.
Orion is screaming on the ground, trying to put out the invisible flames consuming him while I try to breathe through it unsuccessfully. People wonder why two people are suddenly on the ground writhing in pain, yet I don’t care; all I care about is getting to them.
Then, suddenly it stops, it stops just as quick as it starts. Orion’s screams die out, and I roll onto my hands and knees, panting as anger courses through me and I stand up. People in the main street back up; the ground rumbles violently beneath my hands, the road cracks, along with the building around me as I feel the darkness trying to take over. But I need a clear mind, need to find them as I focus on them, focus on my mates.
Orion stands. Sweat coats his body and drenches his shirt, something I have never seen on him as he struggles to find his legs. My phone shattered on the ground from where it fell from my hand. Moving, I make my way to Orion, grab his arm, and haul him to his feet as his legs give way from under him.
“We need to move, come on,” I gasp out, catching my breath. Frightened onlookers scatter as we stagger down the street and cars stop as we dart across the road and into their path.
“What did they use?” Orion coughs out, still trying to catch his breath.
“I have no idea, but whatever it is, it has to be ten times worse for Ryland.”
“Evelyn?” he asks, his voice shaking with fear.
“The link severed,” I tell him, knowing they must be unconscious.
We start running, forcing ourselves to move, heading home, praying we make it, and get to them in time. When we hit the concealed driveway, I get a burst of energy as the house comes into view. My Mother and Father, I can hear inside. The front door is thrown open while Amara comes running from the trees beside the house.
“They aren’t here! I didn’t get here in time,” Amara says, fear on her face as her eyes scrutinize our surroundings.
“What did you see?” I ask, gripping her arms and shaking her as I force her to look at me.
“I saw Ryland fall. I knew something had happened, but then I lost it. I couldn’t hold it, like they went unconscious,” she says, shaking her head. I can tell she has been using her magic; her aura is weak. Weak like she has been overexerting herself, trying to see what happened.
“Head to Leven; they have to be at the facilities there,” I tell them.
“Your fathers will check the military facility on the way,” my mother says as I see them come out of the house. My father is trying to pick up any scents, but the place is clean. No scents at all, not even human scents, like they masked themselves somehow.
We race to the compound on the outskirts of Leven. Minutes feel like hours as we race to get to them in time, running past the sign bordering the town when I feel her wake. Evie’s consciousness starts to wake, but it doesn’t last long. By the time we get to the gated compound, I feel the bond break, feel her dying breath, and I snap.
A scream leaves my lips as I feel my soul shatter into a million pieces; the part of it that belongs to her dies with her. The ground moves in a wave as I approach the fence, feeling the volts of electricity ripple in the wire as I tear it apart with my hands. The barbed wire sticks to and catches on my clothes as I tear a hole through it; storm clouds brew violently as lightning sets the trees on fire.
She is dead; they killed her.
Raising my hands, I feel the darkness ebb and flow throughout my body, sickly sweet and sadistic. My eyes are bleeding black, and I feel the darkness consume me as I march toward the brick building on the hill. I hear horns blare when I am tackled to the ground.
Amara smacks me in the dead center of my chest, knocking me backward.
“Get off me,” I scream, as I feel her trying to absorb my magic and take it from me, but they must pay. They must die for what they have done.
“You will bring the entire building down on them! Think, Thaddeus!” Amara shrieks.
“It doesn’t matter if she is dead! She is fucking dead!” I scream at her, electrocuting her.
She growls as she is thrown off and Orion grabs my arms. I fling him off. The ground cracks in my anger.
“Your daughter is alive! You do this, you will kill her!” Amara screams, making me halt.
“You don’t know that,” I tell her, as my mother grabs my arm just as gun fire rings out.
We all duck for cover as I feel fire burn in my veins, igniting every cell in my body as it leaves my fingertips, lighting the surrounding buildings on fire. People run and scream as my fury takes over.
“I do! I can feel her! She isn’t dead, and neither is Evelyn! You have been feeding her blood. They want you to walk in there. They will be expecting this!” Amara screams, trying to stop me as she blasts me with what little energy she has left, pinning me on the ground while chaos breaks loose.
They know we are here and are now getting ready as we fight with each other, wasting time.
“They are in there! You do this, you kill us all!” my mother says.
I can hear trucks leave the facility, making me look up. Armed vehicles leave in succession, barreling through the fences toward us. I watch my mother dig her hands into the ground and feel her energy leak out of her as the ground moves.