Kat
Apparently Vanessa had been keeping sound out as well as in, because the moment I left the bubble, I was assaulted by the sounds of fighting, cursing, screaming. I forced myself to ignore the noise as I backtracked to the loading docks. They loomed, dark and forbidding, in the dim night, plastic sheets flapping over several otherwise empty doorways, corrugated metal doors over others. If I remembered the map of the compound correctly, Maddox had taken over the main factory building, with his headquarters dead center, which should mean that headquarters lay on the opposite side of this building. I had no idea if Maddox was there or in the immediate vicinity, but it was a place to start. And given shifter sight and the amount of fighting going on, I didn’t dare stay outside. I made a beeline for the nearest open access, sliding quietly behind the plastic and into an unlit warehouse.
Please let everyone be outside. Please.
My footsteps echoed in the vast space as I navigated through stacks of boxes and pallets. This must be an active warehouse for Anigma equipment because stores were crammed everywhere, creating an obstacle course through the room. The occasional sound of encroaching battle reached through the walls, and a couple of times I hid when running footsteps headed my way. I didn’t dare look out to see if the passing soldiers were Anigma or Archai, but pass they did, and I continued my way through the building.
In what felt like forever but was probably only ten minutes, I reached the front of the warehouse space, then made my way through a series of small rooms and halls to the front of the building. What I saw as I peeked through the windows lining the wall brought me to a halt.
I found myself several feet up, looking down a set of entry stairs into a courtyard that stretched maybe fifty yards between this building and the factory rising above it. Small groups fought around the edges, but it was what lay directly across from me that held me frozen—a bright flare of light cut through the darkness, two floodlights shining straight up into the night. Beyond that, a solid wall of Anigma soldiers stood in front of the factory, maybe three or four deep. Officers, at least at the front, based on the insignia on their uniforms. With the light in front of them, glaring into my eyes, I shouldn’t have been able to see the Anigma males clearly, but this close, Arik’s blood allowed me to make out faces, expressions, eyes. Even fists tightening on weapons.
God, how many soldiers did Maddox have, anyway.
In the center, outlined by the light, was Maddox. The Anigma general looked larger than life standing there, silhouetted by the blazing spotlights. Dominant. Invincible. If I were Archai, I’d think twice about attacking him.
Of course, nobody’d said my plan was smart. That was part of the reason I’d kept it to myself.
Where was Arik?
I had only to follow Maddox’s gaze to find my mate, standing tall and defiant below me. The Archai were ranged out on either side of the spotlights, Arik near the center, outnumbered at least three to one. At the edge of the group closest to my left, Azrael drew my attention. When his glowing green gaze met mine where I stood in the shadows, I cursed silently.
Well, no time like the present, right?
Retreating to where I remembered seeing a side door, I made my way out and into the courtyard. The Archai warriors were focused on Maddox, not the noise of fighting around them, though for the life of me I couldn’t hear what Maddox was saying above the roar of fear in my ears. Only when I stepped around the nearest warrior—far enough out of reach that he couldn’t grab me—did attention turn in my direction.
“Kat!”
Arik’s growl shot toward me. The golden light of his eyes had no hope of reaching me from so far away, but his anger caused my heart to stutter. Wishing desperately that none of this was happening, that I was home in the lair with him, lying in his arms, did nothing to calm me, but it did remind me. All of this was for him. He’d understand later…if there was a later. I hadn’t practiced this level of power more than twice, after all. Once at my triggering, and once at the apartment. Already my hands were tingling, hurting, the energy aching in my core, down my arms. But not enough. I’d need a lot of it. More than I’d ever used before if I hoped to cripple the Anigma forces and take Maddox out.
I swallowed hard and continued forward. Arik had warned me not to use my power unless absolutely necessary, but he wouldn’t be surprised when I didn’t listen to him. And just maybe, I’d live to argue with him about it later.
Maybe.
No one tried to stop me, though there were plenty of murmurs and catcalls and jostling among the Anigma as I picked my way across the broken concrete. Slowly, slowly, giving my terror—and therefore my power—time to build. A couple of Archai stepped forward, intent on me, but backed off quickly when Anigma soldiers also advanced. Only Maddox seemed unworried. He walked down the steps of the factory, only stopping when we were mere yards apart.
Thumbs hooked in his belt like he was heading for a stroll down Main Street, he threw back his head and laughed. “What have we here? A little cat?”
I couldn’t stop my lips from twisting at the sarcastic play on my name. “After last time, I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to believe my power was inconsequential, Maddox.”
String him on, Kat. Small talk wasn’t my forte, but… God, the pain as my power built inside me, fed from my emotions, was worse than anything I’d ever known. My hands, my chest, my head. Could the shifters around me smell how frightened I was? See it rising? I was shaking like a leaf; of course they could see it. And the way many of them licked their lips said they found it delicious.
Maddox especially. He held my gaze as his face shifted, his muzzle elongating, teeth snapping. He snarled, threat in every muscle of his body— The sight was just…wrong. A wolf’s face as well as a man’s. Squeezing my hands into tight fists, I eased closer.
“Nice doggy.”
The red strobe of Maddox’s eyes flashed across my body. “I’m going to enjoy eating you, little psych.”
The transformed jaw mangled his words, but I got the picture. A shudder shot through me, though I fought not to show it.
“Bring it, psycho.” I let a smile tug at my lips, just enough for that red to flare brighter. “You might hurt me, but you will no longer hurt my mate.”
Maddox’s eyes went wide with shock, his gaze shifting to Arik, now being held back by the warriors on each side of him. He let the shift dissolve. “Mate? This feisty psych is your mate?” His laughter grated along my nerves, sent chills down my spine. “That’s even better. Now I get to kill the Archai prince, his elite warriors, and one lovely psych bitch, but I promise to save you for last, Arik.”
Maddox didn’t turn his head, his gaze riveted on me, but his message was clearly intended to inspire fear.
It worked. I was scared spitless.
“You must watch,” Maddox was saying to Arik as he edged closer to me, seeming unconcerned with the sparks beginning to fly around my hands. “I insist. All that lovely pain…” Closer. Closer. Then to me, “You know, I always thought it was killing him that would bring me the most fun I’ve ever had.” With every word the red glow of his eyes flamed brighter, his disgusting pleasure wrapping around me like a straitjacket until I thought I might suffocate. “Don’t get me wrong; doing his parents was fun, especially Anna, the self-righteous bitch. But his mate? Oh, killing his mate will be a true pleasure.”
Arik roared. My heart lurched at the pain in my mate’s voice. Everything inside me screamed to retreat, to run. To take refuge with Arik, but not now. I channeled that terror into my gut, letting it churn ever higher, breathing through the agony. Instead of retreating, I stepped toward the Anigma leader, now no more than five yards away. “I won’t be that easy to kill, asshole.”
“You will taste so good, Kat,” Maddox taunted, his voice turned to gravel as his animal stared out of his devil-red eyes. “Your blood will be ambrosia on my tongue. The defiant ones always are. The gift that keeps on giving.” His gaze skimmed my quivering body. “Psychs can take quite a bit of punishment—I know; I’ve tested more than a few.”
Sweat breaking out on my skin as I thought about the females we’d rescued, the tiny girl whose body was broken. The power building inside me surged, nearly intolerable. I struggled to focus while the pressure squeezed my head like a vise; I couldn’t hold it anymore. “I would kill myself before I ever let you touch me, but I won’t have to. I plan to kill you first.”
Maddox lifted a lip, flashing gleaming fangs. “And just how do you plan to do that, bitch?”
“Guess.”
“Kat, damn it!”
Out of one corner of my eye, I saw Arik break free of Sun’s restraining grip. And he wasn’t the only one. Azrael, the shifter who scared me more than any other, crouched suddenly, ready to spring in my direction. I slid my eyes closed, letting my power coalesce into a massive fire behind my ribs, a fire searing me from the inside out. And then I opened them.
Flung my hands toward Maddox.
Screamed. And fired.
Breath-taking agony ripped through me. I flew backward as an enormous ball of glowing energy shot toward the enemy. I caught no more than a glimpse of Maddox diving out of the way, of the Anigma officers simply dissolving into nothing, some thrown yards away as the building behind them exploded like it had been hit by a massive bomb. And then my back hit the ground so hard I knew my spine was broken.
The sounds of weapons clashing, soldiers fighting filled my ears. My eyes opened.
Maddox, in full werewolf form, bounded toward me.
So maybe my spine could function a little longer.
Rolling to my knees, I managed a small pulse of energy, a slash that struck the werewolf’s nose. I watched half of his snout fall away as Maddox backpedaled to avoid my strike, and then I was running back in the direction from which I’d come, toward the warehouse.
“Arik, Arik, Arik…” My mate’s name was a litany chanted with every step, the reward at the end of this nightmarish rainbow—if I could keep myself alive. I doubted I’d bought more than a few seconds, and the ones in front of me stretched like mud I could barely move through. But Maddox hadn’t landed on my back by the time I reached the glass entry to the warehouse. Snatching open the door, I dared one glimpse behind me—Maddox feet away, dodging Archai and Anigma fighting everywhere, throwing off the grip of a black-clad warrior, leaping through flaming debris, all with his rabid eyes locked on me. And then I slammed through the door and flipped the lock.
I wanted to stop, wanted to breathe, but no. Maddox would be here any second. Even though that was what I’d hoped for, it didn’t make the fear of facing him any less. I was mere feet down the first hallway when the sound of glass splintering reached me. Turn, turn, straight, right—had it taken this long to get through the maze of offices before? But even as the question entered my mind, I recognized the double doors looming just ahead. I also recognized the chuffing sound so loud I’d swear it was actually on my neck. I stumbled as a cough seized my lungs, a fraction of a second, and then I hit the doors right at the join, my shoulder taking the brunt of the blow, and thanked God when they gave way with little resistance.
My momentum threw me forward. Rolling out of the fall, I twisted around and shot a blast of power at the door, collapsing the frame and wall above it. Rubble and dust rained in every direction.
A wolf howled on the other side. Scratching. Banging. Glancing around frantically, already up and stumbling, I searched for a place to make my stand. The dust and darkness wouldn’t hide me long.
I made it farther than I’d thought I could, floundering my way to the left side of the warehouse and a small row of windows that allowed me to see. Coughs racked me, the pain in my lungs and the crushing agony in my head almost taking me to my knees, but I couldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop. Arik had to be safe once and for all. That was the only thing that mattered. I’d hit the open space close to the back doors when I heard the click of nails matching the frantic beat of my heart. I jerked around.
Maddox was there.
The werewolf was in full shift, crouched between two pallets, red eyes lighting the dirty expanse of concrete separating us. Blood gushed from his mutilated nose. One step, two. I tried to breathe, to summon my power. I choked instead. Coughed again. In the red glow from Maddox’s eyes, the spatter that shot from my mouth looked black, but I knew it wasn’t—it was red. Blood.
Weakness flooded me. I swore the damn werewolf smiled as he watched, waited, and then the animal was melting away until Maddox stood, naked and obscenely aroused and far too close for me to run any farther. He’d be on me in a second, even in human form.
“What’s the matter, little Kat?” Maddox’s gaze poured over me like dirty water. “Run out of juice?” He cupped his groin. “I’ve got some I can share.”
I fought the urge to gag. Still, I wouldn’t give up without a fight. Staring Maddox down, I went still inside myself, locking out the ragged sound of my heart and struggling lungs, the tics jerking my head as my brain misfired, the blood pouring down my throat. With determination born partly of fear and partly of yearning—for Arik, for his arms and his strength and his love—I gathered the power once more in my center.
“It won’t work this time, you know,” Maddox taunted. Why didn’t he just jump me and get it over with?
Because he liked the anticipation, the torture. Wolves loved the hunt, the chase. I’d seen the state of those females. Sick bastard.
I didn’t have to fake the utter fatigue when I spoke. “Of course it won’t work. Look at me.” Did I look like I could fight anymore? I certainly felt like I was dying. I stumbled sideways until my shoulder slammed into a wall. “Guess my power wasn’t all you hoped for.”
“You are a disappointment, but at least I’ll get something for my effort.” He licked his lips, eyes trained on me. I used the wall to keep myself upright as I scooted backward. “Where are you going?”
“Away.” Come closer. I needed him close.
He shook his head. “Don’t bother.”
I made a run for it. Maddox pounced, slamming me onto the dirty floor. He pinned me, his claws breaking the skin, his weight crushing my bones. A quick flip and he leaned down until the smell of him drowned my senses. Fangs, long and dripping, caught the light before scraping along my jaw, my chin, that tender skin beneath. I couldn’t stop the terror that roared up in me as I waited for the chance I knew would come, but it had to be soon, before my power dissolved altogether.
Maddox reared back, one fist gripping my vest as he raised his claws to slash away the straps. Before he could, I drove my hands straight into his chest, slammed my knee up between his legs. “Off!”
Electricity shot through Maddox’s groin, shoving him headfirst over me and across the floor.
I had no more time to think; it had to be now. As Maddox spun back toward me, I came up on my knee and slid to face him, hands out. Energy screamed around me, through me, and I pushed it out with all my strength, every last drop, straight toward my enemy. My shout shattered the darkness. Maddox managed a furious howl before the impact, and then his body disintegrated in a spectacular explosion that burned my retinas with its brilliance.
Better than fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Unfortunately I was unconscious before I saw any part of Maddox turn to ash and blow away.