He had Reagan.
With a roar, I was on Alec, ripping him away from her. My wings snapped out and the tips raked across his exposed back. He screamed and rushed me, but my feet danced. He couldn’t touch me. Time lost meaning then. Had undoubtedly stopped to watch me pound my fist into his face over and over. Even when he pleaded with me to let him go, I was insatiable. I wouldn’t relent, not until every last drop of blood was squeezed from his body.
From far away, I heard my name being called. The voice of an angel. She spoke to my demon, her tone soothing. But it shoved her aside. We didn’t want to be soothed. We wanted rage. We wanted vengeance. We wanted this sick animal’s blood.
Fingers gripped my arm, gently at first. Then tightened, pulling hard. “Tarik, please. Please! Stop! I can’t watch you like this. Not because of me. Please.”
The pounding in my ears dimmed enough for me to catch her words. But I didn’t like them. I growled, not caring how inhuman I sounded. I wanted to kill. Kill the shifter. My fist raised, trembling with a violent ache to end this pathetic human—if he could even be called that—but there it stayed. Chest heaving, I allowed Reagan to pull me away. I didn’t tear my gaze from Alec’s bloody face, though.
He couldn’t see me, his eyes long since swollen shut, but I knew he could hear me. I didn’t recognize the voice that came out of me next, but the words felt right as they expelled from my mouth. “If you ever touch her again, you’ll wish I had killed you. Because what I’ll do to you is too horrendous for words.”
On autopilot, I turned and stumbled down the hallway. Our cover was blown. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Everything here could be replaced except the Genesis Crystal. I shoved the rock into my pants pocket and lurched for the hallway again, already forming an escape plan.
And came up short.
Reagan blocked the way, looking lost and confused and—
Gaia, she was walking toward me and wasn’t stopping. She crashed into me, burying her nose in my chest. I froze, shock coursing through my body. But when she twined her arms around my back and squeezed, I jerked into motion, gathering her to me. Inhaled her greedily. Kissed her hair. She trembled and I murmured random things, only aware of saying, “You’re okay. We’re okay,” over and over.
All I knew was that she needed me and I poured all of my being into our embrace.
We stayed that way for a full minute. Too long. Her warmth was intoxicating and pulling away hurt. But we were out of time. “We have to go.” I locked my eyes on hers, willing fire into her veins. This wasn’t over yet. “Can you release your wings? Because we need to fly.”
The end of my cigarette was withering, and I had only taken a single drag. I sat outside in a little area Rebel Leader had offered up when he noticed me flicking my lighter open and shut. He hadn’t forbidden me from smoking inside, not directly—maybe he thought I could use the air to clear my head. My thoughts were full, my mind trying to sift through the overwhelming pile of events and emotions that had slammed themselves into my life.
Akeno had found Tarik and me as soon as we had dropped into the Fae district a couple days ago. He was one hell of a spy. Benji had been ecstatic to see Tarik again, eagerly chattering about how well he had been taking care of Callie. I knew Tarik wanted to check on Benji’s mother soon. Every time she was mentioned, his hand would slide into the pocket where that crystal lay.
For now, we were safely hidden with the Fae. Rebel Leader had extended a generous invitation, but I didn’t know how long they could actually let me stay. Both dragons were pissed at me now. Anyone I associated with was as good as dead—Mordecai had made that clear when he instituted a stricter curfew on the Fae, barely clearing working hours. A wanted poster had begun to circulate the city. Mordecai was saying I had been abducted by Tarik.
Lies.
I couldn’t escape his lies. He had Alec out on extra patrols, no doubt looking for me. Waiting for me to slip up. Alec—
My heart hammered angrily every time I thought about Alec.
For once, I was grateful for Tarik’s stubbornness. If he had listened to me . . .
I swallowed hard. Yet again he had saved my life, damning his own all the more.
We were making a terrible habit of this.
Still. No one would be allowed to take anything I didn’t want to give. Not now, not in the future. No more mistakes.
“You all right? You’re about to burn yourself.”
Nevaeh interrupted my thoughts and I glanced down. Sure enough, the cigarette had burnt itself low, almost out. I dropped the butt into the grass and snuffed the ember, tugging another loose from my case before I answered, “I have a lot on my mind.”
“Yeah, I can imagine.” She plopped beside me, assessing my face with those alert brown and silver eyes. “Want to talk about anything?”
I shrugged. Nevaeh knew what had happened. We had spoken as soon as I had arrived at the Safehouse, and she finally had the chance to answer a few of my questions—like explaining that Akeno had brought her into the rebellion because he had caught her spying on unruly shifters one afternoon. She had warned him away, explained the danger, only to realize the information she had given him was exactly what he had come for.
Rebel Leader had filled in several blanks too, and in return I had offered my story
