Spitting and sputtering, Amy fights, but the master forces the liquid into Amy’s mouth. Glowing eyes have Amy’s fight stolen for a few brief moments, long enough for the acidic, burning liquid to burn its way down her throat.
As soon as the glowing eyes cease, Amy’s fight returns, but it’s too late. A loud, bloodcurdling scream erupts from her throat as the burning liquid slides into her veins, glowing under her skin as it takes over like a blue plague.
It feels like wildfire spreading through her body. It burns so bad that she wants to claw her skin off, but the chains hold as her body thrashes wildly. The screams continue to tear from her throat as tears rush down her cheeks. Even the tears burn her flesh.
Someone is saying something, but she can’t hear anything over the sound of her heart and her screams. Her heart is beating so fast that even it hurts. It feels like a rapid hammer against her chest, pounding so violently that it’s on the verge of exploding.
Her eyes grow dim, and her mind numbs. All she can feel is pain. So much pain. Even worse than when she was changed.
Her life was stolen once. Now it feels as though it’s being stolen again.
The more the pain continues, the less her humanity lingers. Her mind turns feral, and that hunger surges to the forefront. She knows she’s dying. There’s something else taking over, something else killing her as it claims her blood as its own. It’s a fight with nothing tangible to hit, and she’s losing to the parasite.
Taunting laughter bleeds into the feral beast’s ears as it starts to shift, gray skin tearing through flesh, shredding the host’s body that will never again return to human form.
A roar fills the air as the beast struggles in vain. Blood. It needs blood. So much blood so close. Strong blood.
“Once again we have our lycan first-blood,” the master says while laughing, staring at the monstrous, hairless beast as the cuffs cut into the ashy gray flesh. “The time has come. We need to form the circle,” the master adds.
“And what about the princess,” the traitorous night stalker asks, making his lingering known.
“If my visionary says the Gemini will do, then we’ll get one. The weak one. The one who doesn’t have an army.”
The visionary bows.
“I’ll find him, Master.”
“Find him fast. In the meantime, Adam can thoroughly vet us on what our little princess’s weaknesses are. Then he’ll receive his award as we prepare for the rest. We open the portal in five days. It’s time to reshape the world.”
Chapter 14
CHAZ
“So you’re a dragon shifter?” Dice asks, his voice flat as he stares at me.
“And a Lokie?” Kimber asks, frowning as she studies me.
“And a red jinn,” Karma adds, not making it a question.
Alyssa and Kane have been silent, as well as Ella. After coming back, we called everyone in so I only had to explain it once.
Calypso sits with my mother, not giving anything away. Drackus pushes away from the wall, running a hand through his hair.
“You’re not a fairy?” Dice asks, his lips turning down.
“No. No duster blood.”
“A combination of three deadly, aggressive bloodlines makes you severely lethal,” Sierra points out, checking her watch.
Amy still isn’t here and she isn’t answering her phone. Neither is her night stalker. She sulks when she’s pissed, so it’s not unusual for her to disappear like this. But I wanted everyone here when I told the story.
“I remember a day when I was the thing everyone feared. Now I’m merely a blip on a radar by comparison,” Drackus says, sounding annoyed with that.
“You lied to us,” are the words that come from Ella’s mouth, the hurt shining in her eyes. “You could have told me anything.”
“I could have,” I say on a quiet breath. “And I’m truly sorry that I didn’t.”
Alyssa stands, her eyes not seeming hurt. If anything, she seems like she understands something.