Chapter 33
ZEE
My breath slams into my chest, and everything on me aches at once as my vision slowly returns.
“Finally!” a woman hisses, and I cough on the air flooding my lungs as my eyes flick to the dirty woman in shackles.
Panic sets in, and I try to sit up, but it feels like someone is standing on my chest, forcing me back down.
“Get me the hell out of here right now!” she barks. “Before my girl gets killed. You have to kill me to destroy the seals. It’s the only way any of you will survive.”
The cage Leah was in is now a mangled mess, and she’s nowhere in sight. My hands fly to my chest, and I feel around for the sword that was sticking out of it.
“The fuck?” I hiss, trying to sit back up.
“She bound you, asshole. Which means you’re the one who also bound her. It means no anointed can kill you. The hex had a lot of side effects, and that’s one of the many. The second she pulled that sword out, the poison started draining, and her bond healed you. Now get me out before she dies, because not all those men up there are anointed. Some are just human, and ironically enough, they can fucking kill her. Slice my throat, snap my neck… Just make it quick.”
Who the hell is this insane woman?
“Where’s Leah?” I demand, trying and failing to sit up.
Blood sprays wildly as a man is tossed down the stairs, and I look over to see a growing pile of bodies just like his. At least ten are lying there, and all of them look like they lost a fight with a chainsaw massacre.
“She’s crazy. Whatever you are, it’s apparently not normal. Something happened to her arms, and the next thing I know, she went Incredible Hulk—minus the green skin and bulging muscles—and broke out of here like a possessed woman. She wouldn’t listen to me. I was trying to tell her you weren’t dead, but I didn’t want Victor to know it.”
“I’m not dead,” I state flatly, feeling my chest again. The black veins have turned back into my normal ones, and slowly, the aching starts to fade.
“She had to pick a dumb one,” the woman groans. “Obviously you’re not dead. You’d be a walking pin cushion full of bullet holes if an anointed could kill you. It was his physical touch that found the loophole and certain blades too, but it only lasts as long as the blade is in you. The second she withdrew the blade, the poison receded and the healing began. How many times will I have to repeat this? Get me out of here, or everyone up there will die.”
Getting up slowly, I go to jerk on the cell door, but it doesn’t budge.
“Get pissed and yank it off,” the older woman demands, glaring at me like I’m an idiot.
“I just died,” I growl.
“You’re alive now, so act like it. My niece depends on it.”
Niece… Leah’s aunt. Holy shit. This dirty, haggardly lady looks nothing like that picture Leah has.
“Don’t look at me with those eyes. You’re going to have to kill me to save everyone else. For all I know, Victor has the seals buried in concrete. Once all your people are inside the perimeter, he’ll lock them in. The magic that is creeping through right now will be lost, and they’ll all be as helpless as humans. It’s probably already happened by now. You’ve been out for a while. Understand?”
“How is he controlling the seals if they’re made of your blood and hidden in concrete?”
I jerk the cell door harder, and it budges.
“Do you want a school lesson or do you want to fucking survive today? Once I’m dead, all the seals will lose their power, and the fey children will be able to break free on their own. Understand? My death means a lot of lives will continue.”
I can’t fucking kill my girlfriend’s only relative.
Leah’s scream has my heart in my ears, and the bars bow in my grip.
“Hurry. They’ll kill her if a human stabs her or uses too much electricity on her. No more blasts mean your people are now locked in here and defenseless.”
The door snaps off in my hands, and I toss it away before grabbing her shackles. She cries out in pain when I jerk them, but they don’t break.
“Fucking kill me! Do I have to spell it out for you?”
Ignoring the psycho, I tug again, and one of the shackles breaks.