“I’m underneath the Council building. There’s a corridor of hallways, Clarissa.”
I feel my brow furrowing in confusion.
“Kyle, stop it. I can’t talk to the living. Only the dead.”
“I’m not dead. I’m trapped. In some cage I can’t get out of.”
I feel hands dipping down onto my shoulders as more faces emerge in my mind. I’m looking at Clarissa as Sebastian appears behind her. Toshi to her side and Vlad off to mine. Their hands on my body, supporting me as I’m taken over by something even I can’t comprehend.
Is it possible Kyle’s communicating with me even though he’s alive?
“Kyle? It’s Sebastian.”
“And Toshi.”
“And Vlad.”
“Who the hell’s Vlad?”
“Long story, sweetheart. But I need you to listen carefully. You have to tell us exactly where you are so we can come get you.”
“I told you. I’m in the—”
Blood is rushing through my veins. I can hear myself screaming off in the distance. My bellowing roar shaking even the floor I’m sitting underneath. A power is coursing through my veins. A power I can’t control. It’s fluttering my heart at a rapid pace and bulging the veins underneath my skin. I’m shaking uncontrollably. I watch as Sebastian disappears. Vlad fades away and Toshi goes extinct, but there is one face I can still see.
Clarissa.
“What’s happening to him?” she asks.
She’s so far away.
“I don’t know, but we have to snap him out of it,” Joel says.
“We can’t do that. He’s talking to Kyle. I don’t know how or what’s going on, but he has to tell us where he is,” Clarissa says.
“And risk breaking his neck? Look at him!” Josie exclaims.
I feel myself fall backward onto the wooden floor. My back is arched, poised to break as the tension in my body grows. I feel my bones snapping and my joints expanding. I’m being forced into my bear form when I don’t want to be. Images are flashing through my mind. Dozens of moments, isolated and meant to be feared. I can see Chief and Lord Wesley and General Tera. I can see the cage and the monster within it.
The monster.
“Kyle, what have they done to you?”
“Under the building. Hurry.”
Then a deafening roar pierces through my mind and rips me from my trance.
“Theo!” Clarissa exclaims. “Get him some water. Soup. Something. Anything!”
“Josie, go,” Joel commands.
“Theo. Look at me. Can you hear me?” Clarissa asks.
My eyes are big. Sweat is dripping down my skin. My clothes are ripped. My back aches. My head is throbbing, and my bones are settling back, and the searing pain shooting through my chest is unbearable.
“What is it?” Clarissa asks as she supports my head. “What happened?”
“They’ve turned him,” I say.