Page 69 of Unhinged

I turn to Luna and Kali. “I’ve got to find Taren.”

Kali shakes her head. “You heard Thiago. It’s too dangerous out there.”

It doesn’t matter what they say. Nothing is going to keep me in this cell. “I’m not sitting here doing nothing because if he...” I trail off, unable to say it as it scares me too much. Losing Taren would kill me.

“You going out there might distract him more, consider that,” Luna advises.

She might be right, but I can handle myself. After what we’ve been through the last few weeks, it feels like I can handle anything as long as I’m by his side.

“There’s no persuading me otherwise. I’ll see you when this ends.” I turn to leave.

“Alice,” Luna says, stopping me and making me glance back at her. “Be careful.”

I nod in response, and before they can say another word, I sprint out of the room and turn left. I heard Ileana say she was going to the tunnels in the back room before she rushed away, leaving me in the chaos. And wherever she is, that’s where Taren will be.

I run toward the back room and find the tunnel door open. When I see a body on the floor and blood beneath it, panic hits me. He’s a similar size and build to Taren, but I feel relief when I see his face. It’s not him.

I don’t recognize him at all, but he has a bullet wound right through the center of his head. And his eyes are wide open. I expect to feel sickened by the sight of the blood and death, but I’m oddly unaffected. Ignoring my concern over my lack of reaction toward seeing a dead body so up close and personal, I walk past it and into the tunnel.

My footsteps echo off the walls as the tunnel grows darker and colder. The staccato of machine guns firing grows more and more distant as I push deeper into the darkness, away from the chaos but toward the storm. My breathing is the only sound punctuating the quietness.

And then I hear the distant drone of voices echoing ahead. My heart pounds so hard I can hardly hear anything else. This is it. There’s no going back now. The man I inexplicably love is fighting his arch-nemesis, and I’ll be by his side. If we don’t make it out, then so be it. All I care about is being with him until the bitter end.

30

TAREN

I delve into the darkness of the tunnels, adrenaline pulsing through my veins and sharpening my senses.

Every sound, smell, and even my vision is heightened. The confrontation with my uncle has only inflamed my rage. And Ileana will meet my wrath. I’ll bathe in her blood. I’ll watch as the light slowly drains from her eyes and commit it to memory.

I sprint through the tunnels until I hear her voice echoing.

“Jorge, fucking keep up!” she demands.

I smirk. I hate Jorge, too, so I’ll enjoy murdering him as well. The guy has been way too loyal to Ileana.

I move stealthily through the shadows, the silence of the tunnels working to my advantage. I inch closer, every step measured and soundless. When I’m within arm’s length of Jorge, I strike. Using my left arm, I trap him in a chokehold, my right hand firmly pressing the cold steel of my knife against the soft flesh of his throat.

“Stop, Ileana,” I command.

She spins around. The surprise in her eyes is rewarding, but the fear that follows is even more so. I’ve rarely seen fear in her eyes, but she’s often inspired fear in my heart.

“Taren,” she growls, eyes narrowing. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

I smirk. “I’m here to do what I should have done many years ago. Cut the head off the snake.”

Her jaw clenches. “How did you get away from Damien?”

My smirk widens. “Haven’t figured it out yet, Mother?” I tease, shaking my head. “Damien is here to help me get rid of you.”

Her expression turns furious. “You traitorous son of a?—”

“Shut up,” I growl, feeling rage infiltrate every vein in my body. “Traitorous? How can I be fucking traitorous when I’ve no allegiance to you.” I feel the heat of the rage overwhelm me. “You murdered my family in cold blood and made me watch as you filled a bathtub up with their blood and bathed in it.”

The image flashes through my mind as I speak, threatening to break me apart. Images that have haunted me for twenty-two years. And then the images of her head severed from her body, but her eyes still open, flash through my mind. That’s the goal. Keep a level head, Taren. You’re so close.

“And then you made me call you Mother?” I snarl, nostrils flaring. “And I won’t even mention the sick things you did to me or made me do, considering you made me call you that. Do you understand the sanctity of being a mother?” I spit, my anger bubbling over. “A mother is supposed to protect her child, love them, and teach them the world’s ways. A mother should be the sanctuary in the chaos, a beacon of hope in despair. But you? You’re the epitome of perversion. You’ve never been worthy of the title ‘mother.’ You never were my mother. My mother was murdered at your hands.”

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