Page 98 of The Syphon King

The voice plunged straight into the pores of Zodak’s skin. Warm, yellow, silky. Beautiful. It filled his lungs and chest, his muscles and bones. It wrapped every cell in his body with a tight hug and danced in his blood and sang in his soul.

“I have a fucking heartbeat!” a voice yelled near him.

“We have a lot of neural action,” another voice hurried.

Air flooded his lungs and he gasped, fighting to get up. Terror seized him at realizing he still wasn’t free, something held him. “SEER!” he roared.

“Release him!” a familiar voice ordered.

“Nidev,” Zodak rasped as his legs and arms were freed.

Strong hands lifted him up and wrapped him tightly. “Brother,” Seer blasted in his ear.

“Samuel,” he gushed, grabbing hold of him. “I heard you. I heard you.” He pressed his head into his neck, his heart bursting. “Zeen!” he remembered, panic rushing in. “She was here, I felt her, it was her!” He fought to turn, looking around then pushed through Seer and hit the floor, hurrying to his feet. “Zeen! Where is Zeen!”

Seer was before him, strong hands locked on his shoulders. The look in his gaze stole Zodak’s breath and strength. “Brother... where is she?” he pled, shaking his head. “No... please no. I killed her, I fucking killed her,” he forced from his foul mouth.

Seer’s arms went around him tightly. “She’s not dead brother. She’s still alive. You were right, she was here. Sheishere.She’s resting while the doctors fix everything.”

Zodak embraced him back. The nightmare was real. She’d given him everything and he’d taken it. “I need her, brother,” he wept. “I love her. I won't live without her. Iwill not.”

Hard, hot pain streaked up Zodak’s arm and dropped him to his knees.

“We’ve got action in that containment, Boss!”.

A roar tore from Zodak’s chest as he clutched the agony in his limb.

“It’s trying to break out,” somebody yelled.

“We need to secure him and extract it immediately,” a deep voice ordered.

Excruciating pressure spun Zodak in wild circles, the torture making him desperate.

“We need him back on this table, gentlemen!”

“Zodak!” Seer yelled.

He searched for his voice, his salvation, finally locking on to Seers face.

“They need to remove what you siphoned from Zeen!”

“Fuck, it’s going to break out!”

Zodak realized what they were saying. The darkness he’d taken from Zeen was inhishand. They’dtrappedit.

“We’re fucking out of time!”

The power pounding in Zodak’s hand turned debilitating. His muscles locked up and he could only stare at the panic in Seer’s gaze as he grabbed Zodak’s arm and dragged him to the operating bed. Zodak looked at his hand, pinned to the bed by Seer, right as a silver blade flashed down and passed right through his arm. He stared at his severed hand on the bed, then at Seer. Terror filled his blue eyes now bright with tears. The room spun and the ceiling danced, moving in and out of the darkness swimming in his vision. Voices splintered into a million chaotic sounds that dragged across his skull. A reverb of terror, and rage. And finally darkness.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“YOU OKAY?”

Seer glanced at Bishop stepping up on his right, his emotions still too volatile to speak.

“You did the right thing, Mon Frere,” he said, his strong hand squeezing down on Seer’s shoulder.

“I fucking panicked,” he said, the words barely squeezing past his tight chest and throat as he stared at Zodak, asleep on the bed in the center of the medical room. “I didn’t want it to take him again.”

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