Page 45 of Fever

“That’s a lot of males,” I say. “But the mission is simple. They always are. Rescue my Omega instead of killing as many enemies as I can. So that’s what I’ll do.”

“I’m unsure of the difference.”

“I’m sure. I’ll move in and get out quickly. Seer can have what’s left of them.”

Dreikx slides open the door. “Try not to die.”

“I won’t.”

“Remember. Mike is mine.”

“If he gets in my way, I’ll kill him.”

“He is not suicidal.”

I jump to the deck, and before they have a chance to react and realize I’m not here to trade the control for my Omega, I sprint across the deck, barge through the door and run down the stairs. Shouting comes from the top, and the door closes. They’ve trapped me on the lower deck. Just as well. I stay in the stairwell. My back is cleared of threat, while at the front, the Swarm comes at me. They fight with no honor, attacking as a group all at once, but the space is narrow, so they have to come at me one by one.

I maim them, focusing on their eyes and throats. Blood spills, splatters, covers my armor. The scent of wounds, battle, chaos overwhelms my senses, and I throw myself into the group. They pound my body with fists. My nose breaks and bleeds. My lip splits. Blood splashes into my mouth. I suck on it, kick back, shouting at the top of my lungs, rattling battle sounds to drown out the crunch of broken bones and moans of pain. I will kill them all.

A male crawls on top of me, his face bloody. Teeth bared, he snaps them near my nose. I grab his head and bang it against mine, crack his skull, spattering his brains, which I wipe off my face. The door above opens, catching my gaze, and something oval bounces down the stairs. Bright light ignites, and an explosion rocks the ship. The males in the fighting pile grow still. I still with them. The light has blinded me. The explosion made me deaf. I blink and blink, trying to clear my vision.Sight is overrated,Seer has said to me. Still, I shake my head. And take a hit to the back of my leg.

My leg folds, and I kneel.

In water.

Water is gushing in.

My vision is clearing. A single male is threading his way through the floating bodies, coming toward me, carrying an iron hammer in his hand. I stand, my head swimming. The explosion was a clever move. It disoriented me.

Half his face is twitching but his eyes speak of intelligence and murder. He’s not like the others. “Give me the control, and I’ll let her go,” he says.

“Take it from me.”

The male swings.

I throw myself backward, cracking the back of my head against something hard. Water gushes from behind me and throws me at the male. He’s scrambling up the stairs, but I’ve got him. One hand on his throat, the other on his wrist, I dig my claw into his soft armor. He drops the giant iron hammer he tried to kill me with. I grab it and raise my hand, my vision, foggy.

He smirks. “We win.”

I hammer him.

I don’t stop until I’ve pounded him into the stairs. Then I turn and hammer all the bodies around me until their heads are pulp and I’m waist-deep in a pool of water stained red with blood and brains. It’s quiet down here. Why is it so quiet? I’m fucking deaf and half-blind. Only my sense of smell is left, and with my nose broken, all I detect is blood, both mine and the enemies’. Turning in place, I try to locate the door, but the only one I see is the one I broke with the back of my skull. The water level is climbing, I wade to the door and peek through the hole made by my head.

Inside float two women.

My breath arrests, and I produce a noise I can’t identify.

Through the door hole, water spills out of the completely flooded room. She couldn’t get out. Dear Serpent, I couldn’t get her out. The bloodlust rode me, and I killed as many as I could instead of…instead of… My hands rip the wooden door. My brain is not following, my body doing things I’m not even aware of. I think I’m in shock. Leah and her mother float near the ceiling.

Once the door is open, water spills out of the room, leaving some air inside. I hold both women up in the narrow space and shake them. Her mom blinks. She’s alive.

“Leah!” she screams.

My ears ring.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m gonna get you out of here.”

“My baby girl.” The woman cries, wrapping her arms around me and Leah.

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