Page 81 of Broken Fate
Four shifters appeared in the hallway. Each of them was as tall as Kiel, with just as much muscle. They didn’t wear the same armor as the normal guards, instead sporting a sleeker, slate gray set that looked lighter and more suited to individual combat.
“Volks,”Andi hissed, glancing from side to side. “Shit. Get that door open. Hurry!”
“Working on it,” Kiel grunted just before anotherclangechoed down the hallway toward the oncoming warriors.
“Kiel,” I said uneasily. “What do we do? We can’t handle this.”
Behind us, the door gave way with a shriek.
“I know.” Kiel stepped forward, his hood still low over his face and his scarf covering his jaw. “Get to the stone,” he said quietly. “I’ll handle this.”
He’dhandleit? My head whipped around to stare at Andi to see if she’d heard the same thing. Her jaw was hanging slack.
“Kiel, these are Volks,” I said gently. “Four of them against one of you? That’s a slaughter.”
“Just get to the stone,” he growled, walking toward the fourVolks. “That’s our priority.”
“What do we do?” I asked Andi, unable to tear my eyes off Kiel.
“Fuck.” She slammed her fist into the palm of her other hand. “We get the stone. Come on.”
Helplessly, I went after her, flicking one last glance over my shoulder at Kiel just before he engaged theVolks.
Fate be with you.
The brilliant jade light of the Fate Stone pulled my attention away from the battle however.
“There it is,” Andi whispered, glancing at me.
“Yes,” I whispered, stepping up to the oval-shaped object, the light emitting from within its very core. The seeds of Fate herself bound within.
I reached out to the stone, gloves still over my fingers. The last thing I wanted was to interact with Fate herself. If she discovered what I intended to do, who knew how she would react?
“Do it,” Andi hissed. “Destroy it!”
Licking my lips, I—
“Put that down, if you please,” a calm voice said from the back of the chamber, speaking just loud enough to be heard over the fighting outside.
I looked up to see Arcadus enter the chamber, black cloak flowing out behind him as his black bootsclickedagainst the smooth stone floor. He was flanked by Andracis and two regular guards, each of whom held a chained and hooded figure in their hands, pushing them to the ground.
“You can’t stop me from destroying it,” I said. “You’re too far away this time.”
“Maybe not,” the Alpha agreed, his eyes the same shade as the light from the stone but infinitely harder. He locked his gaze onto me, stroking the short beard that covered his chin. “But you really don’t want to do that.”
“Actually, I do.” I lifted the stone higher, ready to smash it on the ground.
“Very well,” Arcadus said, motioning with one hand to the guards. “If you do that, however, I’ll be forced to do this.”
The guards smoothly pulled the hoods free of their prisoners. Then, they grasped the hair of each prisoner, sliding a blade against their throats with the other hand before yanking the heads back.
I gasped, so stunned I nearly dropped the stone.
“M-Mom?” I stammered, finding myself staring into the loving eyes that had looked over me since I was an infant. “Dad?”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“You see,” Arcadus said, leaning forward slightly, his eyes narrowing and one hand clenching into a fist. “You really don’t want to do that.”
