Page 88 of The Lands Defying
“Oh, he’s really going for it,” Frederick laughs, and my eyes squeeze shut, my grip tightening on Darius’s arm as her cries and pain fill the air.
How can they do this? How can they openly throw that thing in there whilst they rape a woman. Is this what would have happened to me? Has this happened to my pack? Has this happened to those that were stolen?
“They are beasts, whatever fucking kind,” Darius whispers, and I open my eyes, looking around the space. “They are in a rut, I can sense it, all males can.” I look at the others, seeing their tense faces, knowing what Darius said is true. “It was brought on by whatever they gave it. It will be protective against any intruder trying to go near what is his at the moment, we can use that.”
“Won’t it harm the female more?” I ask him, my eyes coming back to him.
Darius’s eyes tighten. “We don’t have a choice. It’s a risk we need to take. I think death would be welcomed by any female having to take that beast unwillingly.”
He’s right. I saw what they did to them in the other room, but can I let them die?
Darius reaches a hand out to me, his eyes briefly going toward the Highers as they laugh, making sure we are still unnoticed.His fingertips run along my forehead before he places a kiss there.
I feel his wolf brushing along my skin, Runa responding.
“There is nothing else we can do unless we want to alert them to our presence and risk them porting your pack members out of here,” he whispers against my skin. “I want to gut them, Rhea. I want to torture, maim, and behead them for all they have done.” His body shakes with every word. “The only thing stopping me from going around these shelves and shoving my blade in their bodies is I know how important your pack is to you, so therefore, it is important to me.” I let out a shuddering breath. Forgive me, Zahariss, more souls will be coming to you. “Once your pack is safe,” he grits out, just slightly over a quiet murmur but no less deadly, “I will go for them, if I can. We are not prepared for them, and I can sense others in a back room.”
What others?
“It may just be better to get in and out unnoticed,” I reluctantly say. “I want them dead more than anyone, but you are right, we are not prepared for this.”
We didn’t think any Highers would be here… but if there are also more somewhere. More Highers? Their witches maybe?
“Get your pack ported out of here,” Darius commands. “Once they are gone I can try and take one for questioning if we can keep our identity a secret.”
I give him a resigned nod. “Okay.”
His eyes bounce between mine. “I need you safe Rhea. Having you this close to them…” He looks away before his eyes come back to mine. “Port out of here as soon as you can, Vihnarn.”
I breathe in his scent and nod.
Then with one last lingering look, we split up.
I creep toward the end of the shelves with Josh, Taylor, Colten, Hudson, and Jerrod. I look back toward the Highers, who havenow moved to the back of the room, looking down at a table. With their backs to us, we have the advantage.
But another cloaked figure suddenly joins them from somewhere in the back, just like Darius sensed.
I wait as the newcomer, a guard it looks like, joins them at the table until I proceed.
Sweat beads my brow as I wait until they are completely immersed in looking down at the table before I dart out from behind the tall stacks and run to the end of the cells, heartbeat in my throat.
When I reach it, I slide down the long wall at the end on a crouch, waiting to see if they have spotted me.
They hadn’t.
I wait as the others do the same, one at a time and then Jerrod takes the lead and peeks around the cell wall.
We hear the Highers talking louder now, Mathew angrier and we make our way to the back of the cells, quiet and cautious as we can see straight through the bars…just like they can.
As we pass, I look inside the cells.
More dead bodies, all females, all failures.
This could have been me, this could be my pack.
I’m going to make them all suffer for what they have done. I won’t rest until I do. Whether that’s now, or later.
Magic coats my hand without warning, and I place it on my chest, willing it to go away as anger flashes to the surface so quickly, I have to grab on to a bar to steady myself.
