Page 90 of The Lands Defying
Jerrod looks across the room to his brothers. “Dari—” he starts.
“I trust you to keep them safe, Jerrod.” I give him a pointed look, moving my eyes to Katy and Oscar who are now huddled together. “I need to stay here with Darius and kill every motherfucker in this room that deserves it.” I am trying to keep my rage in check, my powers—and I don’t know how much longer I can keep hold of it.
Jerrod still looks unsure, knowing it will be going against Darius’s wishes. So I do something I have never done before.
“I am the Heir to Zahariss, you will do as I order.” His eyes widen slightly, feeling the command in my tone before he gives me a small smirk.
“It’s your head, Rhea. Darius will send you to an early grave.” I shrug, I can handle it.
“Go with him, you will be brought to safety, I promise,” I tell my pack who look panicked. “Go.” I rush Jerrod, and he takes out a port stone from his pocket. Only a few of us carried one as the others were lost with our rucksacks.
My pack moves toward us at the bars, Eliza and Sybill dragging Sam, and I make sure they are all touching each other. Jerrod holds the stone in one hand while he slowly moves his hand through the bars. I put his hand on the back of little Oscar’s head, Jerrod’s eyes on Katy, and then they are gone.
In the blink of an eye, they are safe.
I sag forward against the bars, tears of relief trailing down my face. I feel Josh coming up next to me, his forehead resting on my temple and I lean into it.
I knew he wouldn’t leave me, so there was no need for me to even ask.
“We couldn’t get here in time for them all,”I breathe down the link to Josh.
“No, but we managed to get some of them. The rest can now run free in peace,”he replies, nuzzling my hair through the hood of my cloak. I can feel his grief mixed in with relief, and we both need the comfort for just a moment.
The Higher’s voices are suddenly closer than expected, and my heart throbs with nerves. But another roar pierces the air, and my eyes glide across the room to Darius through the bars.
The darkness is visible to see from here.
He looks at the now-empty cell in front of me, his lips peeling back into a silent snarl at knowing I’m still here. But there is nothing he can do.
“Did we give him too much?” Frederick asks.
“I don’t think it would cause him to behave like this.” That comes from Higher Mathew.
“Then fix it!” Frederick shouts. “If he kills her before she’s pregnant it will be on your heads, do you understand!”
“And yours!” Mathew says, floundering. “We both are assigned to this.”
“I will not be put under Lord Higher’s wrath for you.”
I rise, unsheathing my blade from its holder and tell Darius exactly what I’m thinking with my eyes.
We can maybe save those females.
He paces back and forth, the tension visible from the other side of the room before he stops and tilts his head again. I follow suit, wondering what he’s hearing.
“If we lose this one, we will have to move some to go through the compatibility tests,” Frederick growls. “We won’t have time to do that. Lord Higher expects results.”
“What about Kaden?” Mathew asks, and my heart rate picks up, Runa standing to attention within me.
Josh tenses at my side, tilting his head.
“Charles wants to bring Kaden down here anyway and give him the ultrian serum, we can just speed up the timeframe. Kaden won’t be able to deny the need to fuck, and then we will throw him in a cell with a few females. I’m sure he will be able to take the serum, so we don’t need to test him,” Frederick chuckles. “He has the original line running through his veins, though weaker, he will be able to produce an Heir for Lord Higher while we test the others.”
Frederick hums. “That’s not a bad idea. We will have to beat him a little before restraining him…”
My vision whitens at their words, blood rushing through my body and a pounding begins to thrum in my ears. My power rushes through me, I can’t stop it, can’t even attempt to.
I don’t even know I’m moving, I don’t even know that I’m now standing out from behind the cells and moving towards the center of the room near the stone slab.
