Page 49 of I Married Kayog
“Maybe it’s best I just escort you back,” Linsea said, slipping her arm around mine as if for support.
I smiled and patted her hand holding my upper arm. “No, my love. You can stay. Anyway, I’m just going to race back home and either pass out in bed or meditate. I’ll be super grateful for whatever information you can gather here.”
“Are you sure?” she insisted, her eyes flicking between mine.
“Yes, my mate. I’m sure.”
I leaned forward and kissed her. She reciprocated and watched me take a step back with much reluctance. As she headed towards the conference room, I turned around and backtracked towards the entrance. People arriving from the opposite direction slowed me down a little, which only had me feeling almost as if I was suffocating.
To my dismay, barely a few meters from my salvation, a couple of guards blocked my path.
“Wrong way, sir!” the guard said in a stern voice. “Please don’t disrupt the circulation flow and head into the hall.”
“I’m trying to leave,” I explained.
The man shook his head and pointed towards the main hall with an inflexible expression. “The exit is that way, at the other end. The entrance is already crowded enough, and we have ourhands too full with ensuring everyone’s security not to deal with incoming people from behind us. Please move forward.”
My fist burned with the urge to punch him in the throat. I needed to get out of this wretched place, and he was denying me the fastest way out. Of course, I understood his logic. Any other time, I would have thanked him and maybe even apologized for bothering him to begin with before following his instructions. Today, although I complied, I did so while muttering a series of highly inappropriate expletives.
I could have forced my way through, and in fact seriously considered it. But despite the chaos tearing my head to shreds, I clearly perceived that he wouldn’t back down and that any attempts on my part would be met with extreme prejudice.
As if in a malicious attempt to prevent me from making a swift escape, the crowd appeared to close in on me. Random clusters of people would stop directly in my path to greet each other or launch into random conversations. Others would try to cut in front of me, further slowing my progress.
While the people present caused a significant part of my discomfort, it was the anger outside from both the protestors and the guards growing increasingly overwhelmed that were truly wrecking my brain. The sustained, shrill sound of their anger felt like a serrated blade drilling into my head.
I’d been so fucking stupid. I knew better, but my almost blissful week with my mate had made me reckless, convincing me that I could have somewhat of a normal life. How could I have been such a fool?
I peered outside through one of the large windows with protective metal bars cleverly designed to make them look like French windows. The unrest in front of the building was reaching critical levels. Some of the protestors had begun pushing and shoving the security guards, likely to force their way in. While I had faith that the guards would be able to control thesituation, I couldn’t help but wonder if I should have insisted Linsea leave with me. Judging by the emotions emanating from the people outside, things would likely continue to escalate until they got downright ugly.
But I cast that thought aside. The building possessed a few safe rooms that would be impossible to breach should things truly get out of hand. Anyway, I didn’t doubt that the guards would keep the guests safe inside, not to mention the backup help they had on standby.
My stomach roiled again from pain-induced nausea. Pushing my way through the guest in my path, I finally reached the guard post towards the exit on the eastern side of the building. To my shock, as soon as one of the guards saw me approach, he stepped in front of me.
“I’m sorry, sir. You can’t go there,” the man said in an apologetic tone.
“I’m trying to leave,” I growled, fighting the urge to throw him across the room and out of my way.
Visibly displeased by my tone, his face hardened, and he lifted his chin defiantly. “For your own protection, you may not leave now. Protestors are trying to break in. We cannot be held responsible if you get attacked. Therefore, you need to wait.”
The feral rage that had slowly been building inside me in tandem with the agony shredding my mind to pieces cranked up another notch.
“I FUCKING NEED TO LEAVE NOW!” I yelled, my claws extruding, and my fingers twitching with the burning need to tear up his face.
This time, he placed his hand on his blaster, a menacing expression descending over his features. Two of his four colleagues standing watch by the door took a few steps towards us, ready to intervene if things got out of hand.
“Last warning, Temern,” the guard warned. “Back off until things have cooled down. Do not force us to—”
He never finished his sentence. A massive explosion rocked the building. In my last moment of lucidity, I vaguely realized the explosion had come from right outside the exit door. I didn’t know what kind of device had gone off. But by the way a few of the windows shattered, it had been something serious. Had the guard allowed me out when I wanted to, I probably would have been grievously hit by the blast.
Linsea’s face flashed before my eyes as fear for my female swelled within me. But even that faded in the split second both these thoughts crossed my mind after the explosion. The most debilitating pain I had ever felt sliced through my brain and down my spine. My knees nearly buckled as I dry heaved, my stomach twisting atrociously. All around me, people were screaming, bumping against each other in their panic to seek refuge from the unidentified source of the threat.
Their terror was like so many blades repeatedly stabbing me and then having acid poured inside the wounds. I retched again, as I stumbled forward, slapping my hands against the wall, moments before I would have collapsed. My brain felt on the verge of exploding while a demonic hand was tearing my spine right out of my body.
I needed them to stop, to be quiet for just one second, one blessed second before they killed me. But they didn’t stop. Instead, feeding from each other, the crowd only grew even more terrified, especially as some people started to fall, some getting trampled by those who were still standing and frantically trying to run for cover.
Something snapped in my head.
“STOP!” I shouted with such force that my vocal cords hurt.
