Page 50 of A Hint of Delirium

From everything I knew, the Ancient Order of Leviathans was tasked with protecting the orbforthe fae andfromthe fae. It was their sole focus for thousands of years. I should have been able to trust them to protect me from the Seelie and Unseelie, but if that was true, why didn’t my mom trust them? She ran from them like her life depended on it, when technically, they could have protected me. They weresupposedto protect me. Nah. Something wasn’t right with them. If they were the good guys, my mom wouldn’t have run.

I answered with a glare. “Liar.”

His features darkened. “It didn’t have to go this way. Just remember you made this choice.”

The other two men moved to either side and started climbing the steps to reach me. Before they did, I hopped over the railing to the apartment next door, then the next one, then darted down the steps to the sidewalk, bolting down the street and away from them. Except I didn’t expect there to be more men waiting for me around the corner. They had me blocked in.

“Did you really think it would be that easy to escape?” The leader stalked over to me and grabbed my hair, hauling me over roughly. “I was being nice before, but I guess I don’t have to be anymore.” He tugged my hair from the roots, making me wince in pain.

I tried to punch him, but he easily captured my wrist and squeezed until I felt the bones pop.

“It’s a shame, really, that your mother didn’t bother training you. You’re just a helpless little lamb,” he sneered.

Though his words were harsh, they hit harder than he probably intended. There was a lot my mom didn’t do for me. A lot she didn’t prepare me for, which only angered me further. I was pissed at her, at the Ancient Order of Leviathans, at myself for believing for one second I was crazy, at the fae for storming into my life, at just everyone and everything. I was angry.

And that anger fueled me.

I ripped my wrist from his grip and placed my palms on his muscled chest, pushing him hard enough to send him flying back into his men. As he sailed backward, he took a nice chunk of my hair with him. I screamed in fury, my eyes wild with unrestrained wrath.

The man staggered to his feet, looking like he’d had the wind knocked out of him. I peered down at my hands in shock, wondering where that strength came from. Before I had time to react, my arms were pinned to my sides and I felt a puncture in my neck. I winced as a burning sensation flooded my veins. In seconds I was immobilized, dropping to my knees on weakened limbs.

“Not so tough now, are you?” The leader sauntered over to me and adjusted his shirt. “A little iron will do you some good.”

I furrowed my brows. “Iron?” Then a lightbulb went off in my head. Ansel said iron kept fae from using their powers. It must also have other debilitating effects since I felt like my body was shutting down. “How … how did you know?” I gritted between gulping breaths. My chest was constricted and I had trouble breathing. I gasped for breath like a fish out of water.

He kneeled down in front of me so we were at eye level and gripped my chin to keep me steady. “You know, your mother only toldoneperson about your existence before fleeing twenty-six years ago,” he whispered, his hold on my chin tightening to a punishing grip. “Your grandmother planned to take that secret to her grave, except she wrote your mother a letter before dying, telling her to get rid of the abomination she had created.” He smirked. “That’s how we knew you existed. How it was so easy to find you and forget about your mother.”

An abomination? Me? That was what my own grandmother thought of me?

My mind was hazy from the effects of the iron that had been injected in me and I struggled to focus on one thing. My vision drifted over the man’s shoulder and across the street, to the man leaning against a tree with his arms folded across his chest watching us. My eyes narrowed to get a better look and I saw him clearly.

Alec.

He’d been watching the whole time.

Any hope of being rescued was dashed as my head lolled and fell to my chest. Ansel’s brother wanted me dead more than anyone. This was probably a best-case scenario for him.

“Leave my mom alone,” I mumbled between gasps of breath.

The man chuckled. “Don’t worry, we have no need for your mother.”

I deflated, the fight leaving me in an instant. Maybe this was for the best. No one would get hurt because of me. No one except me, that was.

“Okay,” I relented. “Take me.”

He laughed and instructed one of his goons, “Pump her with some more iron.”

I didn’t fight it. I just waited for the burn and shut my eyes.

“Giving up that quickly?” I lifted my head slowly and blearily watched Alec lift one of the men off the ground and toss him across the street. “Doesn’t seem like you.”

“What are you doing?” the leader shouted. “He’s one of them! Contain him!”

Like a blur, Alec ran through the assembled guards with fire blazing from his hands to his shoulders. He didn’t hold back. I watched in awe as he massacred them with much delight until I was left kneeling on the ground alone, barely able to hold myself up. My eyes fluttered shut and I had to blink a few times to stay awake. Alec calmly walked over to me, his fire slowly dissipating.

“You got yourself in quite a pickle,” he noted dryly.

“Thanks,” I gasped, swaying to the side.

---