Page 82 of Madness Behind the Mask
She screams at me to stop, tries to run in front of the door to block me, but I simply go around her and under the crack of the door.
I solidify on the other side, my heart jumping at the sight of Aleric pushing off the wall, his eyes narrowing both in surprise and...pride?
Before I can decipher whatever it is the vampire is thinking, whatever it is he might want with me, I grab his hand and pull him towards the stairs. “Hurry before Katie opens –”
I gasp ashe picks me up,cradling me in his arms,and then I’m at the top of the stairs,his speed causing the world to blur. The door opens behind me, but I know Katie won’t step out of the room. She won’t leave my kids on their own.Stuck between two hard choices, she’ll protect the truly innocent.
Tears burning my eyes at the thought of never seeingthemagain, I look at Aleric. “What do you want?” I ask as he steps out of the doorleading into the hall.
The world blurs again, and when it settles, we’re out on the street.My heart jumps at the sight of Caden. Aleric’s people are most certainly at the portal, waiting for his command, and if he dies here, will they slaughter ours in revenge? Continue this cycle of death and more death and morefuckingdeath until we’re all so damn numb from the madness?
Until we’re broken like Antonio is? Consumed by a need to inflict pain on those who’ve wrongedus?
My eyes shift from my husband, who looks dead on his feet even with his back to me, to the alpha of the Death Hunt, who hangs back as the rest of his pack races for the end of our street to escape before our wards trap them here forever.
Facing Caden, he bares his fangs, his nose scrunching as he growls. His ears lie low against his head, and he takes a step forward but stops at the line as a Rage demon blocks him, a towering pale monster with a whip-like tail, its end black with poison.
“Let’s end this,” Caden shouts as he too steps forward, but before he can dismiss the demon he’s called forth, Antonio’s golden eyes shift to me. The rage on his face intensifies, and I cower instinctively, fearing that night in the woods, fearing what he can do now that he’s had thirty years to perfect his craft.
The arms around me loosen as I’m dropped to my feet. But before I can run to Caden, a hand wraps around my shoulder, claws digging into my skin. My head is yanked to the side, Aleric baring my neck just as my husband spins around, his eyes snapping to me. “Sau!”
“Caden!”
“Antoniooooo!” Aleric shouts mockingly as he lowers his fangs to my neck. My hairs rise at the brush of his breath, and I instantly freeze. If I call upon my magic again so soon, it will most likely kill me for him. And I need a chance to talk to him, to try to negotiate some sort of peace between our Families.
Antonio snaps his teeth, saliva flying everywhere as he runs back and forth across the line like a rabid dog. The Rage demon follows him easily, telling me he is at least over a thousand years old to be able to match the speed of a werewolf. My eyes flick to Caden again as my mouth drops open, awed once more by just how powerful he is to have been able to summon what is most certainly an archdemon.And not just one, I realize as I turn my head to look at each border of our safety zone.
I briefly wonder if he can force Antonio and Aleric to stay in place while we all have a chat, but the answer stares back at me in the green of his eyes. He’s absolutely terrified, and I know, that in this moment, he can’t even stop Aleric from taking me. Blood trickles down his chin and nose, clear signs that his magic is killing him.
Still, he raises his arms, willing to sacrifice his own life to save mine.
My heart breaking, I want to beg him not to. He is a thousand times more of a person than I’ll ever be. A better parent. A better leader.
But Aleric cuts in before I can. “Ah, ah, ah,” he says, damn near singing. “You’re going to let us pass through the barrier, or we” –he grazes his fangs across my neckas his tone swears a promise– “will join each other in death.”
My heart jolts beneath his teeth. “Let him, Caden,” I say, my words moving the distance I wish I could. They reach him while I am stuck here, in the cold embrace of our enemy.
“I’m not losing you again, Sau.”
My eyes soften as I implore him to listen. “Our children can’t loseyou.”
His eyes widen, the rest of his face going momentarily slack. “They’re alive?”Cadenbreathes as he eyes Aleric in disbelief that he left them alone.
I nod, hoping he makes the same choice Katie did so they don’t lose both their parents in one night. Their mom taken, their dad killed trying to stop it.
Howling, Antonio runs straight at the line. He’s about to crash into the demon, clearly not giving a fuck if he dies trying to get to me, when a streak of black fur rams into him from the side. They roll across the ground, the newwolfyipping and growling, as if they’re trying to talk sense intotheir alpha. Our wards are nearly back up again; I can feel them charging the air with power.
I jumped as soon as Antonio moved, his sudden motion terrifying me, and Aleric’s teeth sank a bit into my skin. He groans as he presses his fangs deeper, and his tongue licks me, but he doesn’t bite down all the way. He doesn’t drink. He simply sighs against my neck and pulls back up.
“If you want the chance to save her, Caden, I advise you deal with Antonio while we cross.”
Scooping me up into his arms, he runs straight for the demon. The world blurs so fast, it makes my eyes sting, and I’m forced to squint to see anything at all. The demon spins, his black eyes locking on to us as his tail whips behind him lazily. A cold sneer curls his lips, revealing two rows of long needle-like teeth.
Just as Aleric reaches him though, the demon vanishes, Caden having released him just in time.Antonio pins the subordinate who attacked him, then turns to my husband. I scream, drawing his attention as we blitz past. He turns to us, but then we’re gone, Aleric having phased now that the ward is no longer stopping him.
My scream shifts into coughingand then vomiting as I’m dropped onto the floor somewhere new.The world no longer blurs but spins, my head reeling. I fall to my hands and knees, then vomit again,a cold sweat glistening on my skin.
Phasing is not easy on the body. Only those born with the ability are able to handle the stress, so by the time I manage tobreathe without shuddering, Alericis standingin front ofme, his dark-gray eyes on my ass.Heat burns in his gaze, and I drop mine quickly in disgust...only for it to catch on his clear erection on the way down. He’sbigand not far from my face.
