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Chapter 30

Calax

Iwouldn’t be able to tell you what being a Rager felt like.

It was mere minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. A lifetime of hurling insults at the woman I loved. Of growling and snapping, a carnal need rising within me to eat and claim and fuck. The scent of blood permeating the air.

And a red-hot, blistering rage consuming me. It was an inferno running rampant within me. A volcano. It was a rubberband pulled back so tightly, all you could do was wait for it to snap.

I was aware of it all. Or, at the very least, a primal part of me was. It sort of reminded me of staring through a window on a cold winter night. Snow covering the ground, drooping tree branches, and the murky window pane. Yet, inside you could see a roaring fire, a tray of hot chocolate, and the fluffiest fucking blanket imaginable. You pounded relentlessly on the window, desperate to get in, but no one responded. The wind continued its relentless assault on your body as snow pelted your face.

My muscles felt sore and heavy, and I rolled my shoulders back. Fuck.

It was almost like coming out of a deep sleep, this change. I blinked, readjusting to the piercing artificial lighting and the inarticulate voices. The first face I saw was Deth leaning over me, a tiny flashlight in his hand. He shone it in one eye and then the other, murmuring something beneath his breath. A brown-haired woman, similarly dressed in a white lab coat and wire-rimmed glasses, jotted something down on the clipboard she was holding. Lucian must’ve left at some point, the long-haired asshole nowhere in sight.

“Where’s Addie?” I asked dizzily. My head pounded something fierce. “Where is she?”

Ignoring me, the doctor grabbed a stethoscope and attempted to place it on my chest. I batted it away with a scathing glare.

“Where. Is. She?” I asked darkly, barely recognizing my own voice. You could take the Rager out of the man, but you couldn’t take the man out of the Rager. Or some deep shit like that. Honestly, I’d save the dramatic sayings for Asher.

With a roll of his eyes, Deth nodded towards something behind me. No, not something.Someone.

My breath left me, and I stumbled unsteadily to my feet.

“Baby…”

Her eyes were glazed, staring blankly at something on the wall. Something no one else could see. Numerous contraptions were hooked up to her. What looked to be an IV jutted from one arm while the other one held a bag of red liquid. Her fucking blood.

They were treating her like a fucking animal. My rage burned hotly inside of me, just waiting for an outlet. Instead of destroying this god-forsaken world, I fell to my knees and took her hand in mine.

“I’m here. You’re okay. I’m okay. Addie, Baby, please look at me.” Those eyes didn’t even blink, didn’t light up with love, didn’t even acknowledge my existence. Fuck. “What did they do to you?” I whispered, my voice cracking

“We didn’t do anything,” Deth said stoutly. He glided over to stand on Addie’s other side, checking the heart monitor and other vitals. “Her own mind did that. Fragile thing, I’ll tell you.”

“Don’t fucking talk about her like you know her,” I hissed.

“But can you deny it?” He clucked his tongue. “Either way, it makes my job easier.”

I rose from my crouch, preparing to beat him dead, when something cold pressed to the back of my head. I froze even as my anger notched up another step.

“Don’t fucking move,” Gabriel hissed. “You may be a successful experiment, but you’re still a dead man if you try anything.”

“Fucking asshole,” I sneered, not bothering to turn around towards the smug-ass face and gun I knew I would see.

“Sit.” He used the gun to point to the chair I had vacated. My body rebelled, wanting to stay with Addie, but I moved without complaint.

“Where’s your girlfriend? The little she-bitch?” I asked snidely. Gabriel moved so he was in front of me, features flaring with anger. Apparently, he could call her a bitch all he wanted, but the second I did, he got pissed. Noted.

Enzo, who was leaning indolently against the wall, snorted out a laugh.

“He has you there, Gabe,” he said with a chuckle. “How many of us has she fucked? Or at least tried to?”

“Shut up,” Gabriel snapped venomously.

Before Enzo could retort, a loud siren emitted in the room. The noise was piercing, a scream, and made me wince. I brought my hands to my ears, anxiously flicking my gaze to Addie. She remained oblivious to the screech breaking my eardrums. Those wide eyes stared sightlessly ahead, the juxtaposition making my head spin.

Fuck, Baby.