Page 70 of Beastkin
My father laughed, the sound bitter and triumphant despite his position on the floor. “Did you really think it would be that easy? The entire Purity Front has been watching this house since the moment you breached the wards. We knew you were here the entire time.”
My blood ran cold. This had been a trap all along.
“We need to go. Now,” Elias said urgently, already moving toward the window. “Wild, can you create another portal?”
“Not after what I did to get us in here,” Wild replied, his face pale with exhaustion. “I’m tapped out for the next few hours at least.”
The footsteps were getting closer, accompanied by voices shouting orders I couldn’t quite make out. But I caught enough to know they weren’t planning to take prisoners.
“The window,” Karrick said, releasing me just long enough to stride across the room. Without hesitation, he drove his clawed fist through the glass, sending shards cascading to the ground below. “It’s not that far of a drop.”
“For you maybe,” I said, looking down at the fifteen-foot fall to the manicured lawn below. “Some of us are human-sized.”
“I’ll carry you,” he said, his eyes fierce with determination as he scooped me up in his arms. “Hold on tight.”
The footsteps had reached the top of the stairs, but we were already out of the window, my stomach lurching as we plummeted through the air. But Karrick, thanks to his Beastkin strength, landed easily in the grass without so much as a huff. My weight was nothing to him and despite the danger, he was still purely focused on me.
Behind us the others came down. The werewolf carried the blonde witch and Wild came down hand in hand with Elias, the pair of them coming to a stop a few inches above the ground before dropping the rest of the way slowly. Karrick didn’t look back as he headed for the edge of the property. But he didn’t need to. I glanced over his shoulder, still cradled in his arms. Everyone was there, running with us. All five of them.
Wait.Five?
And that’s when the fifth figure suddenly swerved and collided with Karrick. There was a pained cry, a flash of agony through our bond, and then we were toppling to the ground, a tangle of limbs and fur.
I scrambled to my feet, panic surging through me as I finally realized who the fifth figure was. I stared as Thomas stood over Karrick, a wicked blade in his hand. Blood glistened on the metal, black in the moonlight, and Karrick’s massive form had gone suddenly, terrifyingly still once more.
“No!” I screamed, flames erupting from my fingertips as rage and terror coursed through me. But Thomas just smiled, that same smug, satisfied smile I’d come to hate.
“Too late,” he said, his voice almost singsong. “The poison’s already working. Special blend, made just for monsters like him. Paralyzes instantly.”
I lunged forward, but Wild caught me around the waist, holding me back. “Phoenix, don’t! The blade?—”
“Let me go!” I thrashed against his grip, my eyes fixed on Karrick’s face. His eyes were still open, filled with pain and fear, locked on mine. I could feel him through our bond, the panic rising as his massive body refused to respond to his commands. He was conscious but completely immobilized, his breathing growing shallow with each passing second.
“You’ll thank me for this someday,” Thomas said, wiping the blade on his sleeve. “Once your mind is clear again, you’ll see I did you a favor.”
“I’ll kill you,” I snarled, the words burning in my throat as flames danced higher around my hands. The rope’s effects had fully dissipated, and my magic was responding to my fury with frightening intensity. The grass beneath my feet began to smolder and blacken.
Thomas’s eyes widened slightly at the display, but he held his ground. “You have a choice here Phoenix. You can save your precious beast.”
“Save him?” I whispered, my flames dimming slightly as confusion cut through my rage. “What do you mean?”
Thomas twirled the blade between his fingers, the poisoned metal catching the moonlight. “The antidote,” he said, tapping his breast pocket. “I have it right here. Come with me willingly… be myhusband, and it’s his. Resist, and, well...” He glanced down at Karrick’s paralyzed form. “The poison doesn’t just paralyze, you know. In about two minutes, it’ll start shutting down his organs. One by one.”
I looked down at Karrick, feeling his terror and pain and fury pulsing through our bond. His eyes, those beautiful brown eyes, pleaded with me not to listen, not to give myself up. But I could also feel his breathing growing more labored, his heartbeat becoming erratic.
“Don’t,” Wild hissed in my ear. “We can find another way.”
But there wasn’t time. I could feel Karrick slipping away with each passing second, our bond growing thinner, more tenuous.
“Let me go,” I said quietly to Wild. “Please.”
His arms loosened reluctantly, and I stepped forward, my hands falling to my sides. The flames still danced at my fingertips, but I kept them controlled, banked like embers.
“That’s better,” Thomas smiled, extending his hand toward me. “I knew you’d see reason, eventually. I’ll be a much better spouse to you than this creature, anyway. You’ll see.”
I took another step forward, and then another, until I was standing between Thomas and Karrick’s prone form. I could hear Atlas and the others behind me, their tension palpable in the air.
“The antidote first,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt.