Page 12 of Fallen (Designation #2)

ROWAN

I tear through the forest preserve, Amand’s heavy breaths matching mine. All I can focus on is Lev taken by that psychotic unicorn shifter. His phone signal is a faint beacon on Amand’s device, guiding us to an abandoned stable deep in the woods, but every second feels like a lifetime.

The mate bond burns in my chest, sharp with Lev’s fear, my beast roaring, clawing to be let out. I want to shift now, to slither through these trees and rip Elias apart, but I hold it back, saving my strength for the fight I know is coming.

Amand’s sea-glass eyes glint in the moonlight, his face set with the same rage I feel. “We’re close,” he says, checking the signal. “Stable’s just ahead. Gerald’s team is ten minutes out, but we’re not waiting.”

“Damn right, we aren’t,” I growl, my fangs itching to extend.

When I lock onto Lev’s scent, my beast surges forward and I don’t fight it this time.

I let the shift overtake me, my body elongating, scales rippling over my skin, my vision sharpening to night clarity.

I’m ten feet of muscle and venom, my coils gliding silently over the ground.

Amand shifts beside me, both of us moving as one, a deadly pair honed by years of partnership and now bound by our mate.

I can taste ginger in the air which is the only explanation for why Lev would still be here. He can’t disappear through the walls and with a horn like Elias’, it’s probably impossible to just slip past. But we’re here now.

This time, I’m not letting the fucker go.

I slam through the entrance, my coils shattering the doorframe as Elias spins, the massive unicorn pointing his horn directly at me.

He charges, aiming for my chest. I dodge easily as Amand strikes, his fangs sinking into Elias’s flank.

The unicorn screeches as I wrap my coils around his legs and pin him down, careful to strangle his movement so that he can’t strike me like before.

Elias slashes around anyway, Amand sinking his teeth into the poor bastard, the venom already working its magic. I add my own bite to the mix, watching as the unicorn’s movements turn sluggish. He’s not done, though, aiming his horn at Amand’s scales.

I see red.

My protective rage takes over, and I slam my full weight into him, knocking him fully to the ground. My fangs sink into his neck, venom flooding his system, his strangled cry echoing through the room. I want to end him, to tear him apart for touching Lev, but Amand’s hiss pulls me back.

Not yet, his eyes say, and I know he’s right.

We need Elias alive, at least until we get answers.

My gaze runs around the room to find Lev pressed back against the wall, fear running through his expression.

He’s unscathed and alive, just terrified.

I release Elias as soon as I feel him go limp before shifting back.

Then I rush over to Lev and scoop him up against my chest.

“Thank fuck, you’re okay.”

He chuckles against me, a strained sound that has my heart in two. “Yeah, but Elias is fucked in the head. He wants to frame Silas and then take me as his win.”

“We heard, Lev. Everything. Gerald’s team should be here in a few minutes.”

Lev pulls back and looks over at Elias before focusing on Amand. “About him. I don’t trust him. All of this was just a little too easy. Elias has got this place laced in ginger and he somehow knows about Chameleons. Not to mention the fact that Gerald always seems to be one step ahead of us.”

I nearly say something when Jace and another shifter from Essence piles in.

Their eyebrows rise clean off their head as they stare.

“Damn,” Jace whistles. “Gerald said you guys were good but I had no idea. Leave some fun for the rest of us next time.” The other shifter bends down to check Elias’ pulse, the unicorn shifting back to his human form. “He still alive?” Jace asks.

I nod. “Barely. But I’m going to let you guys handle it.

I’m taking Lev home.” No one pushes back which is just as well but we’re barely two steps out of the stable when we hear ‘fuck’.

I twist around, Lev pressed against my side as the sound of splintering wood and galloping hits my ears.

There’s no fucking way that unicorn is still moving.

Jace bursts out of the front, yelling at us to go home as his partner shouts something into a phone about them tracking the unicorn east.

Lev growls. “See what I mean? Like how the fuck did Elias even get up?”

I’ve had my suspicions before but it was one of those things I thought I was reading into. Now? I definitely think we’re caught in some kind of experiment and Lev is the guinea pig.