Page 36 of The Alpha’s Seer (The Shifters of Stormhollow #1)
Chapter Thirty-Six
BLAIR
My head throbs, but it’s nothing compared to how my lungs burn for air. I’m gasping, choking, and coughing all at once, and terror takes over.
I’m going to die.
Stars appear in my vision, my body trembling as I buck and writhe on the stone floor, suddenly aware of the restraints around my waist, wrists, neck, and ankles.
I can’t breathe.
Something is blocking my airways; something vile, sour, and wet.
A rag, maybe?
But it’s been shoved too far into my mouth, and it’s creeping down my throat. My body begins to reject it, and I shudder as vomit fights the rag, giving me zero oxygen. I try to scream, but no sound comes out, and just as I feel my body stop fighting, I hear a voice.
“The Seer is awake.”
The voice doesn’t seem familiar, but I don’t have time to think when someone rams their fingers into my mouth, tugging out the rag, and the vomit hits the ground after.
“Fucking hell,” the voice says with disgust. “Dirty bitch.”
A sting hits my cheek, a hard palm slapping me as a punishment for something they did to me.
Fingers rake across my scalp as my head is dragged upright, and suddenly, I’m blinded by a bright light.
I gasp and go to shield my eyes, but the restraints hold me in place.
I can see the shape of a man hunched in front of me, gripping my cheeks with his free hand.
“Some Seer you are,” he taunts with disdain. “You didn’t see this coming, huh?”
“She’s awake?” a new voice asks, and this voice I’m familiar with.
This voice haunts my nightmares. I know him.
The burned man.
I back into the wall as he moves forward, temporarily blocking the harsh light that’s blinding me.
“Get out,” he mutters to the other man, who scuttles out the door with insect-like movements.
I shudder, and my stomach churns.
What are these monsters?
“Blair,” the burned man rasps, crouching to stare into my eyes. “We meet again, but this time for real.”
He’s hideously burned, his features twisted in a grotesque fashion, and one of his eyes has completely melted into nothing but a ball of skin. He’s scarred all over and has no hair on his head; even his nose has melted… and where his lips should be? It’s just a gaping hole.
I shudder with revulsion when he reaches out to stroke my hair, a soft sigh leaving the hole in his face.
I don’t want him to touch me, but he does. He strokes my cheeks, trailing the tear stains like they’re riveting to him. He strokes my eyebrows, almost in awe.
“Look at me.” His voice is faint and rough, like he’s choking.
I wish he were.
I don’t want to look at him. But I know if I don’t, he’ll do something far worse than make me look at him.
So I lift my gaze to his, startled when I see an eye that mirrors mine.
My stomach drops, and he nods like I’m finally understanding something he’s been trying to tell me. I look away, a sob caught in my throat.
Why does he have the same eye color as me?
It has to be a coincidence, because I can’t entertain anything else.
I can’t.
I need Calix.
“Calix…” I sob, unable to stop his name from leaving my lips.
“Ah, your boyfriend,” the burned man says with a sickly chuckle. “He’ll survive, but I’m not sure how he’ll be after the wolfsbane we gave him. Lethal to werewolves, don’t you know?”
My heart skids to a stop, and I try to launch myself at him, ready to rip his one good eye from its socket and spit in the dirty hole.
“Why?” I scream, my spit hitting his face. “Who the hell are you?”
He says nothing, just watches me as though fascinated.
Is this what I am to him?
A fucking circus act?
“Why do you need a Seer so badly? Why are you taking women?” I continue screaming questions at him until I sag to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
I need my mate. I need Calix.
“For someone who fought so hard to come here, you seem to have many questions, Blair.”
I say nothing because he’s right. I do have questions, and he’s the only one who can answer them. But it doesn’t mean I wanted to come here.
I want Calix.
Calix is all I can think of, my last memory of him being stabbed in the side by—I gasp, my memories flooding back to me.
My brother. Leon.
How…why?!
“Let me go,” I plead, panic taking over rationality. “I need to go home; I’m human—I have nothing to do with whatever this is.”
Something flickers in the one good eye that almost mirrors mine, and I shrink back.
“Oh, but you do, Blair. You have everything to do with this. All of this… it’s because of you and your family.”
I stare at him, stunned.
What the hell does he mean?
He rises to his feet and stares down at me like a horror villain; the only thing missing is a weapon. I shake my head, knowing he’s about to either leave or kill me.
“What do you mean? My family?” I beg him, pleading silently for someone—anyone—to save me. I cling to the one fact that might save me. “My father was a human—”
“Is that the best you’ve got?” He tilts his head, and I almost vomit again when the skin hanging from his face sways. “I’ll leave you to think. We have nothing if not time, Blair.”
“No, wait!” I beg, but he steps through the door, hitting the light on his way out.
Once again, I’m plunged into darkness. Something scurries across the ground, and I drag my knees to my chest, whimpering, not wanting to know what it is.
Where am I?
This has something to do with my mother—but what? Then my mind flickers back to the scene where my mate was stabbed by my brother, and my heart screams.
Calix, please!
But I’ve got a feeling I’m on my own, and that scares me more than anything.