We slip silently into the building below, our footsteps muffled by the thick layer of dust that clings to the wooden floorboards.
I’m about to take another step when suddenly, a searing pain erupts at the back of my head, causing me to stumble forward. It feels as if someone has driven a white-hot poker into my skull, the agony so intense that it momentarily steals my breath away.
“Anna!” Rion shouts, but his words are muffled by the pain roaring in my ears.
I desperately try to move my body, to fight back against whatever is holding me captive, but my limbs betray me. Panic rises like bile in my throat as I realize I’ve been immobilized, completely vulnerable to whatever danger is here.
“Stay…away,” I manage to choke out between gritted teeth, my voice barely audible. I know that whoever attacked me won’t hesitate to do the same to my men, and I can’t bear the thought of them suffering because of me.
“Anna, hold on,” Aksel says, his tone laced with fear. But I can sense the determination in his voice, and it gives me a small measure of comfort amidst the pain.
“Someone…get us out…of here,” I gasp, feeling my vision begin to blur as the pain continues its relentless assault on my senses.
My vision swims, but through the haze I can make out the silhouettes of my men, their faces twisted with worry and determination as they face off against our assailants.
“Anna!” Aksel’s voice cuts through the chaos. “Stay down!”
“Who…are they?” I manage to whisper, the words barely escaping my lips as I try to focus on the attackers. Their movements are swift and brutal, clearly trained for situations like this.
“Doesn’t matter,” Blaze growls, his eyes narrowing as he expertly dodges a blow from one of the assailants. He retaliates with a powerful punch that sends the man reeling. “We’ll take care of them.”
My heart clenches at the sight of Blaze, Griffyn, Felix, Rion, and Aksel fighting so fiercely on my behalf. They’re outnumbered and taken by surprise.
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes. I curse my weakness. If only I could move, if only I could help…
With each labored breath, I watch helplessly as the tide of battle turns against us. My men, my mates, are struck down one by one, their powers no match for the assailants’ seemingly endless numbers.
“Griffyn!” I try to scream when I see him falter, a needle piercing his flesh with an eerily familiar effect. His body goes rigid, and he crumples to the ground, eyes wide with fear. “No!”
“Anna,” Felix pants, desperation coloring his voice as he struggles to hold off the attackers. “We can’t…” He grunts, taking a blow to the face before he too succumbs to the paralyzing toxin coursing through his veins. “…stop them.”
I want to scream, to unleash the fury boiling inside me, but my paralyzed body betrays me. All I can do is lie here, a silent witness to our defeat.
“Load them up,” a cold, unfamiliar voice orders, and rough hands seize me, tossing me into the back of a van like worthless cargo. I land atop my men, their once-strong bodies now limp and lifeless beneath me.
“Guys?” I whisper, frantic and terrified. “Are you still with me?”
“Anna,” Rion murmurs weakly, his voice a pale echo of its former strength. “Don’t be afraid. We’ll find a way out of this.”
“Of course we will,” Aksel adds, his tone strained but resolute. “We’re in this together, remember?”
“Always,” Griffyn agrees.
“Stay strong,” Blaze urges before lapsing into silence once more.
Felix’s voice is barely a breath, but I can hear the determination in it when he whispers, “We’ll be okay, Anna.”
I close my eyes, clinging to their words like a lifeline as the drug takes its full effect and I begin to pass out. The van’s engine roars to life, and as we begin our drive to the unknown, I’m terrified of what’s going to come next.
* * *
