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I backed away as fast as I could, bumping an IV pole in the process and sending it clattering to the floor.
Darting from the room, I peered through door after door.
It just got worse.
All the demis were dead. Every single one of them. Some had blood dripping down their pale, limp arms as if they had rejected whatever the hell the colorful liquid in the drips was.
With each room I peered into, a sense of dread built in my stomach. I kept expecting to see Scarlett or Jacinda lying on one of the tables.
However, the succubus and shifter were nowhere to be seen. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
Reaching the end of the hall, I came to yet another door. This one was solid metal with a push-down handle. I proceeded to open it, being met with a heavily wooded area. The celestial above was a pitch-black canvas, empty of a single star but enveloping a solitary moon.
With my only options to try to get away for real help or to explore the building, I chose the latter.
If I did find my friends in the condition I was in, I’d be as useful as a paper bag. A sob rose in my chest, but I quickly swallowed it. The despair of leaving them behind and how wrong everything was threatened to consume me.
I got out and into the thick of trees before any guards realized I was missing or leaving. However, I made it no further than this.
The pain started to set in after ten minutes of dragging myself along. My tongue felt glued to the bottom of my mouth. My throat ached, it was so dry. Everything began to throb from head to toe. It was as if someone had run me over with a truck and then reversed.
I wasn’t sure how long I hobbled before I couldn’t walk anymore, my legs simply refusing to hold up the rest of me. Pain was radiating through my entire body and getting stronger.
Refusing to sit there pathetically, I started to crawl, digging my hands into the dirt of the forest floor and pulling myself along.
I had never felt so small and weak; my vision became obscured by the tears streaming down my face. Surely I was well on my way to meeting the same fate all the other demis had.
Still, I persevered, determination making me stubborn. I was not going to wilt away like a flower, naked in the middle of the woods.
I pushed my body beyond its breaking, breathing heavily, skin coated in sweat, dirt caked beneath my nails.
Soon I had no choice but to stop so I could try to draw a true breath. I sat on my knees and pressed my forehead to the ground.
I learned at that moment that death was an unfair opponent. It had zero tact and little consideration for timing. In short, death was a fucking asshole.
~4~
I watched the small smilodon on the monitor. She’d been pacing back and forth since I’d had her locked in the holding cell.
“Shall we go in?” I asked my brothers.
“Why not?” Cassimere replied with a shrug.
Hades remained silent, as per usual. He’d go along with whatever I wanted.
I tracked time internally; Duvessa would wake to transition soon, and I intended to be there.
Exiting the control room, I walked straight across the hall and pushed open the heavy steel door. It was only accessible from the outside.
Almost immediately, the small female stopped her pacing and placed her back to the wall. It was done defensively, her pupils shifting even though she could not.
Fascinating, this one. Being able to do even that was something no other stunted runt could manage.
Her tired eyes swept over the three of us, not at all intimidated by our size. She seemed more confused that we were triplets. We had obvious differences and many similarities.
“The beautiful Princess Faud. How pleased we are to finally meet you,” Cassimere announced, smirking when she reacted with obvious discomfort.
The wheezing in her chest was the only sound she made. She needed to be examined and treated.
“What are we going to do with her?” Cassimere asked.
“Keep her. She’s too invaluable to auction, even with her handicaps. It would be far more benefitting for one of you to fuck her through oestrus.”
Her pretty face screwed up at my words, resistance already sparking in her eyes.
I knew which one of my brothers would take the offer before I said it. Hades had a penchant for broken things, making pets of them. He didn’t have a desire to fix them; he simply liked to watch them shatter at his feet.
A mute, beautiful and untouched smilodon was just the kind of challenge he needed, as he’d been bored with everything else lately. He couldn’t take her until she came into full maturity, but I knew he’d enjoy toying with her in the meantime.
