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At the bottom, I let her slide down my body to her feet, knowing she needs her independence and never wanting to stifle her. We just step out of the building when I smell them—humans.
Snarling, I pull her behind me and crouch, but one of my fastest warriors leaps down before me, panting and clearly worried. He looks from me to Aria and nods in respect. “Where?” I demand.
“Reigner—”
“The humans,” I hiss.
He nods again, appearing ashamed. “They slipped through an underground tunnel we had no idea about. It led straight to the lab.”
“Talia!” Aria gasps, pushing past me to head to her friend’s defence, but I halt her when I see the look in my warrior’s eyes.
“Akuji, let me go!” She fights my hold as I meet his gaze.
“Casualties?” I demand.
“Only one.” He glances at Aria sadly. “The other human, Talia, is gone, and Cato is gravely wounded.”
Dropping my head back, I roar in fury, letting those rats hear it as they scurry away from my city.
Run, little humans, but it won’t save you from me.
THIRTY
ARIA
Ican’t even ask questions, because I’m thrown over Akuji’s shoulder before he races through the city, but the entire thing is a blur, my worry making it hard to swallow. Talia…is she okay? That’s what I need to know. We arrive at the lab moments later, and despite Akuji’s insistence for me to stay behind, I follow him down, wincing at the roaring coming from within. We find Cato strapped down to a table, fighting the hold of his own people. He’s bigger, darker, and crazed.
His roars are filled with such fury and agony, it makes my heart ache.
“No,” Akuji whispers and pushes me behind him quickly.
“Akuji,” I demand, but he turns to me and cups my chin.
“Not this, do not push me on this, Aria. He is in the haze. He would kill you and then I would have to kill him. Please, go back upstairs and wait with my warriors. I’m begging you.” The desperation in his voice is enough to have me kissing him and hurrying back upstairs. I wait at the top with a wall of warriors behind me, who are nervously watching me and the stairs.
The haze.
Cato values intelligence and reason over everything, so for him to give into the haze?
Fear blooms within me. What happened to Talia to cause this? I hear Akuji talking, followed by roared responses, so all I can do is wait, even when I want to march down there and demand answers. I don’t, though, because I trust him.
When he comes back up, stone-faced, I know.
“She’s gone?” I demand, not wanting him to coddle me or tell me it’s okay, but I should know better. He treats me like a warrior, an equal.
“The tunnel was sealed. They opened a one-way door in and out of the city, then blocked it behind them. They came upon Cato and Talia while they were still working. Twenty humans surrounded them, and they knew what to do. They shot Cato first, and it should have been a killing blow, but he refused to die. He killed ten of them before being weakened by the slug. They took her into the tunnels, and she managed to fight some, but it was not enough. When he awoke, they were gone, and he went into the haze.”
“Why?” I whisper, angry at myself for being lost in him when my friend was being attacked and kidnapped. Searching his gaze, I beg for answers, for help.
“Isn’t it obvious, my little human? She’s his mate, not that he ever told her, and now she’s gone. My tracker confirmed she is back over the wall, where he cannot reach her.”
“If they hurt her…” I shake my head. “They want the research. Did they get it?”
“Yes, and her,” he confirms.
“Fuck!” I scream, tugging at my hair. “If they don’t need her anymore, they will kill her for betraying them. We have to stop them, Akuji. We have to! She’s in danger. She’s not a fighter like us. She’s smart, really fucking smart, but they are cruel and cunning. We can’t leave her with those monsters.”
“I thought we were the monsters,” he says seriously as I stop and stare at him.
