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“Shh,” he murmurs, kissing my forehead so softly, tears spring into my eyes. “Nobody will take you from me. I would fight through the flames of hell themselves to get to you. Where you go, I go. We will get out of here and go home. You can be loved by your tiger, and we can sleep in our nest, spending the rest of our days growing old together.”
“Promise?” I whisper, opening my eyes to peer into his. “Promise me this is forever?”
With his head pressed to mine, he searches my eyes. “Forever? No, Aria, I want you much longer than that.”
“If only they knew how sappy you monsters were…” I laugh, and my heart skips a beat. “I want that life with you. Fuck the humans, they can keep their world. I want yours. I want to live beyond the wall with my monsters.”
“Good, because I was never letting you go, little human,” he snarls. “It’s time, warrior. It’s time to save our people.”
I nod, and he kisses me quickly before helping me to my feet. I straighten my gown nervously before blowing out a breath. I can walk into a walled city of monsters and not be afraid, but in the face of losing him, I’m terrified. I won’t let it stop me though. There are too many people depending on us. On me.
I plant my feet wide as Akuji takes out the camera in the corner. That should catch their attention, and they can’t watch as Akuji moves behind the door, his legs parted in a fighting stance. With a wink, I drop my head back and scream.
I pour all of my emotions into the ragged scream that tears through our cell. Akuji snarls at the sound, dragging his claws along the walls as if to stop himself from coming for me, despite knowing it’s not real.
Sucking in air, I keep screaming, even as my throat turns hoarse and my lungs ache. I keep screaming and screaming until there’s a noise at the door. Letting it cut off abruptly, I breathe heavily into the silence, licking my lips and swallowing to lubricate my throat. The door swings open and the tranq guns come in. They freeze when they see me, but it’s too late.
They fucked up. I see the knowledge in their eyes the moment Akuji steps before them. They yell as he grabs all of them and throws them farther into the cell. I gather their tranq guns, which fall from their hands, and hurry past him to the cell door as he prowls before them with a snarl on his lips as they scramble to their feet, looking for a weapon.
I recognise them. They are the ones who dragged me off the other day, so with a satisfied smirk, I grab the handle of the cell door and meet their eyes. “Nice knowing you.” I blow them a kiss and slam it shut with a bang. Strapping the guns across my chest, I just inspect them, trying to figure out how to fire them, when the first scream sounds behind me.
It’s so loud and filled with agony, it makes my eyes widen, but I just whistle and wait, bouncing on my toes. Seconds later, there’s a bang at the door, so I open it and swing it inwards. Akuji is there, his chest heaving and claws dripping blood. His face, fangs, and chest are covered in gore. Behind him are the broken bodies of the guards. Body parts are thrown everywhere, and blood covers every inch of the cell. Their stomachs and chests are ripped open, and their eyes are wide with fear, even in death.
He looks me over as if to assure himself that no one has touched me in the last few seconds. Grinning, I take his bloodied hand and tug him after me, remembering the way. We hurry down the corridor. We don’t know exactly where Talia and Cato are, but there is only one other door down here, so we swing it open hopefully.
Cato growls and leaps at us from where he was poised before a terrified, huddled Talia. Akuji catches him and throws him back by the throat. “It’s us,” he snaps.
Cato blinks before looking us over.
“It’s a rescue.” I smirk and look at Talia with concern. She’s pale and shivering, and tears splash down her cheeks. “Hey, it’s me, Talia.”
She blinks and gazes up at me hopefully. “Aria?” she croaks out.
“Yes, come on, it’s time to get out of here. We are going home,” I tell her. Cato sags in relief and hurries to her. He lifts her and cradles her against his chest. She buries her head against his body as he turns to us, stoned-faced, before jerking his chin in a nod. I want to ask what’s wrong, but there isn’t time. We hurry from the cell and rush down the corridor, around the corner to the labs.
There are a few scientists there, and they turn and gawk before screaming just as the sirens rip through the air. The bright lights go out, replaced by red ones that flash over the walls and ceiling, plunging us into near darkness. The siren is so loud, it even hurts my ears, but Akuji seems to have no issues as he storms into a lab and starts ripping into the scientists. I watch him for a moment before I move to the empty lab where they kept me.
There’s a smash, and I whirl. Talia starts screaming wildly, her eyes crazed as her hair flies around her face as she throws computers, jars, and vials. I watch in shock as she destroys the entire lab. Cato silently observes her, his face grim, before helping her. When she’s done, her chest heaving, she looks back at me.
“So they can never do this again,” she snaps, and I simply nod and turn back to the kid. I crouch down, ignoring the spike of respect I feel for the madness I saw in her eyes.
“Hey, buddy, remember me?”
He’s curled into a ball, crying, but at my voice, he perks up, his eyes wide with hope. “Aria?” he asks, his chin wobbling.
“It’s me. Come on, it’s time to get you to your daddy, okay?”
“And Mummy?” he queries.
“And Mummy,” I confirm, softly taking his hand. I wait for him to decide. Even though every second counts, I won’t hurt or traumatise him more than the humans already have, but he falls into my arms, and I turn to see Akuji watching me with something akin to hunger.
“His mum is in the cells,” I explain. I see my clothes then, so I hurry over with the kid in my arms and set him down for a second. He cries, clinging to me, and I assure him as I get dressed as quickly as I can. “Hey,” I murmur as I crouch. “These are my friends. This is Talia, another good human, that’s Cato, and this is Akuji. We are going to get you home, okay?”
“Okay,” he whispers trustingly just as we hear booted feet. I share a look with Akuji as I grab a discarded gun a guard must have left behind. Standing, I look down at the kid before swiftly coming up with a plan. Talia clings to Cato, and he would struggle to fight anyway, so it’s better to have one able-bodied fighter than two unsure ones.
“Can you carry them both?” I ask Cato. “I need to be able to fight, and I can’t carry him—”
It’s obvious he hates the idea of not being able to fight to protect her and himself, but he nods.
