AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, no, don’t put me in there... please... no...” I hit and kicked, but he was strong, and the drug was affecting my abilities. The rough metal edge sliced my skin as I flailed wildly. He forced me down, reaching in to pull up large leather straps.
“No. No, Lord Fallon, Lord Fallon!”
A slap to the face had me catching my breath.
“He can’t hear you, no one can, and he wouldn’t care even if he could.” He fastened the leather straps over my arms, hips, and legs so I was restrained within the coffin.
“Why?” I pleaded. “I just wanted to die. Why this?”
He shook his head, looking down at me. “The only weapon that can kill you is the knife you took from Onuris, which your priests now have in their possession. Even if we were to kill you, you would simply reincarnate again, as is your curse. This is the only way to contain you.”
“I don’t understand. Lord Fallon...” Panic flared inside me, and my heart hammered against my chest.
“Lord Fallon told you what you needed to hear. You want to end the curse, so do we. This is the only way. The sarcophagus has been enchanted to prevent you from dying for as long as you remain inside. It will keep you eternally alive and eternally human. You will never die, and therefore, you will never reincarnate again.”
I stared up at him, my mouth falling open in horror. “You’re imprisoning me? In this...”
Coulton nodded. “I’m afraid it will not be pleasant. An eternity in silent darkness, with only your bloodlust and your memories to keep you company. You will probably be buried deep underground, or possibly at the bottom of the ocean, I’m not sure what Fallon has arranged yet.”
Panic flared, and I began to fight, pulling at the straps that held me tight. I screamed again and again, not using words, just the communication of the pure terror that filled me as Coulton reached down and placed a metal mask over my face. I panted for breath, looking up at him through the eye holes, tears running down my face.
“There. Every goddess should have a death mask. Very fitting.” He smiled and then slid the lid over me, leaving me in darkness. I continued to scream, even as I heard the second lid fall, and then the third. I didn’t hear the padlocks. I couldn’t hear anything in the dark silence he had promised me. Eventually, as my mouth grew dry and my throat stung, I stopped screaming.
“Austin,” I whispered in the darkness, “I need you.”
Chapter five
WEST
Iburstoutofthe door, charging towards the car. The others followed at my heels, falling into pride formation without even thinking about it. We were almost at full strength now, and we were dropping back into our habits and ways of doing things without even thinking about it. I reached our car, turning for a moment to give orders.
“Zayn, Jasper, together. Go after the convoy. Jack and Wesley, with me. Fallon can’t have got far.”
I had the engine running before Jack and Wesley had even shut their doors, and we took off down Fallon’s driveway like a bat out of hell, Jasper and Zayn close behind us. After Jasper had delivered his intel, we’d all headed for Fallon’s house to find it empty. Some physical encouragement had his butler quickly revealing that a convoy had recently left the estate, and that Fallon had left only several minutes before we had got there.
I swung onto the main road and hit my phone screen. The call rang through the car. It was someone I usually kept secret, but there wasn’t time for that.
“Inspector Bainbridge.”
“Bainbridge, I need two vehicles located, and I need them now.”
“West, I can’t—”
“Now, Bainbridge. A black Rolls, private plate DF 1, and a black Ford Transit, reg unknown, but it’ll be heading away from the Fallon estate.”
There was a pause. “Lord Fallon? West, I’m sorry, but he’s... I can’t put out a call on his car. My job will be on the line.”
“Fuck, Bainbridge, I need it.” I cancelled the call then rang him straight back.
“Bainbridge.”
“Inspector, I’d like to notify you that I planted a bomb inside the car of a member of the House of Lords this morning. I believe he has just left his home, and I shall detonate it as soon as he reaches any location that has multiple civilians.”
“Fucking hell, West! For fuck’s sake... fine. I’ll call you back. Bastard.”
I headed towards London, my thoughts racing. All I could think of was the CCTV video that the butler had shown us of Tory and Fallon in the sitting room. I was so angry with her that I was still fighting the urge to shift. How had she got everything so twisted, so wrong? I internally screamed my frustration at her and at myself. I’d been so desperate to protect her, to avoid what had happened before, that I had screwed up worse than I ever had. I swung the car around a bend, raising it briefly on two wheels, and Jack laid his hand on my arm.
“Let’s get there in one piece so we can punish the fucker, yeah?”
