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He hadn't known of Cole's betrayal.
“Cole!” Damien roared. Shadows flickered around the room, billowing out from his coat, licking at his skin as it twisted and curled. The flames in the pit flickered and waned before dousing entirely, and the lights flickered.
Zephyr slammed the face of the last man standing into the concrete floor before he joined Barrett and Vincent at Damien’s side. They approached us cautiously as Cole stepped back, watching them from over my shoulder.
“Don’t come any closer!” he snapped, backing us against the wall. I didn’t feel him move, but I froze as the icy touch of his knife met the skin of my throat.
Zephyr, Vincent, and Barrett all stopped short at his threat, halting their approach. They held their hands out, showing they were unarmed, yielding.
I knew they were trying to calm him so he wouldn’t do anything stupid, but the tremble of his hands told me he didn’t feel any less threatened. Damien stepped in front of them, his eyes locked on Cole. Cole’s hand twitched suddenly at his advance, and I winced as the blade nicked my skin.
The cold sting of the knife vanished, and as black smoke billowed around Damien’s hand, Cole's knife appearing in his grasp. Cole's hand plastered against my neck, and I gulped for air, adrenaline flooding me. His grip tightened, and his heart pounded against my back. Damien’s eyes remained on him, unmoving, deadly.
“Let her go, man.” Barrett’s tone was level, hands outstretched to show that he was unarmed. “You know as well as I, the only way you leave alive is if she remains unharmed.”
Cole didn't say anything, his breath uneven against the back of my neck. This could be the end. I could die at any moment. It wouldn’t take but a second and he could finish me right where I stood, weapon or not.
Please, not like this. Not when I was so close to freedom. Not when I was so close to being reunited with Damien.
Damien stepped forward cautiously. Cole was backed into a corner, and the thought of what his decision could be... the room spun as I imagined the worst. Would he let me go and surrender? Would he kill me and run for it?
In a flash of movement, Damien flipped the knife in his hand before slinging it forward, and the blade sank into the wall next to Cole’s face. We both flinched, his grip loosening for a split second. I broke free the moment I could, running toward Damien. Pure adrenaline was the only thing left fueling me. It was all I had. In that same moment, Damien leapt forward to get to me.
Cole’s hand narrowly brushed down my back in an attempt to grab me but gripped nothing. As I ran toward Damien, I glimpsed the knife reappearing in his hand. His eyes met mine for a split second as he lifted his arm back behind his head as he ran.
Somehow, something inside me knew what he needed me to do. I dropped to the ground as he threw the knife forward again, and I looked back in time to see the blade plunge into Cole’s chest.
Cole flipped back onto the floor, his agonized gasps filling my ears, and my heart sank as the blood seeped into his shirt around the knife. Damien stepped in front of me, watching Cole, bracing for the possibility that he might get back up. My muscles twitched and shook, my chest heaving as I struggled to breathe.
Damien whipped around, kneeling to my level. His hands settled on my shoulders. He searched me frantically, his eyes falling on the wounds that peeked from beneath my clothes.
“Gods, what did they do to you?”
I sat there, unable to form words. Was he really here? Was I free? My hands trembled as I grabbed onto him, desperate to feel that he was here, that he was real. “Is it really you? Are you really here?”
His face contorted into a painful expression. He pulled me close to him, breathing into my ear. “Yes,mea luna. I’m here. I'm real.”
"How do I know? How do I know that you're not another trick?" My voice quivered as I stared up at him.
He winced at my words. "I don't know what he did to you,mea luna, but it's really me, I promise. We're going to get you out of here. You're safe now."
Damien released me, his head lifting to search the room behind me, and I turned to look as well. Marcus and the others had used Cole’s distraction to flee, leaving a few of their dead behind.
A low growl slipped from Damien’s throat, his jaw tightening. “Dammit,” Damien cursed, but he held himself back, his eyes falling back to me. “Come on.”
His arms wrapped around me, helping me to my feet. He guided me into the shadows on the wall, and we were suddenly outside of the compound. I couldn't see any sign of the city's lights for the dense forests that surrounded us. We were somewhere in the mountains, but I didn't know exactly where. The moonlight slipped faintly through the canopy of the trees, and the air was so refreshing, so crisp against my skin that I almost cried.
In the pitch shadows, I could hear the rustling of grass and foliage around us. I tensed. Something was moving in the darkness, surrounding us. As my eyes adjusted, I could faintly make out black figures emerging from the trees. I grabbed onto Damien as what resembled wolves stepped into view.
Their forms were distorted, bodies almost non-corporeal. Glowing red eyes peered into me through the darkness around us. Their bodies seemed to be made of black mist, almost resembling Damien’s magic. Their jaws stretched back to their ears, reminding me almost of how the darkling’s jaws stretched wide. Jagged teeth lined their mouths as they growled, heads low as they approached.
“Don’t be afraid… they’re with me,” Damien spoke softly as he held me. “They were standing guard while we were inside.”
As they grew closer, their red eyes faded to a beautiful ice blue, their bodies becoming less deformed and more like that of a real wolf. Their jaws retracted, closing until they stood before us, black and beautiful.
One nudged my elbow affectionately, whimpering to be pet. I reached out, hesitating before I laid my hand atop its head. The beast bent into it, closing its eyes. I could feel its power radiating beneath my palm, a conflicting icy heat that gave me goosebumps.
Damien held his hand out, the largest of the beast’s wagging its tail in response. "Thank you, friends." He laid his hand atop the creature’s head, and it whined affectionately to him. The pack dissolved into black dust, the creature I was petting disappearing before my eyes.
