False Gods | The Prime Archives #3 ✓

fourteen

Chase's head felt like a ragging hurricane.

A million thoughts crashed around inside, yet, the eerie quiet in the van had lulled him into a strange, uncomfortable numbness. He sat on the makeshift bench built into their getaway vehicle with his fingers interlocked and his face hiding in his palms.

All he could hear was the low sound of the van's tires rumbling along the frozen wasteland as Emily drove them to safety. They had lost the Jaegers a while back. Though, he had a feeling that wouldn't be the last time they would see the Atlas unit. They were relentless, hunting in fearsome packs like wolves.

And they had caught their prey this time.

The Jaegers wouldn't stop until their mission was complete. That meant capturing the rest of Chase's group.

His stomach churned at the thought of being put in cuffs just like his friends were.

With his jaw clenched tight, he kept his eyes on the grime-covered floor of the van. He couldn't bring himself to look at those around him. Still, he could feel their eyes boring into him, asking him questions and expressing their disbelief.

He didn't blame them.

He was supposed to be their leader. Their protector. It was his job to keep them all safe from harm. Safe from the Jaegers and Atlas.

But he failed. He let half of their group get captured by those soldiers. His stomach twisted into a knot as his fingers tightened around the metal bench he sat on. He felt his palms pressing into the steel as if it were hot butter.

Atlas had taken Kai, Mateo, Bella, Danai, and Cassie.

Cassie...

General North had hit the jackpot with her. The man already had one super weapon on his team in Orion. With Cassie in his possession, who knew what kind of creations his researchers and scientists would make with her DNA?

Her mysterious abilities were unprecedented. In fact, Chase had only seen them in action one time. It had been during the raid on the research center they found her at a while back. While he barely got to see them, and definitely didn't understand them, he knew she was a force to be reckoned with.

She was far more powerful than any Prime had ever seen before.

Well, that had been the case until he met Orion.

The man's golden eyes haunted the darkness of his mind every time he blinked.

He had never been beaten like that before—and he had seen defeat plenty of times at the hands of Monarch, Lycan, and Victor. But none of them had dominated him the way Orion had. The sheer ability, the raw power he possessed...

He was almost invincible.

Chase couldn't help but shiver at the thought. If Atlas had a super Prime on their side, then they stood no chance at getting their friends back. How could they? Storming into an Atlas base without Orion on their side would have been hard enough. But with him? Nearly impossible.

No.

It was impossible.

All they could do for now was put as much distance between themselves and the Jaegers as possible.

"We have to turn back," Victor eventually said, disrupting the silence swirling around them like the snow outside. "We can't just leave them."

Chase said nothing. He couldn't bring himself to speak. Not after today.

"G-Go back?" Isra stuttered. "Are you crazy?! We barely made it out of there in the first place!"

"I'm not leaving Bella behind," Victor shot back, his tone adamant.