Arrow of Artemis (The Brother's Grimm, #1) [PUBLISHED]

Chapter Five: Navigating the Labyrinth | ✓

 Niklaus stalked through the hallway and I followed behind him in a daze, not sure where he was leading us. My mind was still lost in what had happened back in the room. I couldn't believe what I had done. It should have been physically impossible. I was a thin, willowy girl without much muscle mass. Yet, I had thrown a man that had been two hundred plus pounds across the room as if he had weighed nothing.

My eyes drifted down to my hands, clenching them into tight fists, "I tried to kill that man. I almost succeeded." I muttered to myself. Saying the words, a loud had reality crashing in on me, "Oh my god. I almost killed a man." I felt my muscles seize up and my stomach rolled as I stared down at my tightly fisted hands. A thin sheen of sweat broke out across my brow. I was careening straight towards a full-blown panic attack.

"Loren?" Niklaus voice called to me. I looked up from my hands to find that we had both stopped moving and were standing in the middle of the hallway. He looked at me with a hardened gaze that told me he was trying to figure out why I had stopped moving. My body swayed slightly as a wave of dizziness passed through me.

My tongue felt dry and heavy in my mouth, "I wanted to kill those men, Niklaus..." The words tumbled from my lips. 

His eyes softened at my words and drifted down to my hands before coming back up to my face, "You did it to protect me and yourself. If you hadn't done what you did they would have killed us. I can assure you." I stared into his eyes, wanting desperately to believe his opinion of the situation. I didn't want to accept that fact that I had wanted to hurt other people. That I had tried to take someone's life when I had always been the peacemaker.

I sucked in a shaky breath as my thoughts continued their downward spiral. I knew in the back of my mind now was not the time for a mental breakdown. I needed to get out of this place. I could freak out later but my brain didn't seem to care about any of that. It had already jumped onto the crazy train and there was no getting off, "I am turning into a monster, aren't I? I'm becoming like you?"

Niklaus sighed impatiently, in a rush of movements he suddenly stood in front of me. I let out a startled gasp stumbling back away from him, my heart in my throat. His eyes were trained on me, "We don't have time for this right now. That is a discussion for another time, once we get out of here." before I could contemplate his next move he picked me up and hoisted me up over his shoulder. He spun us around and began moving through the hallways at an almost blurring speed, reminding me he was more than human. 

I had to close my eyes to keep myself from getting sick, "Niklaus, you Neanderthal. Where are you taking me?" I shouted up to him as I tried not to concentrate on the feeling of my blood as it rushed to my head.

"Be quiet. You want to draw attention to us?" He whispered at me in a warning as he tightened his grip around my legs. I frowned but kept my comments to myself. We were unlikely allies, trying to navigate our way to freedom. There wasn't time for us to argue about the best ways for us accomplish that. It was either we succeeded or failed, at this point. 

Niklaus slowed his speed and I could tell that he was trying to figure out which direction he should go in this maze of a building. When the sound of footfalls reached my ears, my eyes snapped opened and I lifted my head in time to see a herd of men in black moving in our direction. My panic from earlier was abandoned as a surge of adrenaline rushed through my veins.

"Uh, Niklaus?" 

"What?" he snapped, clearly agitated. 

"you might want to get a move on it..." One of the men lifted his gun as we made eye contact with one another. My heart jumped in my chest and I smacked Niklaus on his butt, "Move your fucking legs, Fido!" He let out a low growl but didn't question my sudden insistent behavior. He pushed us into motion, speeding up as he turned us down another hallway as the men opened fire. I cringed and wrapped my arms around Niklaus's waist, burrowing my face into his back. I was really starting to get tired of being shot at.