Last Fae

Chapter 14 ~ Destroying the Enemy

My thoughts were so preoccupied with what was about to happen that I didn't notice we weren't heading back towards Wolf territory until we reached the outskirts of town. The last rays of sunlight were straining to stay above the horizon as Kellan steered the old ute through the streets and came to a stop across the road from the six story building I'd escaped from just that morning.

I looked over at Kellan as the engine stuttered to a stop and silence weighed heavy on the air. He was already looking at me. His face still tired and worn from days with no sleep and he wouldn't get any until after this was done.

"Did you really want them all dead?" I fidgeted with a loose thread on my jeans dropping my gaze as I spoke the words. He sighed as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. "It doesn't matter what I want. I'm True Alpha, I speak for the Wolves, I voted in their best interest." He kept his voice flat, no emotion present at all. I looked at him then and was surprised to find he'd shifted his gaze to stare out the window.

"So, what did you want?" I asked, stressing the word 'you' as much as possible. His fists clenched on the steering wheel the strain running up the corded muscle of his arms. "It doesn't matter what I want, Delilah," He emphasised each individual word, pulling one hand from the steering wheel and gripping the door handle. But for some reason I wanted to know. Needed to know.

"It matters to me," I whispered. A growl vibrated from his chest and he hit the wheel with a closed fist. He shifted his weight turning towards me.

"If it was up to me? That," He shoved his pointed finger towards the building in front of us, "would be a crater in the ground." I flinched back at the violent rage blazing in the depths of his gaze and the barely contained growl that underlined every word.

He took a deep breath, shoved his door open and stepped out. My hands were shaking as I reached for the handle of mine. It jumped free of my grasp before I could even pull on it and Kellan stood on the other side waiting. I slipped down from the seat, my feet hitting the bitumen with a loud slap that was too loud in the still night air.

There were a crowd of Mythics standing alert and ready around the tall building. As I watched seven Daemons stepped forward, their glowing orange auras burning brightly in the fading light. One by one the seven Daemons faded from view until they were smoke like versions of themselves. The grey smoke rose from the ground and floated towards the building each Daemon entering a different floor, the last two entered the ground floor one heading for the basement where we'd been held.

"Scouts," Kellan murmured under his breath. I nodded unable to remove my eyes from the sight. I'd heard about it, but I'd never seen Daemon Mist before.

Everyone stood in silence as minutes ticked by. I could feel the tension rising in the air as we waited. One by one the Daemons returned to the street and regained their solid forms, until there were six. We waited for the last, the one who had visited the basement, the holding cells. Seconds ticked into minutes and there was still no sign. Kellan moved closer along with the other members of the Council, their worried glances set me on edge.

Their lips moved but I couldn't hear over the racing of my heart. I stepped forward to join the conversation as one of the leaders. But grey smoke drifting from the building halted me mid stride. The last Daemon reappeared a sombre look on his face. He stepped forward with the others to discuss their findings with the leaders and I raced the last few steps to get there in time for the conversation.

For the first time, I noticed that Daemon number seven was Darren. He had a haunted expression on his face, and I wondered what it was that he had seen down there.

"The upper floors are all empty for now. We'll have to check the minds of those down below to ensure no one else knows anything. We might have to come back in the morning to wipe them." One of the Daemons that went to the upper floors told the group.

Valdare nodded his understanding and everyone's eyes turned to Darren.

"There are ten of them down there. And..." He paused, and Valdare put a hand on his shoulder, encouraging him to continue. Darren dropped his head, "They've been experimenting on our dead. None of us knew how many had been taken and we didn't see the bodies when we were escaping. I didn't know," He gasped for breath, trying to hold back the tears that were trickling from his eyes.

Valdare pulled the tortured Daemon into his arms and closed his eyes.

"It's not on you, Darren. We'll get them out now." He murmured in Darren's ear with steel in his voice.

"That's not all," Darren pushed back from his leader and squared his shoulders, wiping the moisture from his eyes and regaining his composure, "There are three new Mythics chained down there. They weren't here when we left this morning."

"What?" I gasped. No. She couldn't have. She wouldn't have. How did she not get it? My hands started to shake as the roiling rage that had always been aimed at the Mythics shifted focus and started boiling up to the surface. She was experimenting on dead Mythics? Desecrating bodies? And still kidnapping more of us for what? The growl that crawled up my throat was gutteral and entirely animal.

I felt more than saw the group around me jump backwards. I heard voices trying to calm me down. Kellan's voice tried to break through the haze of red that clouded my vision but it wasn't enough. My heart raced faster than it ever had before. A shrill ringing echoed in my ears. But I was focused on only one thing. Stopping her from hurting anyone else.

Hands reached for me as I moved towards the entrance. They tried to hold me back. I snapped at them, snarling until they backed away. At some point it crossed my mind that I was no longer walking on two legs but four. That my claws clacked loudly against the linoleum floor rather than the soft squeak of my sneakers. But these were only a passing observations that did nothing to sway the sole focus of my mind.

Find her. Find the monster and stop her. I could smell her familiar scent heavy on the air as I descended the stairs. I could feel others behind me, hanging back at a distance lest I should aim my rage at them instead. I trotted down the stairs following that scent to the door at the bottom. I growled when I saw it, backing up ready to smash it to pieces.

A hand crossed my vision, my lips pulled back from my teeth ready to attack. But Kellan's comforting scent stopped the attack before it could begin. His hand grabbed the door handle and turned it pulling the door and allowing me through. Her face was the only thing I saw as I stepped through the door.

I felt the crunch of skin and cartilage between my fangs as I clamped my jaw over her throat. The gush of blood down my throat sated the violent hunger. And then I realised what I'd done. I dropped the body to the floor eyes unable to look away from what I'd done. I ran. I ran passed the Mythics that crowded the basement. Passed the human scientists that lay unconscious on the floor. I ran all the way back to The Lone Wolf and forced my body back to its human form choking up bile the whole way. 

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