Between Shadow & Ruin (Fangs & Fae Saga Book 2)

twenty.

"Val, Zane. I need you two over here for a second," Laura said. She spoke to them quietly and told them the words to say. They chanted rhythmically. My throat was on fire. I tried to put my head between my hands as I sat on the ground with my knees to my chest. I could just barely see a sliver of the moon. I wasn't sure how long it had been, but I was starting to feel anxious. Jason mumbled quietly as the three of them chanted away.

"Jason?" I called across. "Jason, how are you doing over there, man?"

"I've made myself break my wrist three times already to keep from thinking about how hungry I am... How do you think I'm doing? How much longer?"

"I think it's only been a few hours..." My throat was dry, and I was trying to keep calm. I buried my nose into my knee trying to keep from smelling Val, Zane, and Laura.

I could see light breaking through the window. A sudden gust of wind came from nowhere. There were windows but none that were open. It wafted the smell of their blood right to my nose. I instinctively growled. I heard Jason do it too. Fuck. I stood up and punched the door.

"Val..." I said angrily. "Val!" She ignored me as they continued chanting. I wasn't even sure they were consciously chanting. They had been standing in their positions for so long. Val's heart beat intensely under her chanting.

I punched and kicked at the door harder. Jason was still fighting it. I tried to tell myself to stop but the more I wanted to stop the harder it got. I gave up on the door and started to punch the wall.

I was screaming loudly. I could hear them start to chant louder.

My entire body felt like it was fire.

My head felt like it was being split in half and my vision blurred. Someone was hemorrhaging me. I looked between them to see who it could be.

"Don't you fucking do that to me, Zane! Stop this! Just let me out!"

Jason was starting to pull at his door, as he snarled. While my body acted out, in my mind I started to think that these cages may not hold us. Every rehab I'd gone through, I'd never made a scratch on the doors and walls, and they were already cracking under my hits.

"Liz!" Jason yelled out. "No puedo... I can't fight this!" He hit the door hard and I heard a disgusting crunch of metal and bone. I could feel a fight going on my head between the part of me that wanted to stay calm and the part of me that wanted me to kill myself.

"Val..." I started. "Zane. This cage isn't going to hold me! It's not going to take much longer for me to break this!"

The sun was shining brightly through the windows, and I was nearly through the door. How long had it been since we got down here? I had begun to claw at my own head, trying to get my sane self to shut the fuck up and let me rip through Val and then kill myself. Jason had ripped his shirt off and was trying to pull the bars off the window of the door.

"Tell me this is almost over!" I called out. The chant had changed. It angered me. The more they ignored me, the worse I felt. I knew that stakes were a part of the original spell... They had to have them, and I needed to get my hands on one.

I kicked at the hinges of the door harder and harder until they gave way under my foot. I barreled into the door, finally breaking it free from the wall. I looked over at Val, Zane, and Laura, my vision went red. I grabbed my throat trying to break through my skin.

I heard Jason's door crash to the ground. He ran past me and was blasted back by a protection spell. Good job, what was left of my sane mind thought. I grabbed my head between my hands as both sides of me fought against each other. I screamed again.