Chapter 20
Cyril’s Compound, Tetartos Realm
Sam watched as the door slid open at the end of the hall. She froze and quickly flattened her body against a cell as four guards poured through. Her heart threatened to leap out of her chest as she looked frantically for another exit she already knew didn’t exist. She couldn’t understand their shouts through the snarling and growling in her mind.
She was caught and nauseated at the thought of what they would do to her. They hadn’t noticed her, yet. Instead facing the opening they’d just come through as the one with long blond hair furiously mashed at the keypad next to the door.
Just as the door started to slide shut, her dream lion launched through in a majestically fierce blur. Suddenly the roaring came in stereo through her mind while vibrating off the icy walls of the corridor. She stumbled, knowing the wild sound was coming from the beautiful beast currently ripping the throat from one of the guards. She fought the dizziness while horrified by the sight of guards throwing balls of fire at her beast.
It was real. Not a figment of her fragmenting mind. She’d already seen and been through enough to know supernatural things truly existed, yet the battle before her was nearly unfathomable. The violence should have repelled and sickened her, but she didn’t care. All she could think about was saving her wild beast.
She yelled for them to stop and moved forward as quickly as her weakened state would allow, hoping at least to distract them. She wasn’t sure what was happening to her, or why she was so overcome with need to protect him, but she knew she had to. She had to get to him; the harsh scent of his singed fur made her stomach turn, her movements more urgent. There were bloody gouges in his dark chocolate coat and the bastard guard even managed a hit to his beautiful black mane.
Shouts echoed off the cold walls, but she couldn’t make out the words. A blast at the door rocked the ground beneath her feet, and suddenly two big males came through the haze of dirt and stone. Her shout of warning seemed weak, choked from her dry throat, and she didn’t know if her lion heard her over the shrieking guards. The majestic beast made fast work of one who’d tried to sneak up on him.
The blond guard seemed to be biding his time, moving in for an opening while eying the newcomers. Both new men were huge, yet moved with blinding speed as they took on the guards. She breathed in relief that the two were obviously there to help her lion.
Finally, the last guard fell and she nearly collapsed with relief.
Steadying a shaking hand on the wall, she fought for the balance to move again. Her body nearly denied her, but she finally found her footing and staggered toward the injured animal. He needed her; she felt it. He turned from the last downed guard and faced her. Brilliant, ice blue eyes caught her gaze as he prowled toward her with pure animal grace. The snarling had stopped at some point and all she heard now was her own deep breathing as she moved. Just before they met in the middle, she saw a shimmering, and the most godlike man she’d ever seen replaced her lion. He shared the same ice blue gaze, but these held pain and something else that made her heart lurch.
She sucked in a deep breath at the sight before her. He was pure perfection, with short dark hair and penetrating eyes. The blood coating his tan flesh made her as angry as the gouges marring the dips of muscle covering his nude body.
She had to have lost consciousness again, for she’d never felt such a strong pull toward a man, nor had she ever seen anyone that could compare to him. Her mind had to have conjured him up from her deepest darkest fantasies.
He got close before, towering over her, he lifted a hand to stroke her cheek. Such a gentle touch, it made her body weak with comfort… and need. An intense feeling of safety settled into her bones and warmed her chilled body.
On a deep, gravelly whisper, she heard, “You’re safe now.” Then he collapsed at her feet. She huddled down next to him. Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead, ran over and over inside her mind as she lifted his head onto her lap.
Suddenly, a dark-haired woman rushed into the hallway beside a guy with long blond hair.
She gave what she hoped was a fierce look to the newcomers. “He needs a hospital. Now! We have to get him out of here.” She looked around, daring any of them to deny her. If this was real, he needed help. Somehow she felt connected to the lion man.
The blond guy and the woman were leaning over her in a split second. “Erik will be okay. I promise. He’s our brother, and he’ll be fine,” said the woman. How could they know that? She was going to have to trust them, because she felt like her body was slowly shutting down and spiking all at once.
The other woman kept talking through Sam’s shakiness. “I’m Alex, and this is Vane,” Alex said with a gesture to the blond with long hair. Vane was already crouching to them, touching Erik’s head, gazing intently at his brother.
A loud explosion rocked the entire room, coming from behind the metal of the wall next to her. More dust fell, and she heard movements in the other cells.
“Fuck. We need to get a move on. Everything’s going to be fine.” A look of reassurance shined in Vane’s pale blue eyes as he said the words.
Another guy came in with a rush of speed, barking orders, “Jax, get some charges on these cells. We need to get the females out of here before they get through that wall.” The woman, Alex, looked to the new guy with a grateful expression, which settled Sam’s nerves a little. He had to be a good guy.
“I’m Uri,” he said as he pulled off his black long-sleeve shirt and handed it to her.
How had she forgotten she was nude? Her face heated as she quickly donned the shirt. It had rips down the front but was long enough to cover her to her knees. She used the hem to wipe some of the blood from Erik’s skin.
“We need something to stop the bleeding,” Sam slurred, knowing she should have thought to do that sooner.
“I’m working on that, Sam. Don’t panic. He’ll be fine,” Alex said while holding her hands over the wounds.
Before Sam’s eyes, the wounds stopped bleeding… closing up. “This is the best I can do for now. I need to save energy to get you both out of here.” Alex frowned and bit her lip as if the decision was difficult for her. “Vane, you’re going to have to carry Erik out of here; I can get Sam.”
How did Alex know her name?
Locks started blowing with loud pops, and she heard another large explosion hit on the other side of the wall.
Uri told the others, “Vane, Alex, get your brother and his mate out of here. They’re almost through.”
Mate? What did that mean? She shivered; her body was so cold. Her mind was beyond processing any more. She couldn’t focus on anything other than the warmth she felt coming from Erik’s body, assuring her he was alive and okay as all the heat drained from her own body. Her vision started getting spotty, and she shivered as she broke out in a cold sweat.
“Shit, she needs Sirena. Get them out of here while we get the females.” She thought that came from Uri, but couldn’t be sure.