Chapter Seventeen
“I’m sorry,” Nyx said, a smile growing on her face.
The smile unnerved Nero. He frowned. He watched in shock as Nyx stood and walked toward the door.
The women inside all smiled at her. His heart kicked into high gear. He didn’t know what was going on, but something about this whole fucking place was not right. If he didn’t get her out of there soon, he might never be able to.
Damned Azilians. At least with the Group, you knew what kind of monsters to expect.
Nyx took another step toward the door, and he blocked her path. The other women stirred on the other side of the glass. They rose and walked to the other side of the wall, the IVs trailing behind them.
Each stared at him with pure excitement, like he was on display in some case just for them. The idea of it made him shiver.
“She’s already got hers,” one said, a faint whine in her tone.
“Are there others?” another woman said.
“Anassa said we would all get one.”
Nero turned and narrowed his eyes at the women. Anassa? That name. It was the one that had been mentioned the night in the compound, the woman with the cloak and control of the stone, a weapon that could destroy men with ease. He was sure she was more than human, maybe even a hybrid. Normal humans didn’t have glowing blue eyes.
“We have to get out of here,” he said quickly as Nyx pressed hard against his middle. He could hear the sound of feet as they pounded closer. It wouldn’t be long before he and Nyx wouldn’t be able to escape.
Her eyes were glazed over, and a stupid smile adorned her face. He twitched as he recognized the expression. She looked just the women when they were being unloaded from the van.
Nero held firm to the small woman and gripped her arms hard.
“Snap out of it!” he shouted.
Her head bobbed back and forth as he shook her. Whatever trance she was in wouldn’t be broken so easily. He was certain it had something to do with that damn stone, but there wasn’t time to figure it out. Right now they needed to run. Even as a hybrid, he couldn’t take on the Azilians by himself and certainly he couldn’t if she wasn’t going to help fight them off.
Nero picked her up and flung her over his shoulder. He could only hope he didn’t damage her ribs any more. She struggled to get away, but her resistance was feeble in her current state.
The women on the other side of the glass pressed against the wall.
“Put her down,” the women called, almost in unison. “She has to stay.”
What the hell was going on? Those women weren’t his enemy. He was sure of that. They needed saving. Judging by Nyx, it was clear to him that while they might not be prisoners in the normal sense of the word, they weren’t able to make any choice but to stay.
He shook his head. It would all have to wait. His first duty was to save Nyx.
Nero sprinted down the hall, Nyx over his shoulder, the sound of feet closer than he would have liked. He drew his gun as he rounded the corner back toward where they’d entered. Six men in robes burst through the door.
He cursed the timing. Any other day he’d have no problem taking them down but not with Nyx as she was. It put her in danger.
Nero fired a few warning shots down the hall, shattering the glass in the door. The men ducked, and it was just enough time for him to sprint down the hall.
He burst through the doors and set Nyx on the floor. She slumped over, her breathing hard and ragged. At least she’d stopped trying to get away from him.
An emergency box hung from the wall with a small metal ax inside. He smashed through the glass and slipped the ax through the door handles. It wouldn’t last long, but he didn’t need much time.
Nero dipped to the floor and pushed some silver hair out of Nyx’s face. A streak of blood spotted her forehead. His heart skipped at the thought she’d been wounded, but he realized the blood was from a cut on his own hand. He didn’t care. Right now he needed to focus on her.
“You with me?” he asked, his voice as gentle as he could manage in the situation.
Nyx nodded and looked to the door as the men on the other side shouted at them.
“What the fuck was that?” she groaned as she tried to stand, clutching her side. He shook his head and offered her shoulder. Nyx leaned hard on him. The pain on her side must have been intense.
“It was that weird humming,” she said and slumped into him. She reached up and held her head with her hands. “Didn’t it give you a headache?”
Nero shook his head and moved them away from the door. They needed to get out of this hall in case the Azilians started shooting.
“What humming?” Nero said. “I didn’t hear anything.”
Nyx stopped and stared at him in shock. “How could you miss it? I was like it was reaching into my brain.”
Nero shook his head. They didn’t have time to figure all this out now. Whatever messed up tricks the Azilians had managed, at least they weren’t working on her now.
“Can you move?” he asked.
Nyx nodded and took two steps. Her knees shook.
They couldn’t wait. He swooped her up into his arms and looked down.
“Hold on to me,” he said firmly. “I’ll get us out of her.”
Nyx wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to ignore the throbbing in her skull and ache in her side.
He ran fast, ridiculously fast. She’d only seen Magnus run anywhere near that fast, and from what else she’d witnessed, Nero had several traits that matched or exceeded some of the other hybrids.
There was a part of her that wondered just how different from her people he was. Nero seemed to be so similar in so many was but still a mystery.
She pulled herself closer to his chest and tried not to think of the danger they were in and how little she could do to help.
The passed a large warehouse room with large barrels marked as water. It might be a good spot for them to hide until the men passed.
“There,” she said. Nero stopped as she pointed down a darker hall. “We could hide there.”
She scanned around as he raced through the large storage area.
“It’s all food,” she said. Her surprise was hard to hide. Somehow she’d thought it would be for weapons or tactical gear.
Nero slid behind a stack of rice and set her on the ground. The further she traveled from the room with the women, the less her head felt like it was going to split open.
They stayed behind the rice and watched as the men ran past. She breathed a sigh of relief. If they could give them the slip, maybe they had a chance to escape.
“There’s a door,” she said quietly.
Over in the corner, she spotted the door they must use to bring trucks in for unloading.
“It has to lead outside,” Nero said. He looked from her to the door with concern.
She knew she was bad off, but it must have been far worse than she thought if he was giving her looks like that.
“We can do it,” she said.
He stared at her for a moment before cupping the side of her face with his hand.
“You scared me,” he said. “I thought I’d lost you.”
Nyx leaned into his warm palm and smiled.
“Can’t lose me that easily.”
Nero pulled his hand away gently as he stood. With ease he pulled her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her.
“Just lean on me,” he said. “I don’t want to risk carrying you more than I already have.”
They made their way over to the door. She leaned heavily against him. There was a landing just above the ramp where they trucks came in with a button to open and close the door.
Nero pressed the button. The door gave several loud rings before opening.
“Be ready to run,” he said. “I’ll carry you again if I need to.”
Nyx nodded and fumbled with the gun still in the pocket of the jacket she was wearing.
The heavy door creaked and groaned as it slowly lifted.
She breathed in deeply as the cool night air rushed in from under it. They had made it outside at least.
When the door was just high enough, they ducked down under and through the truck path.
A bright light blinded them. She couldn’t tell what direction was safe, but from the sound of the shouting up ahead, they were in very deep trouble.
Nero turned to her and gripped her shoulder hard.
“You run,” he said. “I’ll distract them. I can only hold them off for so long, but if you can make it to the woods, you’ve got the upper hand.”
He took the gun from her hand and kissed her hard on the mouth.
She could taste the salt from the tears she didn’t even know had fallen.
“No,” she said. “I’m not going to leave you.”
“Drop your weapons!” A man near the light shouted at them.
Nero brought his face close to hers again.
“You have to go,” he said frantically. “I have to know you’re safe.”
Nyx wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in the crook of his neck.
“I’m not leaving you,” she whispered. “I’d rather die with you than live without you.”
“Drop them!” the man shouted again.
Nero pushed her hard. She stumbled backward.
The pop of the gun didn’t even register until she saw the blood well up on his leg. Nero stumbled forward, gun drawn ready to take them on.
“You think a little scratch will stop me,” he roared. “I’ll take every one of you down. You’re nothing!”
Nyx tried to move to him but struggled to catch her breath. Her ribs felt like they were on fire, and that strange hum filled the air again.
“Nero,” she said, her words a struggle to get out.
She looked up as a car pulled in front of the bright light.
The hum grew louder.
“Nero,” she said, this time just about a whisper.
Nyx stumbled to where he was and reached out for him. Warm arms wrapped around her just before her legs gave out.
“Let them go!”
She turned, her vision blurred thanks to the hammering hum.
A small woman in a cloak stood out against the light.
Although her voice was small, her command was fierce. The men parted around her as she stepped forward.
She struggled to keep herself focused, but the hum burned into her the closer the woman walked.
“We have to go,” she said, desperate to be free. “We have to go now.”
Nero didn’t say a word. He lifted her into his arms.
She turned to the cloaked woman. Her bright blue eyes glowed from beneath the hood, the same bright blue as the stone. She had to be Anassa, the leader of the Azilians.
Nyx took a deep breath as Nero raced away, the blur of the forest fading into blackness.