Chapter 224: The bond breaks...
Charis
Every step away from Kael felt like a knife twisting in my chest.
We moved quickly through the corridors, Sarah and Tom supporting Slater between them, Riley following close behind. My feet kept moving forward, but everything in me was screaming to turn around. To go back. To not leave him alone.
Go back, Rhyme whined inside me. Go back to my mate. He’s in danger, and we need to protect him."
"I can’t," I whispered under my breath. "He told us to go. You know what he’s always told me about wanting to fight, knowing I was far and safe."
But he needs us, Charis. I feel it. I feel danger. Death...
"Stop it," I hissed, pressing my hand against my chest. The mate bond was pulling, tugging, like a rope tied around my heart. Every step away made it worse.
"Charis?" Slater’s voice was weak but concerned. "You okay?"
"Fine," I lied. "We should keep moving."
Rhett’s voice crackled through the radio Sarah was carrying. "Okay, you’re coming up on a junction. Take a left. Then straight for about a hundred feet."
We turned left. The corridor looked exactly like all the others—concrete walls, fluorescent lights, that underlying smell of blood and fear that permeated this whole horrible place.
Our mate is in danger, Rhyme insisted, pacing anxiously. Turn back. Now. Please.
I pushed her away, forcing her away from my head. Kael was right. If I stayed, if I went back, I’d only make things harder for him. I had to trust him, and I had to believe he’d find a way to survive.
But the bond kept pulling, getting tighter and more insistent.
We passed through another corridor. Past empty rooms. Past what looked like some medical bay with equipment that made it look like a lab.
"Right at the next turn," Rhett said. "Then down a flight of stairs. You’re almost at the exit."
We were going to make it. We were almost out. I told myself, taking in deep breaths to loosen the knots in my chest, but my chest felt like it was being crushed.
Maybe it was just the nerves and anxiety. From coming into the human world to infiltrating this place, I’ve not had a moment of rest.
Just as we rounded the corner, everything stopped.
The world around me seemed to freeze in mid-motion. The sounds of our footsteps, the sound of our heavy breathing, and even Sarah’s radio crackling stopped.
My body went rigid. My head tilted back on its own, like someone had pulled an invisible string, and my eyes rolled up.
Then I saw Kael, standing in a corridor surrounded by bodies scattered on the floor and several masked figures in black around him. They kept coming at him like waves while he kept fighting. He was fighting so hard that blood was streaming down his face, his arms, his chest... every part of his body.
He was also moving more slowly, which was an indication that he was growing weak.
One of the masked men in black suddenly rushed up to Kael and tried to stab him with a knife, but Kael blocked it and head-butted the attacker. The masked figure went down instantly.
But that action had left Kael out in the open. Another masked figure hit him from behind, and Kael sprawled to his knees. He was there for a few seconds, groaning with pain, but then he managed to pull himself to his knees, wincing and groaning with agony.
His eyes were glassy with unshed tears, blood seeped out from every open wound on his body, his mouth was filled with blood as he stared at the masked man that had come to him again, and there was a smile on his face.
I didn’t hear what he and Kael were saying, but just as I watched, one of the bodies on the ground moved and reached for something at his waist.
It was a gun.
I shuddered with fright at the sight of it and tried to call out to Kael to be careful, but my mouth was heavy.
The barrel came up and pointed at Kael’s back.
I tried to scream, to call out his name, but my mouth won’t even open.
No. No, no, no... I chanted in my mind. Kael, please...
But it was too late. The trigger was pulled, and the bullet was fired. I saw it hit Kael and saw how his body jerked before he fell to the ground lifelessly.
I waited for a few minutes, hoping he would open his eyes or something. This was the undefeatable Kael; he would pass through this, but as I waited, blood... so much blood began pooling beneath him.
I saw his eyes go dark as if I could feel his life slowly ebbing away from his body.
"No!" I screamed, and everything came back to normal.
I sucked in a gasping breath like I’d been drowning. My lungs burned. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might explode.
Everything rushed back to me as I looked around, realising I was on the ground. When had I fallen? I didn’t remember falling.
Several faces swam above me, with concern and worry. I saw mouths moving, but I couldn’t hear the words through the ringing in my ears.
Then one voice broke through.
"Charis!" Slater was kneeling beside me, his face pale and frightened. "Charis, can you hear me? What’s wrong?"
I grabbed his arm, squeezing so hard I probably hurt him. "Kael," I choked out.
That’s when I realised I was crying. Why was I crying? When had I started crying?
"What about Kael?" Slater asked gently, trying to keep me calm. "Charis, talk to me."
"He’s—" I couldn’t get the words out. "Something bad. Something bad happened. I saw it. I saw—"
I couldn’t finish. The image kept playing in my mind. The gun. The bullet. Kael falling. All that blood.
I scrambled to my feet. My legs were shaking, barely holding me up. I turned back the way we’d come.
"I have to go back," I said. "I have to—"
Slater moved in front of me, blocking my path. "Charis, wait. What did you see?"
"He needs me!" My voice was rising, and I was getting hysterical. "He needs help. I have to go to him. Move!"
"We’re almost at the exit," Slater said, trying to sound reasonable. "We can get out, find backup. Send people back for him. Trained fighters who can—"
"No!" I screamed. "You don’t understand! There’s no time! He’s dying! Right now! I have to—"
I tried to push past him, but Slater caught my arms.
"Let me go!" I thrashed in his grip. "Let me go!"
"Charis, you can’t go back alone. It’s too dangerous."
"I don’t care!" Tears were pouring down my face. "I don’t care about the danger! He’s my mate! He’s dying, and I’m here doing nothing, and I can’t—I can’t—"
My words dissolved into sobs. Sarah and Tom were trying to help Slater hold me back, but I was fighting like a wild animal and kicking, clawing, screaming.
"He needs me," I kept saying. "He needs me. I have to go. Please. Please let me go."
Inside, Rhyme was howling, clawing at my control. The bond was screaming, pulling so hard it felt like it might tear me in half.
"Charis, listen to me," Slater said, and there was something in his voice that made me pause. Pain. Deep, aching pain. "I know you’re scared. I know you want to help him. But running back there alone won’t save him. It’ll just get you killed, too."
"Then let me die with him!" The words burst out before I could stop them. "I can’t leave him! Don’t you understand? The bond—I can feel it. I can feel him. And he’s—"
I couldn’t say it or make the words real.
"Please," I begged, my voice breaking. "Please, Slater. He’s dying. I know he is. I saw it. And if I don’t go to him now, right now, he’ll die and I’ll—I can’t—"
I was hyperventilating now. Couldn’t catch my breath. The world was spinning.
Slater’s hands moved from restraining me to supporting me. He pulled me against his chest and held me while I shook apart.
"Okay," he said quietly. "Okay."
I looked up at him through blurry eyes. "What?"
"I’ll go with you." He looked at Sarah and Tom. "Take Riley and get out. We’ll find Kael and catch up."
"Slater, that’s insane," Sarah protested. "You can barely walk. You’re in no condition to fight."
"I know." Slater’s jaw set in that stubborn way I recognised. "But this is the only way to calm her down. And she’s right—if Kael’s in trouble, we can’t just leave him."
Tom, the male warrior, stepped forward. "I’ll come with you. You’re in no shape to protect anyone. You need backup."
Slater nodded gratefully. "Thank you."
He turned to Sarah. "Get Riley out. Contact the Alphas. Tell them what’s happening."
Sarah looked like she wanted to argue more, but she just nodded. "Be careful."
