The Unmaking (The Rayne Whitmore Series Book 1) (35 page)

            A tiny bit of numbness
rises up in my leg from where I was bitten, the venom trying to make its way
through my body. One bite isn’t enough to stop me, but it’s irritating as hell.
I try to shake it off as we try to finish off the rest of them. It doesn’t take
long and by the time it’s all over, every single one of us looks like we’ve
been in a massacre. Well, that’s exactly what it was. Dutifully, the wolves
pile up the dead lamia parts for disposal.

            Anubis orders his other
two wolves to finish disposal of the bodies and then leaves the room. He
changes into a wolf, sniffing the air prepared to search for the children. The
rest of us split our group in half and search the building. After ten minutes
all we find to save is three kids. My heart nearly breaks and I do all I can to
keep the tears from flowing at the sense of failure at not being able to do
more for the others, wherever they may be.

            “Three is better than none
baby. We did well tonight,” Selene assures me.

            “She’s right. Now, I’ll
glamour them and then someone can take them near a hospital or police station,”
Zara says, wiping off her blade in the grass, a dead lamia at her feet.

            “I’ll do it,” Taryn
volunteers. “I have a change of clothes in my car so I’ll wipe myself off and
then go. Someone can help me carry them there.” Two of the other wolves follow
her, carrying the kids once Zara finishes up her mind control.

            “Now, Selene do you have
enough energy to find and then shut down that gate?” Anubis asks after turning
back into human form.

            “Yes, I’m fine. Let’s do
this.” Selene sits crosslegged on the ground, taking deep cleansing breaths.

            Suddenly, Anubis doubles
over in pain. Before Jaxson can run to him, he falls over too, the other wolves
following suit.

            “What the fuck?” Zara
begins, drawing her sword once more.

            “My pack!” Anubis growls.
“They’re dying.”

            “Zara! Go after Taryn,” I
command and without hesitation, she takes off into the night like a faithful
soldier following orders.

            “No,” Anubis hisses,
holding his head, still on his knees in the dirt. This is bad, the pack felt
the loss of a pack mate, but this means that there are many if it is affecting
Anubis as well as the others this much. “No, the pack left at the house.
Something’s happening.”

            A whine escapes Jaxson’s
lips and I feel completely helpless as I reach for him.

Chapter Thirty One

           
A
surge of magic whips through the air unlike anything
I’ve ever felt before, wrong, evil. It happens so quickly that I almost believe
I imagined it. That is, until I’m hit so hard in the chest that I fly through
the air and into the brick wall of the building, unable to breathe for a few
seconds. The back of my head is bleeding. When I do catch my breath, I look up
to see a man standing over me, eyes grey and as cold as death itself, and a
look of utter satisfaction on his face.

            He is a man who loves
delivering pain and suffering. He has a goatee that is graying in some places
and his brown and grey hair is slightly curly and styled uncharacteristicly for
the aura he’s putting out. His nose is sharp, his lips a thin line. He is
dangerous. Standing at about 5’11” and dressed in all white as if he were a god
himself, his magic shimmering off of him making his body seem to be bathed in
darkness.

             Namen.

             The man that ripped my
life apart. The man that stole the life of three people that I held dear. The
man I need to kill.

            I try to stand, but the
force of his magic pushes me right back to my hands and knees as if I weigh a
ton. My face begins to burn and as I look up, there’s a thick wall of flame
surrounding us and I’m sure it’s to keep everyone out. In the distance, I can
hear Selene call out my name in fear and urgency, but I can’t respond. I’m too
fixated on this figure in front of me. I finally have a face to put with my
dreams.

            I jump up, forcing my
power to break the bonds on the magic, Katsu in my left hand, slicing at the
man in front of me. But I’m too slow and he hits me again with something. Then,
I see nothing.

◊◊◊

            I awake in coldness. I’m
naked, exposed, unbound by physical chains, but somehow magically restrained. I
don’t have to look up to know that I’m here with Namen. I can feel the sense of
death in the air and the utter insanity in his power. He slaps me hard and I
nearly fall out the chair. I take it without comment, not giving him the
satisfaction of hearing my pain. He laughs. It’s deep and uncaring. Evil.

            He has worse planned for
me, that much is obvious. I just need to find a way to get out of here, even if
I have to bite him to death. Selene and Zara have to be looking for me right
now, and I try to open our bond to call out to the vampire, but there’s nothing
but silence.

            Namen whispers something
and it feels wrong, demonic almost. Where Selene’s magic sounds musical, his
sounds like nails on a chalkboard. Then, he touches me and my whole body seems
to be on fire. This time, I can’t help but to scream out in sheer agony at the
feeling of being burned alive. When my throat is raw from my cries, the pain
finally stops. I finally look up at him, tears in my eyes, rage in my heart,
and he returns my stare head on.

            “Kill me now, because if
you let me go, I will come back and find you. Whatever you do to me here, now,
won’t make me fear you.” I tell him, my voice coming out harsh but determined.

            He doesn’t reply, simply
whispers something else. He steps closer to me and I can smell the burn of
magic all on him. It’s not fresh and herbal like Selene, but like sulfur and
rot. I turn my head and try to prepare myself for what’s to come next. But,
it’s something I never expect.

            There’s the tear of flesh
and muscle from bone and then my right arm is removed from the rest of my body.
The shock of looking at my limb on the floor, the blood pouring from my arm,
the helplessness I feel all sinks in. The pain is indescribable. He forces me
to hold his gaze as he reaches into my flesh where my arm once was. I scream
hysterically but he silences he with a spell and even numbs my pain. My hate
grows as it really sinks in that my arm is missing. Fear penetrates my heart
like a bullet.

            “I could slice you apart
right here and now, but I won’t. I have one message for you, human. Now that I
have your attention, listen well.” His voice is just as dark and as cold as his
eyes. I force myself not to move, not to feel anything as he whispers to me,
carefully and slowly. My eyes widen in surprise and anger as he pulls back away
from me. Last, he laughs one more time and I finally pass out as he releases
the spell and my pain increases dramatically.

            “Rayne! Get up!” Selene
cries, pulling me off the ground. “We have to get out of here now.”

            I reach for my armless
stump, attempting to stop the bleeding, but there’s no bleeding to stop. My arm
is still attached, healthy. I cough a couple times and then look up at Selene
despite the blurriness in my vision. Then, I look at my surroundings and
silently curse. What in the hell just happened? I’m back on the ground in front
of the lab and not in some dark room magically bound. Not missing an arm.

            “What’s going on?” I ask,
confused and groggy. The numbness in my leg from the lamia bite is still there
as I try to stand.

            “Namen came. He knocked
you into the wall and out, and then went after Anubis. He touched Anubis and
said something to him. After that, Namen disappeared. Anubis told us to run
before he began to change. He killed one pack member before attacking Jaxson
and almost killed him too, but Zara came back in time and is trying to stop
him. I barely had enough time to shield myself. He managed to knock her down
and then took off.  Rayne, she’s going to have to kill him. I think he’s gone
feral like his father.”

            No. I snap out of my
fogginess and to my feet. “Which way, Selene?”

            She points to the west and
I take off in that direction before calling behind me. “Help Jaxson!”

Chapter Thirty Two

           
G
od, I just hope I make it in time to keep Zara from
killing him. Maybe he could fight it. Maybe we could lock him up. I reach a
street that has a broken streetlight and a few dented cars and know that I’m on
the right track. I sprint for about three more streets and then see a building
with a shattered window. Inside and well above me, I can hear growls and
grunts. After one quick look behind me, I jump through the broken window and
follow the sound up many flights of stairs. For all of Zara’s strength, she’s
having a pretty difficult time with Anubis, who is in his man-beast form as I
call it, ripping things off of the walls and throwing them at her. She’s
dodging and striking, but is unable to get close to deliver a blow.

            “Rayne, I’ll distract him
and you stop him,” she orders without looking my way but knowing that I’m with
her.

            “We don’t have to kill
him. Anubis! Fight it. Control it damn it!”

            “If he draws too much
attention, we may run out of time and I will have to kill him. We must do what
we have to. Rayne, his behavior is just like those beasts during the Dark Days.
Now, focus. We are in for a battle.” Her aura shifts again and her eyes become
red like pools of blood. Then, she disappears into the shadows. Anubis growls
as he tries to track her, following the noise she tries to make and the weak
strikes she lands. For my sake, she’s holding back and giving me a chance to
come up with a solution that will end without me taking the life of my ally and
possible friend.

            I hide behind a table that
is now upright and wedged near the wall and call for my own power as I pray
that I won’t have to kill him. After convincing him to help me, I don’t know
how I’d live with myself if I failed him now. There’s a loud boom and I glance
around my cover to see Anubis on the other side of the wall that he just broke
through. Glass is still falling around him from the shelves that he’s destroyed
and he’s definitely not happy about it.

            He gets up with a loud
howl and comes straight at me with blinding speed. His speed startles me but
Zara matches his swiftness and tackles him sideways. They tumble to the floor
as Zara sends a blow to his muzzle, but Anubis bucks her off of him. Finally, I
see my opening as he’s focused on her. Regrettably, I slam the sword into his
powerful bicep, pinning him to the floor. He yowls in rage as he fights to get
up, but to no avail. Katsu is too deep.

            “Anubis. Stop. Listen to
me. You can fight it; you’re stronger than this,” I say with urgency, but it
doesn’t seem to be getting through. He snaps at me and swings with his free
paw.

            “Please,” I beg. “You’re
an alpha, you can win this battle. Anubis, reach deep.” For a second the words
seem to reach him, yet the spark of humanity leaves his eyes just as soon as it
appears.

            Zara stands beside me and
examines him.

            “Can you glamour him or
something?” I ask, hopefully.

            She looks deep into his
eyes, pausing, studying, and then shakes her head apologetically. “I can’t.
He’s basically a wild animal right now and I can’t glamour animals.”

            Before I can react,
comment, or anything, Zara pulls the sword from his arm and pierces Anubis
right through his stomach. He becomes more enraged as he tries to buck wildly
to free himself.

            “No!” I scream at her,
trying to rip Katsu from her strong grip, she pushes me away with enough force
to knock me to the ground.

            “There’s no other way
Rayne. Trust me,” she growls.

            Anubis gasps and turns his
head towards me, his arm reaching out as he begins to change back into human.
“Rayne, I can’t control it. Please,” he starts, before the wildness returns to
his eyes as his change abruptly stops and he turns back into the beast.

            Impossibly, Anubis rips
Katsu free of his body, doing more damage to himself with a howl. Before either
one of us can react, he grips Zara’s neck with his enormous hands and hurls her
through a glass window, shattering it, the sound echoing through the room, ten
floors up and down to the ground below.

            With a low growl and a
predatory stance, all his attention is now on me. I make the mistake of locking
my hazel eyes with his eerie yellow ones and he goes beserk. Anubis slashes me
across my face, easily drawing blood and shutting my right eye. I just hope it
isn’t as deep as it feels.

            With blood streaming down
my face threatening my vision in my left eye too, I dodge his next strike and
toss a chair in his way to slow his momentum. It seems like a good idea until
Anubis catches it and throws it back at me, catching my leg and tripping me up.
He’s on me before I can regain my feet and as his powerful jaws launch towards
my neck, I throw up my left arm in sacrifice. The bones crunch and somehow
Anubis only manages to shatter it rather than rip my limb apart. Thankfully, my
adrenaline doesn’t allow me to feel the extent of the pain. However, I’m still
helpless under this alpha werewolf that is poised to attack once more.