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Happy Birthday to Amir and Luna. I am updating this chapter on July 7th, and it is the main event. Amir versus Enemies. Go get 'em, A. Everyone believes in you.

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ Tethered ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

Chapter 48

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• Amir •

The dead bodies of agents who were guarding one of BARDA's facilities lay at Amir's feet less than half a football field away. He felt like he was crushing bugs between his fingers but without the slimy shine.

Mr. Cooperative was not among them. He brought Amir with him. So Amir let him go, and as expected, the man ran away.

Amir's senses were full of pure energy like he was on the best opiate high ever. Because he was taking on the powers of so many Defectives, anyone who crossed his path would be in big trouble. The energy pulsed and affected the cells in his body.

Weirdly, Defectives were like superhuman Doritos. After killing one, it went to another level. No one would be able to relax around Amir until he was done.

No one, not even Luna.

But she was inside, and he had no idea what was happening to her. He knew she was still alive because he could feel her. Amir told himself he couldn't think of anything else.

He walked across the empty parking lot and watched a swarm of Hybrids and Defectives on the first and second floors and the roof.

He stopped at the edge of the building and looked up at the top. When he noticed a ladder around the side, he grabbed the rails and quickly crawled up. Once on the edge, he kneeled.

In the center, three Defectives stood.

Their heads snapped around like animals at him.

One of them said, "Amir Khan."

Cool. They already knew who he was, so no introductions were necessary. It's not like he'd greet them anyway.

As Amir stretched out from the ledge, he could feel the borrowed energy vibrating through his body. The night surrounding them thickened. He didn't give anyone a chance to fight back or get away. He was on them in a flash, sliding behind the first guard and slamming his hand into the man's chest.

He used his other arm to pierce the second guard.

Amir turned and threw the first guard onto the fourth. They tumbled like a row of dominoes, and he squashed the second man like an apple.

He smiled and thought, "Yummy."

The other two men turned into toy soldiers while they were standing.

Amir laughed, and the sound spread quickly. "You should have dismissed me."

He looked at the two Defectives and took a deep breath, drawing them closer to him. They floated over the roof and waved their long arms like buoys.

Nothing was holding them back or stopping them. Amir drove his hands right into each of their hearts.

It was over for them in an instant.

Amir hurried to the fire exit, leaving their bodies on the roof. He yanked the steel door open with so much force that it almost came off its hinges.

He climbed the stairs quietly while drawing the darkness toward him.

On the lower floor, a Hybrid was waiting, and at least a dozen freakshows were walking around. He looked for Luna, but even though he knew she was nearby, he couldn't see her. He could sense her presence but couldn't communicate with her.

He could also smell blood.

Her blood.

What happened to Moon?

Dark anger erupted. It rolled over the laboratory floor and became a living creature fighting for freedom.

Once the air became stable, Amir neared the motley crew. "You're all going to die for touching a hair on her head."

He caught the arrogant Hybrid by the neck when he attacked. He twisted the man's hand, snapping his neck, and pulled until bone broke through the skin, increasing the man's outcry.

When another man kicked out, Amir turned to the side and aimed his high kick at the man's stomach, slamming him into a nearby water tank.

After static crackled, the Hybrid collapsed as no water leaked. Amir stepped back and touched his chest. The superhuman changed into an ethereal form for a second before going back to his physical form, but that was enough. Amir's fingers were around the slender spine inside his body. The man screamed while he pulled his hand back.

He collapsed in a pile of bones.

Amir threw the spine, whirled around, and whacked an incoming Defective in the face. He seized his neck, pushed their heads together, and squeezed.

Red light surrounded the nearest Defective, and a bolt of shockwaves hit him in the head.

Amir laughed. "I enjoyed that feeling. How about a second round?"

The man took a step forward and let out another blast of electricity.

This time, Amir blocked the attack and rush at him, knocking him out before he could react.

When he stood up straight, Amir saw Luna's shocked face. He knew the blond man holding her.

Sam.

He couldn't wait to kill the other lowlife who was standing next to her with his hand around her upper arm.

Chase.

Amir quickly turned toward his wife. Her lip was bleeding and she had bruises on her forehead. It looked like she had been sexually assaulted. Several men were surrounding her body.

"I'm coming for you, Moon."

Sam grabbed Luna by the shoulders and roughly yanked her back. Nothing could have prepared Amir for her whimper of a response.

He could no longer control his body.

Amir's angelic mass swelled when he absorbed the strength of so many emotions. After he hit the floor with his fist, it broke. The laboratory walls shook like disposable cups. One chair in the corner slid to the other side of the room. The storage cabinets trembled before falling and moving forward. Slowly, the chair reached the light tendrils that were all around him, and then it reached the trays. Each object flew into the air and circled Amir like a powerful cyclone of trash and dirt.

He said to the crowd, "You're all dead, and I promise you will be hurt."

Everything in the air stopped, froze for a second, and then fell back on itself like a giant hand crushing paper. The chair and the cabinets had disappeared. Even the particles.

When Amir again drew in energy, three of the Defectives were standing in front of him. He was about to get revenge for what he and Luna had been through and show these idiots, including Chase and Sam, what they had created. He was a madman on a mission.

Even with the tanzanite ankle bracelet, fighting this way would use up his energy faster, but he was so angry that he couldn't stop.

He intended to execute everyone inside slowly and brutally.

The Defectives swooped down on him and changed into haunting and physical forms.

Someone wailed, but the silence made it hard to hear. Their shouts became a symphony the instant they reached the scorching heat that enveloped Amir.

While they were blinded by his light, the volume went up. After the fighting stopped, they were gone, along with the tables and chairs.

Amir sucked them into an abyss with all the dark energy he obtained.

One Defective mumbled, "Holy . . ."

Chase finished for him by saying, "Shit."

Amir snarled at both of them and curled his lip.

It wasn't that he was the strongest in the room.

Defectives and Hybrids were formidable opponents. Amir was fighting in a way that he had never fought before. It wasn't the old fight between good versus evil. He wasn't fighting for his religious beliefs or to show how he felt.

He wasn't fighting because someone compelled him to or because he thought he had to.

He was standing up for his companion.

Luna was everything to him.

He was hit like a tornado by memories of their first meeting, which he now knew took place in Pakistan and not in her studio. When Amir noticed Sam and Chase looking at him like they were afraid for their lives, all the memories he'd ever lost because of them came back to his mind all at once. He almost smiled, but by the time he did, he had changed into something nasty and was ready to bury their bodies fifty feet below.

Amir's path to finally remembering his past life shifted on its axis.

He'd been on a psychotic killing rampage ever since he learned he'd met Luna seven years ago and knew exactly what she meant to him back then. He didn't fall in love with her straight away, but he did later, and both Sam and Chase stole that away from him.

From her.

And that enraged him to his core.

When another Defective came at him, blasts of Amir's energy lit up the room, illuminating the night that was coming in through the cracks in the walls.

Amir was hit but didn't seem to notice. He went up higher and absorbed everyone's abilities, including those of the two people he was trying to kill.

Sam chased after him, and the two of them climbed onto a spiral staircase, battling each other.

Demon.

Angel.

Demon.

Angel.

Angel was victorious.

Sam's body landed on the ground with a bang.

Chase quivered, his eyes wide open.

Amir faced the other opponents. Even though he could feel his energy seeping out and that his body was about to hurt worst than a bee sting, he grabbed the nearest Defective and sliced him through the chest.

He lowered the dying guard to the floor when he was prepared to eliminate the final parasite.

Chase Marquette, who had it coming to him.

Nothing could stop Amir until he heard Luna's piercing howl.

He immediately found her among the chaos once he stood. Chase was the last person standing, and the slimeball had his fingers around her slender neck.

Amir maintained his physical form, breathing raggedly. His body ached, but he ignored it. "You'll let her go right now if you know what's good for you," he growled at Chase.

"Anything else, Prince?" he replied when he stepped away, dragging Luna along with him. "You follow me, and she dies."

The air around Amir thickened and flared. He focussed on Chase's bright eyes because he would lose his mind if he looked at Luna right now.

"You won't leave this room alive, especially if you hurt her," Amir warned.

Chase's lips twitched slightly. "Oh, yeah? I'm certain I'm in control at the moment."

"I've killed all of your guards, and if more come, I'll kill them, too." Amir moved forward but came to a halt when his wife cried out.

His fists clenched.

"That might be the case, but I have a sneaking suspicion you'd go to any length to guarantee she escapes this one." Chase's hold tightened, causing Luna to gasp. "Isn't that right?"

Amir's attention immediately went to her.

He didn't think twice. "I would."

Chase took another step back and muttered, "Great. I gave the bitch enough tranquilizers and hisyl to control her powers for a few hours. She can't use them."

The emergency exit was visible over Chase's shoulder. "Amir, get on your knees. Beg for your life."

Yeah, that made him want to smash his palm into Chase's skull. Amir stared at Chase, barely managing to control the boiling rage that was driving him to want to wipe out the entire building.

Chase ordered again, "Get on your knees or Luna will die."

Amir took a long breath. He wasn't naive.

Chase was unlikely to release Luna if he did to him what he believed he would do. Luna wasn't safe.

With Chase, she would never be safe.

That only left Amir with one solution.

Luna pleaded, "No, Amir, don't," and those beautiful eyes started to well up with tears. "Don't listen to—"

Her words were cut off by her exes' grip. When Amir spoke, the sound he made would make dark spirits run and hide.

When Chase's eyes slightly widened, he continued to hold onto Luna. He urged, "Amir, do you want to see how her insides look? You don't have all night. Kneel."

Even though it was against Amir's nature to stay back at this moment, Chase would strangle Luna before escaping. He cared more about his wife than about himself.

That was the truth.

Amir then kneeled. "Here?"

By taking a step to the right, Chase kept Luna in front of him. Amir was sure that no matter what he did at this time, she would be killed. He knew that they were both locked in a cage with dead bodies all around them. "How does it feel to be right where you should be? Bowing to your boss?"

Amir's brow creased. "It will feel the same way when I'm standing over your headless body," he replied.

Chase looked surprised by his answer. "Your ego comes from your ignorance."

"And your lifespan is getting shorter by the minute," Amir replied and then met Luna's stare.

He could tell by the way she looked at him that she was ready for anything.

"Don't waste your breath," Chase smirked. "We'll see. Soon, everyone will see, and so will you. We still have work to do in our organization."

After a moment, Chase turned toward the exit on the right. Once he pushed a button on the wall, a light came out of the ceiling.

Amir went temporarily blind because the light was so bright, but he quickly got his sight back.

He stood up while Moon was hidden by the beam. At that very second, Amir knew he had to do whatever it took to keep them safe from this crazy man. Her scream echoed in his mind and heart.

That realization shook him to his core.

Chase pushed Luna to the side with so much power that her feet lifted off the ground. Amir realized what he did so she could act as a distraction for him to flee.

So he ran.

Amir grabbed his wife by the waist before she collapsed. She lifted her head as she twisted in his arms and held on. "Angel . . ."

Before putting her down, Amir quickly kissed the mark on her cheek.

When he turned and saw Chase heading toward the door, she called out his angelic name again.

Chase was not going to make it alive after today.

Amir looked at Luna and whispered, "I'll be back. Stay still."

He sailed into the air, transformed into his angelic form, and then landed on Chase, turning him over on his back.

When Chase's hand went up, something wide and big came into view. A loaded syringe.

Amir grabbed his arm and twisted it to make him drop it. "Yeah, you did want that injection. Here. I'll do it myself."

Chase tried to fight, but Amir took him down.

Amir could just kill him and be done with it, but Chase earned this reaction from him.

He sputtered, "We'll never stop."

Amir pushed hard on his chest with his hand. He leaned in, Chase's back to the floor. "You can say whatever you want, but I couldn't care less. This isn't about our fight." Before slamming the syringe into his upper left arm, Amir took a deep breath. "This is about what you did to Luna and me. Good riddance."

He quickly absorbed all of Chase's abilities, and his essence warmed him and spread to every part of his being. When his body started to shake uncontrollably beneath him, Amir pulled him in and stretched it out so that every cry and internal tremor was an apology to Luna.

A heartbeat later, Amir stuck the syringe into Chase's arm. He didn't know what was in it, but he could tell it was lethal.

Chase's body collapsed as his eyes closed.

After stepping around him, Amir began rushing toward the area Luna was in. She was waiting.

Even though her skin was pale and her emotions were different from the other, Luna was alive.

And Amir was in love with her.

He was in front of her, pulling her close to his chest and inhaling her scent before getting on his knees and taking her with him. For a few seconds, neither of them moved or changed positions. When she wrapped her arms around him, Amir held on to her just as tightly as she did to him. It was then that he realized he was still an angel. She was his moon, and he was her light.

Luna hugged him, looked into his eyes, and embraced him completely without saying anything.

She always had.

Amir shifted into his physical form and held Luna against his chest. He was surprised at how easily the words came out. "I remember everything."

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Wow! What a showdown! I had a lot of fun creating these battle scenes between Amir, Sam, and Chase. Amir remembered his life simply by looking at both enemies. That was the catalyst. They were responsible for his memory loss in the first place. Only two more chapters remain. I don't want Amir and Luna's love story to come to an end. I'm going to cry. I love you all. Thank you for reading.