Chapter Eighteen

My world was silent.

I had never thought about being able to hear before, because it had always been there. It was disorienting, and when I tried to push myself up, it only made me nauseated. It didn't help that Wren kept shoving me back down, blasting scrubbers back like they were cockroaches and he had a flamethrower.

Scrubbers were bad, and when I glanced over to check on Kali, I saw her grab one of the scrubbers, throw him to the ground, and yank his head clean off his shoulders. She did it so fast, with such ease, I was briefly proud of her for going into defense mode. Her eyes were panicked and she looked at me again, relief washing over her face when she saw me and I just gave her a nod to let her know I was fine and to continue defending. She gritted her teeth and gave me a firm thrust down with her chin, whirling around just in time to catch a scrubber under the chin with a well placed kick.

I grunted as Wren lunged over me again and this time, he grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. I could see his lips moving fast as he spoke and he waited, his eyes expectant like he was waiting for a response. When I just stared at him like a fucking idiot, he gritted his teeth in frustration. He took my face in his hands and held our gaze.

Jasper? His voice was in my head. I gasped in relief, grabbing at his face, my fingers touching his lips. Relieved I wasn't completely fucking deaf, I stroked his bottom lip with my finger.

Yes, yes, I can hear you like this. Fuck, what happened, what's going on, I can't hear anything—

Yeah, I figured; it's some kind of sound device, but the rest of us can't hear it, just you and Elias—

Oh god— I swung around, my eyes scanning for Elias and immediately found him on his knees where he was sobbing, holding his ears as blood poured down the sides of his face. Three was holding his hands gently, but firmly, trying to get him to calm down while Five hovered nearby, blasting anyone who came near them or Polly.

Jasper—

No! No, no— My stomach lurched into my throat as panic bled into every pore in my body, a cold clammy chill that made me feel like I was going to vomit.

I fucked up—

Jasper, stop—

Oh god, I did it again— I ruined everything— worthless—

Jasper, stop! Jasper, look at me! I felt a sob catch in my throat as Wren held my face in his hands firmly, glaring at me with fierce dark eyes. Look at me! You are okay! We're okay! Just take a breath and look around for a second, okay? It's okay! I blinked rapidly, trying to catch my breath and it took me a moment to realize everything around us had settled. I couldn't hear beyond Wren's voice in my head, so I had lost focus on the fight around us.

Or rather, the aftermath.

Because all sixteen scrubbers were dead.

Bodies were laying all around us, and while a couple were Five and Six's handiwork, I realized almost all of them had been plowed down by Yiuwa's Beast. Yiuwa stood near the kitchen, breathing hard as his eyes glowed gold, his elongated fangs bared and dripping blood. All around his feet were a majority of the scrubbers in a grotesque heap of unrecognizable body parts.

To a normal person, the sight was fucking horrendous.

To Darling, he purred like a goddamn muscle car. The sound seemed to catch everyone off guard given that all their heads snapped to me in alarm, except Yiuwa's Beast, who slowly turned in my direction.

He was making a sound, and I wasn't sure how I knew that when all that met my ears was silence, but somehow I knew. It was Darling, it had to be, because I could feel a rumble in my chest that indicated he was communicating. An occasional click of my tongue. Yiuwa's eyes flashed and he bared his fangs, but not in a threatening manner. His Beast was responding to Darling.

Jesus fucking Christ, are they communicating?

It was hard to tell, hard to focus on the fact that, as far as we knew, direct communication between Beasts was unheard of. Miscommunication? Sure, but never an actual form of intellectual conversation.

Even weirder was understanding the tones.

They weren't angry.

They were planning... something.

I wasn't sure how I knew that.

I wanted to know more, wanted to listen more, but abruptly Yiuwa's Beast stopped communicating. He snarled suddenly and swung around, baring his fangs at something in the doorway to the cafeteria. The air in the room suddenly seemed to get cold and my heart slid into my stomach as I watched April step into the doorway.

April's mouth moved and I saw Kali lunge to her feet and I winced, trying to get to my feet to stop her, but I wobbled and fell back to my knees where Wren kept me from hitting the ground again. I watched Kali say something, watched her expression twist in anger, and I knew she was raising her voice, but I just couldn't hear what she was saying.

So I switched to what was in her head.

How dare you stand between me and my freedom! How dare you put mother first, before me, your fucking wife! Kali's mind was rife with betrayal and hurt and I wanted to comfort her, I did, but I somehow felt worse knowing that April was most likely going to turn on us. Kali had hope for April, I knew that. Some insane hope that maybe April would love her more than mother's cause, but at the end of the day, April worked for mother.

Not Kali.

April snarled something and charged a blast from her hand. A weird sonic blast went through the air, but it didn't come from April. She gasped, stumbling back and hitting the door frame before she fell to the ground, panting in shock. I looked around and spotted Yiuwa stalking toward April, who was scrambling to get to her feet to attack.

I saw Kali shout something. Probably begging Yiuwa not to hurt her.

But Yiuwa wasn't there, and his Beast did not give a shit.

I cursed, finally managing to move Wren back and he grabbed at me, but I shrugged him off and lunged to my feet. I ran hard and slammed into Yiuwa, throwing him down on the ground. Yiuwa's Beast snarled and swung around, latching onto me and throwing me across the room. I flew through the air and hit the wall so hard that it jarred me. My vision spun as I gasped, feeling blood trickle from the corner of my mouth.

Wren immediately started to go for me, but Three caught him and held him back, much to my relief. Not that Wren appreciated it, given he appeared to be screaming for Three to get off him. I looked up as Yiuwa's Beast turned on me, baring his fangs. I felt Darling shriveling under my skin, felt him growling in confusion, clearly not sure why I was throwing Yiuwa off course.

I glanced at Kali, who was quickly trying to get to April, who was scrambling to her feet. I watched Kali grab April's arm, helping her to her feet and saying something to her. April glared at her and said something that made Kali stiffen and immediately let go of her.

You stupid, stupid cunt, April's mind screamed as she faced Kali, grabbing her by the front of her shirt, when we get back to mother, you're going to learn a hard lesson—

Darling snapped.

The moment April yanked Kali to her face and started yelling at her, Darling had had enough. Yiuwa's Beast noticed and surprised me by halting his advances, watching me. I felt my skin crawling, watched redness begin to ooze into the sides of my vision. I panted, feeling my claws rip through my nail beds, feeling my fangs throbbing above my regular teeth as they began to fall out one by one.

I kept my eyes on April and Kali the whole time, watching April scream at her and shake her by the arm, throw her into the doorframe. Kali just stared at her, clearly not quite understanding what was happening.

No, her mind echoed, no, April won't... hurt me. She won't. Milo never hurt Jasper. My heart broke at that and I slammed my eyes shut in pain. Her comparison of her relationship with April, to mine and Milo's, crushed me. How long had she watched us, wishing her relationship with April could be the same? How long had she suffered, waiting for things to get better?

April suddenly drew her arm back, elbow wound up, and slammed it right into Kali's face, whacking her head back against the doorframe.

Darling threw his head back and roared.

April gasped and hit the ground, covering her ears. Kali slumped to the floor, holding her hand over her bloody nose and grimacing against Darling's shriek. I felt my back bubbling with my wings as I pushed away from the wall and headed for April, who gasped and scrambled.

She grabbed Kali and hauled her in front of her to put something between Darling and her.

Darling stopped for a split second, only to narrow his eyes and curl his lip back in a snarl, baring rows of sharp jagged teeth that made April sweat.

"Tell him to back off," April's voice was the first thing I heard as my hearing finally returned, it was raspy and hoarse with fear as she held her hand around Kali's throat. Kali faced Darling, breathing hard as blood poured over her face, her eyes meeting mine.

"Tell him to back the fuck off," April snarled, giving Kali a jab in the back that made her grimace and Darling growled, making April stiffen, "Kali. Kali, say something." Kali gritted her teeth, looking up at me with sad blue eyes. I watched tears sparkle in her eyes, watched one slide down her cheek as her bottom lip trembled.

Darling clicked his tongue.

Kali sniffled.

"Darling. Feed," she whispered.

Darling roared at the command. April cried out and shoved Kali at me, but Kali ducked and swung her leg around, knocking April's legs out from under her and sending her crashing to the ground. Darling landed on top of her a second later.

April's screams filled my ears. I didn't hear Kali sobbing now, didn't hear everyone rushing forward to get her away from the carnage. I picked April's head up and smashed it into the floor, earning a drowning scream from her bloody face. Darling drew his claws back and slammed them forward through her torso, burrowing through to the floor below. Blood splattered across my face, across the floor, all the way to the ceiling.

A sudden thrill rushed through my system, and I knew it came from Darling... and maybe a personal satisfaction at destroying a shitty person. Darling and I pictured every moment April had ever wronged Kali. The first day she hit Kali and Kali came crying to me, confused by what she had done to trigger it. She had never seen Milo hit me, so of course she wasn't expecting it to be that way with April. I remembered the day she and April first had sex, the day Kali sat in my bed and cried with me, hugging me around the chest. I remembered the day she scored the highest in the class, she was so proud as she came sprinting to Milo, April, and I after her exam.

And April scolded her for it, told her she didn't deserve the score if she was going to act like a dumb baby. The excitement had disappeared from Kali's eyes so fast, it was almost like she hadn't gotten her hopes up about anyone being excited for her.

Our fury mounted.

It was turning into overkill, and I knew that. I knew April was dead now, her soul having dissipated into the ether just moments after the attack, after I'd ripped through her chest and pinned that cold ruthless heart to the floor beneath her. Her screams were just after death spasms and bubbling from her throat and chest cavity.

As Darling drew to a close with his kill, and my vision began to fade away from the red, I could faintly make out the other sounds around me. I could hear Kali sobbing, could hear Elias wailing and hiccuping, and it sounded like Three's muffled voice for our back-up team.

Without turning around, I kept my eyes on April's unmoving remains.

"Go," I managed to order hoarsely and Wren looked up, startled to hear my voice, despite Darling's features still being in place, "Everyone move for the exit, now! Go!" Wren opened his mouth, but Three gave me a nod of confirmation and gave him a shove in the back.

"Go for the exit," Three ordered and Wren turned on him with indignation, "You heard the guy, Wrenny, go!"

"No, I am absolutely not leaving him—"

"Dude, if I come back without your ass, Stanton will fucking murder me, genetics or not—"

"Don't be a fucking baby," Wren snapped, making Three stiffen in offense, "We're both his sons. We're both getting back. Grab the kid; Five, grab Polly. Everyone else, gather up and get ready. This won't be our only obstacle." Everyone jumped right into business; though, Yiuwa appeared to be having trouble getting Kali to her feet as she sobbed, her hands trembling.

"Ssh," Yiuwa told her gently, taking her hands and trying to lift her to feet, "Come with me, you'll be okay, I know it doesn't seem like it now, but I have you." Kali just managed some kind of incoherent sound before she looked over at me, like she was still waiting to get permission that this was all part of the plan.

I blinked past the tears rising from seeing her in pain.

"Kali, go," I ordered roughly. She sniffed again, but gave me a nod. With trembling hands, she went to help the others with Polly and Elias. Everyone began to move toward the cafeteria doors, sliding past me as quickly as possible. I watched everyone get into the hallway.

"Jasper," Wren's voice made me narrow my eyes and I blinked rapidly, lifting my arm to hide the tears flying free down my face like a goddamn pansy. "Come on, we still need to get them out. Our mission isn't finished." I glanced at him, then quickly looked away when he realized I was crying. He went to touch my arm in comfort and I knew that would be my undoing. I swung my arm to knock his hand back, making him wince at the rude dismissal.

"Jasper—"

"Go. I'll cover the retreat." I paused when I realized my teeth were starting to change back and I choked, doubling over as Darling's jagged teeth fell out of my mouth and my jaw cracked, readjusting for my normal teeth. Blood sputtered out to the floor and Wren made a noise of distress.

And much to my frustration, he took the opportunity to put his hand on my back. I sputtered angrily, trying to push him aside, but he grabbed my hand and twisted it behind my back.

"Jasper, we need to leave," Wren said in a firm voice as I panted through anger and pain, "Please, do not make me do this—"

"Do wh—"

"Sorry, running out of time, save the speech for the hospital bed!" Three was suddenly in front of me, raising his fist up and I expected him to punch me, but something dropped from his hand, making me scowl. I looked down to see a syringe cap and cursed, jerking my head up to bare my fangs at the same time Three swung the syringe into my neck. The effects weren't immediate, thank fuck, but it was strong enough that when I went to punch Three in the face, I missed and almost fell. Three easily dodged it and dropped the syringe, whirling around to point down the hallway where Yiuwa was waving everyone past him. He looked up when he saw what was happening, his eyes widening.

"Yell at me later," Three barked at me as I sputtered after him, but he ignored me and turned to Yiuwa as he approached, "Wren's gonna need help with him. He's not out of commission right now for his own safety, but he's gonna be dead weight soon and when that happens, Wren's gonna get smashed."

"I can handle him," Yiuwa assured with a nod, coming over to help Wren take one of my arms. I growled low in my throat, but Yiuwa shot me a look.

"Did you honestly think we weren't prepared for you to run?" He asked. I glared.

"I never said I would join your cause or family or anything of the sort," I seethed, trying to clench a fist and yank away from him, but he easily contained my arm to his shoulders.

"Mm, well, you did promise to give us information on Hera, did you not?" Yiuwa asked. I clenched my teeth, was immediately reminded of my teeth falling out and my jaw ached at the tension.

Of course, I wasn't going to come out and say I planned to kill Hera myself, so boom, problem solved.

But fuuuuck me!

"I can solve the problem right now," I snapped, glancing ahead when I realized we were nearing the exit at an alarmingly quick pace.

That was suspicious.

Why was this so easy?

"No, it'll be better if we do it together," Yiuwa said and even Wren gave Yiuwa a judging stare, which made Yiuwa frown, "Was that wrong to say? I still get confused on the etiquette in this existence. It's very dumb."

"So is pretending the power of love is gonna fuckin' save you," I growled as our group stopped at the T-hall just near the elevator, while Six scouted around the corner with Five covering him. "Hera isn't gonna be wooed by pretty words."

"You misunderstand," Yiuwa murmured, pausing to juggle me as my weight started to give out on my right and I groaned as the weakness webbed into my chest, bringing my rapid panicked gasps into controlled deep breaths. "I told you. We're not gathering armies to talk to Hera. We're going to eliminate her." Oooh, so scary. I scoffed, then sighed as my neck and shoulders started to droop. Whatever was in that syringe was working its way through my system like a slow wave of exhaustion that settled into my bones, my muscles.

Wren propped my head up, then surprised me when he put his hand on my head, holding me against him.

"It's okay, Jasper. Everything is going to be okay," he murmured and I groaned, unable to resist turning my face in against his hair, inhaling his incredible scent. I parted my lips against his head and just gave a heavy sigh, saddened by his cute attempts to comfort me.

"Wreeeeeeen," I moaned, making him sigh and roll his eyes to look up at me with that challenging glare.

"Not now," Wren said sternly, then looked up with a frown, "Where are Six and Five?"

"They took care of a security guard, but that's all," Three muttered, worrying at his bottom lip with his thumb, "But it's been too long."

"Duh," I deadpanned and Three turned to glare at me, "No, it's definitely suspicious. I'd give it, oh, I dunno... a minute and nine seconds?" Three scowled at the specificity and Kali cursed, suddenly pushing away where she was huddled with a sniffling Elias, who refused to look at me.

And my heart sank.

"Scrubbers," Kali managed, making Three frown at her, "They're the team that comes in after a compromised compound goes dark. They kill anyone who didn't follow procedure, and retrieve any artificials on the property."

"That wasn't who we just encountered?" Yiuwa asked, making Kali shake her head. She snuck a glance at me and I gave her a slow tired little smile. She clenched her teeth, then looked away.

"There's scrubbers and then there's the team that retrieves the artificials," she said. She didn't elaborate, which was sweet of her, but she didn't need to hide it.

"It's meeee," I drawled, making Wren blink and look up at me as I smiled, "Mother sends me in after to make sure the scrubbers are dead and the packages are retrieved." Yiuwa scowled.

"But you're here," he said. I stared at him for stating the obvious.

"I am." The answer seemed to confuse him more.

"So... who comes if you don't?" Wren asked after a moment.

"Whoever the sleeper is at the compound," Kali said when I just smiled at Wren sadly, which only made him frown at me.

"Why are we beating around the bush," Three snapped at last, thrusting the tablet down and turning to glare at us, "Who's the sleeper? Fuckin' Micah? Misaki? Tank?"

"Tank made it to graduation?" I asked, making Three snap his head around to glare at me with his mouth open, like he couldn't believe that was the only thing I had gotten out of his shriek.

A sudden crash and a loud thump had the ceiling overhead shuddering, the lights flickering on and off for a moment, a few bulbs down the hallway even bursting to pieces.

I looked back down the hallway where the light bulbs had burst. My intention had been to use Yiuwa and Wren to pick myself up, to phase the sleeper that was making his way to our position. I lost my grip on Wren's thigh and slumped over across his lap, groaning as I reached blindly where Three was coming forward to grab me by the front of my uniform. He yanked me up, which seemed to impress everyone, but I just gave Three a knowing smile.

"Who is it?" Three demanded.

"Eilon," I muttered grimly and Three stiffened, then shoved me back against Wren, who caught me, but almost fell with me because he clearly didn't believe my dead weight was three times his. Luckily Yiuwa was there to grab my arm to keep me from flopping over.

"Son of a fucking bitch," Three cursed, reaching for his communication link to switch over to a secure channel, "Yeah, we have a change of plans. I'm gonna need a different back up team—"

"What are you talking about," I heard Stanton's voice over the link, "Hannibal and Seven are already in the building—"

"Do not, for the love of fucking god, send two Beasts down here. We're already fucked with the ones we have," Three said, turning to look where Elias was still whimpering and holding his ears while Kali stroked his hair gently. His eyes swung over to Polly, who was just laying crumpled against the wall, then bounced to me and I smiled grimly at him. He clenched his teeth.

"I need to reverse what I dosed Jasper with," he said at last, grabbing up his medical bag. Wren cursed and pushed me against Yiuwa, who immediately hauled me against him, as Wren shot to his feet to block Three's path to me.

"If you hit him with adrenaline now, he's just going to use it to fucking run away—"

"There's only one person who can withstand Eilon's bullshit magic—"

"I don't know what you mean..." Wren's voice faded for a moment as if he were suddenly losing concentration. He blinked a couple times. Three cursed as he came stomping over to me, snatching a syringe out of his bag. Yiuwa reached for him to stop him, but Three smacked his hand out of the way and hit me right in the thigh.

Pain erupted in my thigh and I hissed through clenched teeth, feeling my body absorb the boost quickly. Darling latched onto it and rode it as I sucked in a deep breath, my heart kicking into overdrive. I lunged to my feet, shoving Yiuwa back when he tried to reach for me. He said something to Three, who yelled back at him, but I barely heard them as I managed to get to my feet. I stumbled for a second, almost lost my balance, before I caught myself on Wren's shoulder. His eyes were unfocused, but he seemed to be trying to catch his breath.

I knew what was happening without having to ask any questions.

Simmering on the surface of Wren's mind was the horrendous memory of cooking under the sun in the desert. It was so fresh and raw, like someone had dove into Wren's subconscious, tore open his trauma like a Christmas present, and scattered the remains.

A pathetic little whimper left Wren's lips and I grabbed him by the arms, giving him a little shake to try and draw him out of the flashback.

"Wren," I whispered, moving one hand to place over his chest, "Wren, it's not there anymore, it's not happening anymore, do you hear me?"

"That's so sweet, Jasper," a voice murmured and I gritted my teeth, yanking Wren against me and stepping back with him as I looked down the hallway to see Eilon coming around the corner. His gold eyes flashed in the lights overhead as he approached, his dark hair whipped back into a ponytail that fell down his back, his features too sharp and pretty for a creature so incredibly fucking vile.

The last memory I had of Eilon, thanks to a dive into Mikhail's head, was an image of Eilon holding Niko down, getting down into his face and baring his fangs in a way that made Niko wail in terror.

Eilon had a sick obsession with Niko too, which was how Mikhail had enlisted his help in breaking him. Except where Mikhail's was fostered over the course of years, Eilon's was triggered by Niko's angelic capabilities. Or rather, the amount of magical energy Niko put off being an antichrist, because Eilon was an energy vampire. Niko's misery gave him power, but his magic gave him an unlimited food source. And like any energy vampire, once Eilon realized Niko was the perfect food source, he wasn't going to give that up easily. It would get obsessive, and deadly.

The fucker needed to go.

And knowing he was fucking around with Wren's head, making him tremble like a leaf in my arms... yeah, no, the guy definitely needed to choke on his own dick.

Eilon's gold eyes flashed as he approached and Three thrust his hand out at him, ready to send a blast to keep him at bay, and Eilon smiled at him, clearly amused by the attempt. He cocked his head, giving Three a little once over.

"My, my, didn't you grow up to be big and strong?" He murmured. Despite the teasing of his comment, his voice remained calm, almost bored. His expression gave nothing away and I didn't dare jump into Eilon's mind, something he seemed to know, judging from the secret little smile he gave me as he folded his arms over his chest.

"How boring," Eilon mused, meeting Three's glare, "You haven't suffered enough yet. It's like being fed a salty cracker." Three curled his lip.

"Sorry to disappoint, asshole," he sneered. Eilon cocked his head, those eyes shifting to Yiuwa, who stared at him from his spot near the wall for a moment. A second later, he hissed and touched his temple, clearly getting a spike from Eilon ruthlessly ripping through his head.

I narrowed my eyes and took the risk.

I split into Eilon's head, which was exactly what he wanted, because the moment I was in, he slammed the door shut behind me.

One second I was standing in the hallway of the compound in Styx, and in the next, I was standing at the end of another very long hallway.

Except this one was all too familiar.

At the end of the hallway was an apartment door. Mine and Milo's names were printed on the plate near the room number. My breath caught in my throat as I stood there, facing down the hallway, feeling anxiety prickle and tighten on my skin. Darling writhed under my skin, a combination of fear and agony sweeping through him.

"Ohhhh," came Eilon's voice from somewhere above, as if he were the god of this nightmare and I clenched my teeth, trying not to let him get to me, even in his domain, "Is this what hurts you most, Jasper? The day you walked out of your home for the last time, the day your entire world fell apart? What did it feel like?" I said nothing, pretended he wasn't purposely dragging the door at the end of the hallway closer and closer to me.

My heart rate pitched forward as I drew my fists clenched tight to my sides.

Images flashed in front of me, plucked from the recesses of my mind to torment me. Little scenes of Milo laughing over his breakfast, teasing his bottom lip that was still swollen and bruised from a night of making love, his sweet pretty dark eyes gazing up at me so lovingly. All the times he caught me by the hand, pulled me into his embrace, reached up with his arms and drew me down for a kiss. The way his lips felt against my ear as he whispered sweet nothings that would forever be carved into my heart, like the scars on my skin.

"Bet it felt like getting stabbed," Eilon murmured somewhere behind me and I spun around with the intention to face him, only to find he'd tricked me.

The moment I spun around, I was standing in the middle of my apartment and my breath caught in my throat now as I stared down at the floor where a pool of blood was leaking out of the darkness. I slammed my eyes shut.

"Or more like getting your throat cut," Eilon offered in a whisper from the darkness behind me. I refused to turn around now, refused to open my eyes, because I knew exactly what he was doing. It was typical energy vampire behavior, torment and stir up every little thing that challenged your sanity. Every trauma, every fear, every horrible thing that you could imagine, and all of it was at his disposal.

I felt my lips twitch.

"Have I amused you?" Eilon asked. His tone was calm, but his question spoke of his irritation. He was intending to torment me, and yeah, I'd give him that; Darling was wailing inside, screaming like someone had ripped his soul open and poured salt in the wound. It was the sound of misery incarnate.

"And unfortunately for you," I murmured, knowing Eilon could hear Darling's turmoil, hence his confusion with my reaction, "I've had to listen to Darling's screaming fits every night since the day Milo died. At this point, it's just background noise."

"How pathetic," Eilon deadpanned, and there was a pause as I heard Eilon thumbing through files, like he was looking through physical records of my memories, which was a funny way to set his little song and dance up.

"Better hurry," I muttered, keeping my eyes closed, "Darling won't be out of commission for very long. He's usually very, very hungry after one of his fits and, you know, someone recently asked me when the last time I ate and, well... gosh, I just can't remember." There was a pause, and while Eilon was pretty good at covering his emotional trail, it was harder with me now lodged in his fucking head. It was fleeting, but Eilon's heart rate picked up at the mention of Darling feeding, which meant he was concerned about putting Darling out of commission first.

Made sense.

Get rid of the Beasts first, and Eilon was very good at taming unruly soldiers, including Beasts.

Too bad none of his victims had ever been able to withstand his torture.

Well, everyone, except Niko.

And that was Eilon's desire. Find Niko and feed for eternity from a single source. It wasn't mating, it wasn't love, it wasn't even born from his desire to eat at this point. He just wanted food that fought back.

He wanted to have fun.

And I would be damned if I let him go near Niko again.

I narrowed my eyes.

I couldn't kill him. Niko would never forgive me for that one. And while the desire was there and it took everything I had to rein in that urge to kill, I respected Niko too much for that.

Of course, that didn't mean I was going to let Eilon get away without punishment.

"Hey, Eilie," I said, using the nickname to jab at him and I felt his irritation ripple through the vision, "I met up with Mikhail recently." There was a long pause, then a soft puff of air from the darkness, like he was laughing through his nose briefly. Like a pompous asshole.

"I can't kill you for what you did to my nephew," I said, sensing Eilon's curiosity at that before he seemed to see the memories of who Niko was, and the realization sent a chill over my skin as his arousal burst through the vision like a furnace getting cranked up.

"But I'm going to make sure you can't hurt him the way you did, ever again," I added.

I spun around and reached through the darkness where the apartment door was supposed to be. My hand closed around Eilon's throat and the moment the contact was made, Eilon snarled and lashed out, extending a set of claws for my face. I reared back, taking Eilon by the neck and body slamming him into the floor.

It was like body slamming one of the straw dummies in the training arena.

Eilon went to get to his feet so he could face me, but I wasn't here to have an even fair fight with a fucking pervert.

I stomped on his groin so hard that he actually lost his breath in a silent shout, crumpling back to the floor. He tossed his head back, his hands going for his groin to shield it, but I stomped right over his hands and he made another choking sound. He rolled over onto his side, gagging as little dribbles of vomit spilled out onto the floor.

I kicked him back by the shoulder, throwing him back onto the floor as he spasmed, those gold eyes flashing. I felt him hurriedly rifling through my memories to find something to stop me, but I slammed my eyes shut and dropped myself down on top of Eilon, who snarled and sank his fangs down into my shoulder.

I cursed as he took hard, desperate pulls at my vein in an attempt to slow my attack. I didn't hesitate any longer, reaching between his legs and grabbing hold of him in my palm. Eilon shrieked, his fangs leaving me for a split second before sinking down again with a wrathful fury. His fangs shredded my skin at my neck and I felt a wave of hot wet blood pour down my neck, felt it fill my mouth and ignored the way it dribbled past my lips.

"I can't wait to watch Niko rip the rest of you off," I sneered down in his face, watching his gold eyes widen in horror. I squeezed and yanked at everything I could get my hands around.

The vision ended abruptly.

One second I was in a dark room on top of Eilon, ripping the bastard's genitals off his body like a fucking Mr. Potato Head attachment. The next moment I opened my eyes, I was standing on my feet and facing a hallway with blood splattered everywhere. It took my brain a moment to register that Eilon had arrived with reinforcements, not that it mattered.

Everyone had fucking ignored me.

Hannibal and Seven had arrived and with them, Six and Five, who were heading right for Polly, Elias, and Kali to get them to safety. I turned to where Yiuwa had just kicked one of the remaining scrubbers down, eliminating him as a threat. A quick glance to my other side revealed Wren was recovering from what Eilon had done to him, but he looked shaken as Stanton appeared to have arrived with the back up.

Stanton had Wren by the shoulders, holding him tight and peering into his face. Wren didn't look so great, actually. When I looked at him, he looked pale and queasy.

"Wrenny," Stanton warned and Wren opened his mouth to feed him bullshit about how he was fine, but he barely drew a breath to respond before his knees buckled. Stanton cursed, catching him around the waist. Three was at his side a second later.

"He's fine," Three said, making Stanton look at him in surprise, "Eilon is an energy vampire. They fuck with your head, but it can be extremely exhausting. He's gonna need to feed soon, so if I were you, I'd take him right to The Winged Serpent. I gotta go with the others to Hades to make sure he knows what he's dealing with." He walked over to where Yiuwa was going to check on Kali, Polly, and Elias. Six and Five were gathering Polly up as carefully as they could, because in the time we'd progressed through the compound back to the exit, Polly had spiked a fever. I could tell from the flush of her face, the dampness of her hair sticking to her temples, her breathing labored.

I clenched my teeth, looking at her, then back at Wren, who was being gathered into Stanton's arms so he could teleport to The Winged Serpent. Darling was thrashing inside me. He was still worked up over Eilon's attack, still furious and wanting blood for what he'd done to Niko, what he'd done to us, to Wren. And yet, there was nothing I could do now to go after Eilon. He'd obviously fucking split before I could do anymore damage to him, but had left his little crew behind to keep us off his ass.

I looked back down the hallway, debating going back to find him.

"Jasper," Kali's voice startled me and I looked at her, surprised to see her there and not with Elias or Polly, but they seemed to be in good hands now as Hannibal and Seven joined us, both looking at ease with the rest of the group.

"Kali," I breathed, relieved to see her. I grabbed her in my arms, holding her against me. For a moment, I feared she wouldn't appreciate being held by the asshole who killed her wife. But the second I loosened my hold to back away, Kali squeezed me tight.

"Don't you fucking let go of me," she managed, digging her nails into my suit to hold me close, "And don't you dare tell me you're sorry. You were able to do something, I just... I couldn't..." I cradled her head to my shoulder as she cursed herself.

"Don't, Kali. Don't ever be angry that you didn't let yourself go."

"But she... I just... I didn't try hard enough with April, I—"

"Don't do that. April made her choice. And unfortunately for her dumb ass, she didn't choose you," I muttered, moving back so I could cup her face in my hands. She sniffed a little at that, using her wrist to wipe at her nose helplessly and I used my thumbs to wipe the snot away from her nose, the tears from her cheeks.

Behind her, I saw Stanton heading for the exit so he could teleport with Wren.

I felt Darling lurch inside me, felt him cry out at the thought of Wren being taken away. Even worse was the idea that Stanton was going to take him to The Winged Serpent, where he was going to get the best care and treatment... just not from me.

Kali caught my gaze, followed it and I cleared my throat to disway anything she was about to say, but she drew her elbow back into my ribs and glared at me.

"We don't need you to hang on top of us. It looks like we're clear from here on out."

"Eilon knows I helped them," I muttered, changing the subject and Kali glared at me, putting her hands on her hips, "He's going to go back and tell mother."

"She probably saw the security cameras," she said, then paused as she glanced up at them, then studied the floor. I frowned, because it sounded like she had more to say. I cocked my head curiously at her.

"Kali—"

"Let's just get out of here, please? Please, like right now."

"Yes, we can do that," I murmured, reaching out to take her hand. Kali grabbed my hand in hers tightly. She looked down at our hands together, pressing her lips together in a thin line, clearly bothered by something. I wanted to peek into her head, wanted to see what exactly had her so disturbed, but when Kali met my eyes, all I heard was her soft plea.

Jasper... For once, please don't go digging into my head. Please. I will tell you when I'm ready, and we have time, but I cannot tell you now. I'm... so tired.

"Of course," I murmured, concerned, "Whatever you want, Kal." She just gave me a nod and took me by the hand, leading me toward the exit with the others. We filed into the elevator in silence and it was a tight fit. I stood at the front as Kali reached forward with a trembling finger and hit the button to send the elevator up.

There was a beep and the compound doors slowly closed in front of us.

For the last time.