Page 44 of Awakened Gifts
“She won’t,” I interrupt, trying to convince myself of that more than him. If she does, that means Aria is completely lost inside her own mind, and it hurts too much to acknowledge.
“You can’t go after her this time, Jase,” Mel says cautiously, her voice nearly trembling. “This isn’t the same savage. You know that. If she—”
“Pretty fucking positive I know better than anyone what Aria needs, so just drop it.”
I don’t bother admitting that I couldn’t even catch a small glimpse inside her mind the second my Aria was pulled behind the puppet master’s curtains. But she’s right—I have to be careful, because Aria wouldn’t survive killing me.
A rough slam that cracks the front windshield brings the car to a halt, and my eyes widen as I take in the obtrusive object that is slowly sinking into the windshield breaking it more. Blood crawls into the spider-veined cracks of the glass, reddening each one to make it more visible as a web, and my eyes widen at the headless person that has been launched at us like a heavy rock.
Breaking the door off, I leap out of the car, my eyes searching the chaos for the beauty behind the beast. Blood is spilled and darkening the sands that were already red. Bodies are mangled and raining from the sky in pieces. It’s the most brutal, stomach-churning massacre I’ve ever seen.
Laughter finds me like a vicious stab to the gut, and I look up to find the mesmerizing eye of the storm. It’s her world to rule right now, and she’s lost inside her own mind. Every bit of delight she gets sends a new chill down my spine. Only she could make something so sadistic look so beautiful.
I feel helpless, looking on with no way of helping. She’s dancing, drenched in the blood of the slain, and she’s smiling happily while taking in each and every fallen foe. She’s high on the kill, like the true predator she was built to be, and I know I’m not enough to bring her back this time.
My stomach only knots tighter when I see the blonde hair slowly being brushed by the winds. Kellan is lifeless on the ground, his body unmoving and unresponsive to the pandemonium and cries of pain around him.
Rex stumbles to a halt at my side, and then he lurches forward and retches. Shielding his eyes, he continues heaving until his stomach loses all it has to offer, and I clench and unclench my fists. The only thing keeping me from dropping to my knees in tears is the fact that there are scorpion tattoos on most of the visible body pieces. This was a planned ambush; she sought them out for revenge.
Even Alice hasn’t wreaked this much havoc in her disasters sites. In fact, I’m starting to think she’s more merciful than Aria’s detached savage, and it’s just a matter of time before the uncontrolled being slices through her enemies and aims her focus on the innocent.
As a ravaged arm drops to my feet, I step back, allowing Rex to dry heave in privacy while I try to figure out the best way to drag Kellan toward us and examine him. I pray he’s not dead, but considering how everyone else in this bloodbath looks, I highly doubt there will be any saving him.
The tight constriction around my heart becomes painful as realization settles in, and I hold my breath, trying not to let out a sound. Aria might be gone forever.
“Shit,” Mel says softly, looking on with me as Aria continues her happy dance in the center of the raining body parts. “She’s psycho.”
Sadistic, twisted, and terrifying are the best ways to describe the thing in her body right now.
“It’s not her, Mel,” I whisper back, tightening my lips. I’ve never felt so motherfucking helpless in all my life, and I’m almost strangling on my own heart.
If she hadn’t detached from Kellan to be with me, would she have lost herself like this? Would her savage have broken free from all restraint if it sought the comfort of its counter? Is this my fault?
All my questions are answered by the pounding guilt inside my chest. I played with fire that I didn’t control, and now the girl I love is being burned by my insolence.
She’s seems unaware of our presence—fortunately—and continues her blood dance with her eyes closed, spinning like a child in the rain.
“I can hear your hearts beating, so don’t think I’m oblivious to your intrusive viewing,” Aria’s savage says while slowing her spinning, menace rolling off her in heavy, almost tangible waves.
The smile she gives me doesn’t do much to quell my worst fears. The promise of death, the abundance of rage, and the bitterness of a pissed hybrid fuels the eerie turn of her lips.
Mel wisely takes a step back, and I step between my sister and the creature who has hijacked my girl’s body. A spiral of dizzying emotions swirl within me, and it takes a moment to realize that it’s the savage projecting with Aria’s empathic powers. It’s enough to drop me to my knees.
“This is more fun than I thought it would be, pretty hybrid,” she says, her dark smile only growing with the promise of domination. “She’s so weak. But I’m not. The world she fears is mine to rule. This is just the start. And this is your only warning. Stop seeking me. If you don’t, the next time I let you find me… Let’s just say you won’t be observing.”
As the last few limbs of the fallen drift slowly to the ground, Aria’s savage steps out of the red debris. Triumph glosses over in her eyes as she focuses her gaze on me.
“You should heed my warning.”
Just like before, she’s suddenly gone, nothing but her destruction left in her wake. And is it ever a destruction zone. Son of a bitch.
When I finally manage to haul my ass back to my feet, I stagger like I’m hung over, inadvertently taking a diagonal route to Kellan’s collapsed body that is soaked in the blood of the dead.
“Is he—”
“He’s alive,” I say in interruption to Rex’s question, relieved when I see his chest draw in air. “Just unconscious. I’m not sure what the hell she did to him, but we need to get him back to Simone, and we need to feed him blood. Just because we can’t see the wounds, it doesn’t mean they’re not there.”
Rex is still struggling to catch his footing after vomiting for the entire show. His reaction to the gruesome massacre probably stalled him from approaching her, and it quite possibly saved his life.