Page 76 of Awakened Gifts
“It appears I missed a very important fact,” an eerie, skin-crawling voice says, unsettling me and stealing away my hope for a clean getaway.
We both turn to look behind us just as a woman who looks too much like Araya steps out, glaring at us like we’re the ones who have crossed her. Motherfucker. So close.
“I never realized there was another gem under my nose. And I don’t make mistakes. In fact, I never make mistakes. So how is it I don’t know about you?” she asks, her high heels clicking on the floor as she slowly strides toward us, her legs crisscrossing in a strut.
Her body is scantily clad in a seductive leather attire that not even Araya would wear. Her cleavage is exposed and meant for allure. Her boots rise to her knees, and her skin tight leather pants are seamlessly tucked inside, but there are strategic, purposely placed slashes from head to toe. All that’s missing is a whip.
I’m going to die at the hand of a dominatrix. Fuck my luck.
Simone acts instead of thinking, throwing her hands out just as she did earlier, and the woman I have to assume is Alice starts choking, grabbing her throat as her eyes widen. Hope resumes, and I join in, throwing out my electricity and watching it surge against her. After all, she’s Araya’s mother. Maybe they share more than similar looks. I pray they share weaknesses.
Her body begins to writhe and shudder as Simone strains to force more of her power out. My electricity coils around her body, hopefully destroying any shield she has.
But then my skin crawls and chills form when the gurgling sound turns into mocking laughter, and her eyes come to rest on ours as she dusts off my purple streaks, treating them like lint.
Simone continues to strain so hard that her nose starts to bleed, but Alice merely continues laughing as her slow stalk toward us continues without stumble.
“We’ve got to go,” I whisper to Simone, backing up and tugging her arm, keeping my eyes warily on Alice.
“Please. Do. I love a good chase,” the demon woman hisses, grinning with menace that almost rolls off her in waves.
Simone strikes at her again, but Alice just laughs, taunting us as we round the corner. Just as I see a door ahead, I feel my bones almost crushing, and the sound of Simone crying out sends me into a near frenzy as my blood burns, begging to go savage, but the searing pain that is shooting through my body only weakens me as my organs cry out in pain.
Black dots speckle my vision, making seeing almost impossible, and Alice’s laughter becomes a near echo as she uses my body and Simone’s like a child’s toy, beating the floor and ceiling with us for fun as she plays a twisted game of death with our lives. I hear a roar as the building around us vibrates, Alice’s laughter growing more dark and sadistic with each cry of pain that we release.
My body flings upwards just as the roof splits open, and my crushed body is deposited onto the earth. I clutch the dirt under my hands, doing all I can to rise up and try to find Simone. My heart almost breaks in two when I see her lying limply in an unnatural position, and I try to crawl to her.
Alice surfaces with one jump, landing just a few feet away, and I prepare for the death I know is about to come. Just as she raises her hand, she’s thrown backwards, sailing through the air, moving faster and farther than I can see.
My eyes move around, searching for answers, and they find the girl who looks like she’s ready to defeat death. Thank fuck.
Chapter 25
ARIA
I’ll fucking kill Fricks for sending me on a damn chase, but right now, all I can focus on is the Sentinel Sands Desert. Everything I found at all three locations has led me here, but there’s nothing. At all.
I know I made Simone go savage. I felt it the second her sanity checked out to make way for the wicked, and I feel her close by, but there’s nothing for hundreds and hundreds of—
The ground bursts open, interrupting my thoughts, and Kellan thuds to the ground seconds before my cousin hits hard, her mangled body causing my tears to knot up in my throat. Even though they are hundreds of yards away, I see them as though they’re right in front of me, and I run so fast that my jeans begin to catch fire.
Kellan tries to get close to Simone, just as the demon bitch who won’t go to hell jumps up and lands on the ground. I’ll be damned if she touches them again. Throwing my arms out, I give her a taste of her own medicine, and I strike hard, slicing through the sound barrier and creating a delayed echo of a menacing whistle.
Her eyes go wide in shock as she’s flung back, and Kellan looks up to catch my eyes just as I rush by them, following the bitch instead of letting her get back over here. I have to keep them safe. I was hoping Simone’s savage could thwart off her attacks until I could find them.
“Make sure she’s okay,” I say softly, knowing my voice will hit his hybrid ears as I stalk toward the woman of my nightmares.
She snarls like a possessed animal when I step within fifty feet of her, readying myself for round two. She’s stronger this time. I caught her by surprise when I showed up, because she was focused on Simone and Kellan.
Now those violet eyes are trained on me, and the hatred oozing from her gaze does nothing but promise the worst. Death scents the air, letting me know Simone did some hellacious damage, but I know Alice has more hybrids in her fleet. And they’ll be coming. Soon. I need to take her out before they get here and distract me. One mistake… I can’t afford to make a mistake.
Deciding to stay on the offensive side of the line, I lash out, throwing another strike of power—an attack so forceful that it booms loudly and vibrates the ground below us. She doesn’t even try to defend against it. She braces herself, digging her feet into the dirt, as the invisible wave strikes her, and she growls loudly, riding it out even as it batters and assaults her leather attire.
When her damn smile kicks up, I glare at her. This is definitely not the start I wanted.
“You were far more impressive when your fucked up savage was ruling you,” she taunts, forcing a tick to start in my jaw.
Under the guise of control, I keep my voice steady, knowing I can’t show her I’m unsettled by how ineffective my attack was.