Page 78 of Awakened Gifts

I turn just as the unseen force lashes through me, pushing me back farther than ever, and this time, it takes a little longer to get up. Her eyes are almost black with dilation, proving she’s lost her motherfucking mind, and her roars take place of her words as she hands herself over to a beast that will destroy us all.

I glance down just in time to see the blood dripping from my mouth. So much for that stalemate I thought we had.

All my thoughts go to Jase as I start trying to dodge the deadlier attacks. Alice’s reinforcements are coming in, colliding with the army Jase has assembled. It’s now or never.

JASE

“Aria!” I keep yelling, but her answers are always the same. She keeps trying to push me away, but I’ll be damned if I leave her here to die. Not without me.

“Get everyone back!” I yell. “Flank to the right and take out their grenade launchers!”

“Doesn’t fucking matter about the grenade launchers if they have indestructible hybrids every-damn-where,” Rex growls, barely dodging a parade of bullets as they fly our way.

We roll and dive for cover, taking out as many of the normal hybrids as possible, but there are so many violet eyes staring back at us that it’s not a promising start.

“Sleep,” Araya commands, and several do drop, but nowhere nearly as many as we need to drop.

“I’m going to run blood over to Kellan and Simone,” Mel says close to my ear.

Before I can say no, she’s darting, diving, and weaving through the chaos, racing her way toward the defenseless pair that are curled up in each other’s arms on the ground.

“Aria! Get back!” I yell again, praying my fucking wife finds her sanity and helps me save mine. I can’t reach her, and it’s like a madhouse on crack out here.

“Alice can’t be stopped if she’s in her savage form,” Fricks says, sounding as hopeless and defeated as any one man can.

“I don’t have time to coddle you, Fricks. Tell us how to beat these sick fucks so I can try to save Aria.”

There’s no getting by them, and we’re barely managing to ward off their attacks. Each hit is getting stronger, and Araya is crying out as they focus on her, doing all they can to eliminate the biggest threat.

My blood starts simmering wildly in my veins, something stirring like a primal calling that won’t be ignored. Rex roars, dropping to his feet, and from there, it just continues. Everyone around me starts going wild in the eyes, pupils dilating as they lose themselves to the beasts within.

Brazen drags Araya back just as Angelica claps out a power, tangling with Grayson who went savage immediately after we got here—the only one of us who has a power-based savage instead of an emotionally tied savage.

But it’s not enough. My body keeps boiling to life, growing wilder by the second, and every time someone falls, the burning in my veins just intensifies. It’s Aria. I can feel her doing this to us, trying to make us stronger, even though I don’t know how in the hell she’s doing it.

Then I realize something that scares and liberates me in the same breath. I’m savage and sane.

The power pummels out of me, blazing into everyone in my path when I hear Aria’s cries again. Eyes from the opposing go wild when my gift incinerates the front line with flames hotter than I’ve ever carried. Holy fucking shit.

“Christ,” Brazen whispers, just as astonished as I am when the men continue to fall.

But there’s so damn many, and it’s hard to—

A feminine roar blankets the battle cries, and I look up just as blood starts driving out of the mouths of so many in front of us. Their bodies so start shriveling up to nothing, dropping as Simone steps out, fully healed and fully savage.

“Go to Aria. I’ve got this.”

I don’t question that, because her power starts working once again, drowning out cries by stealing their voices with too much pain. And I leave them behind to save the one girl who never lets anyone fucking help her.

ARIA

Simone’s roar of dominance rings through my ears, and I sigh in relief. She’ll save them. She’s strong enough. And Jase’s savage is stronger; I can feel it from here.

Peeling myself up off the ground, I wipe my mouth, staggering in front of the bitch who has loved how distracted I’ve been.

“Weak,” she repeats. “So trained on the ones you love that you can’t even attempt to save yourself.”

“That’s not weakness, Alice. Weakness is refusing to feel anything other than anger because you’re afraid of being hurt.”