Page 15 of Fate of the Fallen

“I’ll take the other,” Ben offered, sounding far less enthusiastic than his brother a moment before.

Luckily, they were heading out toward us without being coaxed. It meant we didn’t have to give away our positions to lure them. No one breathed. We stood like statues against the building as the pair of shadows came closer. When it was time to act, Kyle nodded to Ben and the two made quick work of wrangling the soldiers to the ground.

Kyle had choked his mark out cold within seconds, but Ben hadn’t gotten as good a grip. The lycan he chose dragged his feet through the dirt and gravel, making more noise than any of us wanted. Things would have been so much easier if we were able to sneak in undetected.

…Would have been.

“They’ve got us surrounded,” a voice called out, alerting fifteen or more of our presence.

With the notion of coming in quietly now out the window, we stormed in.

The strange, red flames burst from within when my dragon broke free. My senses had always been sharp, but were even more so now. It was as if I heard and saw things half a second before they actually happened.

A lycan rushed me from the left. I not only saw him, but felt a shift in the air currents that moved over my skin as he barreled forward. I was completely aware of him, but never directed an ounce of attention his way. My eyes stayed trained on the situation unfolding around me as my hand shot toward the soldier’s neck, coiling his body toward mine like a serpent.

The swift motion seemed to catch him off guard. Needing to end him so I could move on to the next. My chosen method was to rip his head from his shoulders.

His screams rang out through the warehouse as my fingers locked firm beneath his jaw. The feel of it ripping free from his face—soft flesh tearing, bone separating from bone—it only fed the beast within me.

Only made me hungry for more.

Writhing in pain, he hit the ground. There was no time to watch him bleed out, so I silenced his groans a moment later, crushing his skull beneath my boot. Blood sprayed up, covering my neck and face, but another charged toward me before a breath could even leave my mouth. However, to his surprise, I was ready for him. His full sprint came to a sudden halt, and after being slammed to the ground, his gaze was now locked on the ceiling. He could hardly get a breath of air into his lungs, but that was to be expected seeing as how his heart was no longer inside his chest.

He stared at my fist as I held it above him, possibly reflecting on how things played out. Intent on endingmylife, the tables had quickly turned.

Streams of blood rushed toward my elbow and I made certain the image that carried him into death was that of his life source beating in the palm of my hand. When his eyes went vacant, I dropped the hunk of meat back inside his chest and moved on.

This experience … was different. The energy that fed my dragon was mine, but … not. It was hard to explain, but I felt it without a doubt. It was stronger, more focused.

More vicious.

Without thought, I laid down five more, freeing arms and limbs from bodies, tossing them into a growing heap behind me. Before long, the commotion that had suddenly roared to life around us, lulled to the muffled whimper of one soldier as Dallas snapped his spine in two.

We stood surveying as we caught our breath, counting bodies, losing track because most were in pieces.

“Well, I believe that’s everyone.” All eyes went to Josiah when he spoke.

We were all pretty sure that was the case. After one last scan, I pulled my shirt over my head. Unlike the blood-slathered front, the back was mostly stain-free. I used it to wipe myself somewhat clean, but mostly just smeared lycan blood all over myself.

It was a slight improvement, though.

Slight.

Beside me, Richie sighed before speaking. “Now to figure out which one has the keys to that truck outside.”

My gaze shifted toward him. “Is this a new plan?” I asked.

He shrugged, following my lead as he removed his shirt to wipe a mixture of blood and sweat from his face. “Not necessarily. Just seems counterproductive to leave them with all their supplies. My guess is others will be arriving by no later than morning to start building … whatever this is,” he said, gesturing toward the large, steel-framed glass we watch them lug in.

Ben chimed in next. “They can’t build what they don’t have.”

“And what they don’t build, they can’t use against us,” Dallas added.

Richie nodded, realizing we’d begun to see the logic. “Exactly. So, let’s find these keys so we—”

There was a sound.

One I heard half a second before spotting the source … a dark object that cut through the air, streaking across the warehouse at warp speed. What came next was a deep, primitive roar that ricocheted off the aluminum walls that surrounded us.