Page 59 of Fate of the Fallen

Our pace was slow and incredibly cautious. At every corner we had to crouch behind Errol as he checked for guards, or worse yet, Sebastian and Blaise. I had the sense of this place crawling with lycans while we were held here, but now, with the fight that had been brought to them outside, I gathered that most had gone out to defend their newly claimed territory. When the coast was clear, he gestured for us to move forward.

The pain in my abdomen spiked with each step and it felt like my heart would leap from my chest. I wouldn’t dare ask them to stop, though. Not when freedom was so close, not when our lives depended on it. My only option was to draw on the strength I knew I had inside and keep going.

We came to a narrow hallway and stopped when two deep voices echoed off the walls. Errol extended his hand, silently instructing us to duck down again before he peeked from around the corner to check. Only, when he did, one of the guards spotted him and a loudly spoken, “Run!” sent Beth and I scurrying for the open door we passed a few feet back.

She slammed and locked it behind us. It was a tightly confined supply closet, but it was also the only thing shielding us from whoever Errol scuffled with on the other side.

Beth’s face was riddled with concern. I knew that, had it not been for my condition, she would have stayed with him and fought. However, her extreme loyalty had her standing not by my side, but in front of me like the protector she was as we huddled in a corner listening.

Listening and waiting.

The hallway went quiet and we didn’t move an inch. I even held my breath as I stared at the door when someone approached, hoping and praying it would be—

“Errol!” Beth gasped, only letting go of my hand when she couldn’t help herself, when she rushed toward him and threw her arms around his neck.

He embraced her tightly as he panted from the altercation.

“I told you I’d get you out of here,” he said, his words being spoken into Beth’s hair as they clung to one another. “But we have to move. More guards will come and I have strict orders to get you all someplace safe for extraction.”

“Whose orders?” I asked quietly, following him and Beth from the closet we hid in.

Errol kept his eyes trained straight ahead as he shrugged. “There’s an entire network,” he explained. “All I know is I take orders from the people who planted me here. No clue who calls the shots for them, though.”

We stopped and crouched again when a large door came into view. It was across a wide-open common area I felt incredibly uneasy about crossing. Granted, it looked like we were alone here, but I wasn’t so sure. If someone popped up while we were making a run for it …

“Let’s move,” Errol instructed, being careful to stick close to the wall to minimize exposure. Still, I was sweating bullets.

With a hard shove he flung the door open and I breathed deep, taking in fresh air for the first time in over a week. I had no clue where we were headed from here, butanythingwas better than where we’d been—stuck in a dark, musty prison, knowing our days were numbered.

“Go, go go!” Errol urged, commanding us to run ahead of him where we could hide behind an old shed on the property. He checked for eyes again and then rushed across the yard to where we waited.

“Where are you leading us?” Beth asked, taking the words right out of my mouth.

Panting and keeping watch, Errol smiled a little.

“Well, I was told to take you all someplace high up, someplace I least expected Sebastian to find you. So, I figured what better place to hide you from a devil … than a church.”

Beth and I followed his gaze as bullets and explosions accompanied the screams and earthshattering growls that surrounded us. Our eyes locked on the small, white building at the top of a hill.

This was it. We reached the end of our journey and, from here, we’d know whether we won this fight or lost it.

As the little one inside tumbled around, making my will to survive that much stronger, I had to hope for the best.

Chapter Nineteen

Nick

Outside was a warzone.

Everything we anticipated, our worst fears, were manifesting right before our eyes. My own included.

My wrists ached where the chains had cut into them for days, and every other part of my body matched the pain. This—being locked away and forced into being sired by Sebastian—had been a living hell.

With nothing in my system other than his blood, I felt oddly powerful despite not being fed. When they took notice of the shift from being weak and disoriented to alert and showing signs of increased strength, they were quick to reinforce the chains with thicker ones that would do a better job of holding me here.

I hung there, staring at the covered windows that surrounded me. Breathing deep, my nostrils flared as I let my eyes close, feeling my veins swell with darkness. In the time I’d spent here, I wasn’t sure if it was that I now had Sebastian’s wickedness swirling around inside my head, but … I no longer felt the duel need to kill and save Evie. Only one inclination remained. I didn’t care that she once meant something to me, didn’t care that her life meant something to so many. I only wanted her dead.

My next thought was of Roz, how she’d feel if she saw me now, if she were to see what I’d become. Being near her had made it easier to fight what I really was, made it easier to be a better man.