My heart hammered against my chest. Those hunters could come back any moment now, probably with a vehicle to transport this cage to headquarters. Without thinking further, I whispered to Arwen, “Free him!”
She looked at me in alarm. “What?”
“You heard me.” I didn’t know this man at all, but this… this just wasn’t right. The way they had him locked up in this cage, battered, cut and bruised—this wasn’t a humane way to treat anyone, be they animal, human, or supernatural. And every instinct told me that if he reached headquarters, he would never come out again.
“Okay,” Arwen said, her voice shaking.
She performed a spell to weaken five bars. Before she’d even finished the job, the wolf, even in his weakened state, gripped them and pried them open, finishing the rest of the job himself. He staggered out, his knees unsteady, before locking eyes with me again. His wintry gaze was so intense, I almost felt threatened by it. But then he bowed his head slightly and the next thing I knew he had turned on his heels and leapt through the portal.
About ten seconds later, Arwen gasped. She was pointing to the base of the cage, where a red light was blinking. A red light that definitely had not been there a minute ago. I swore beneath my breath. Of course they would’ve installed an alarm.
Derek
“I’m worried they aren’t back yet,” my sister said as she sat opposite me in the control room, her hands clasped together.
The first group of six had overshot their time allowance by four minutes. I was disappointed in Corrine. I had trusted that she would herd them back in time and not get carried away herself. Perhaps they had made a discovery, but still, that was not an excuse. They should have come back to inform us. I was about to uphold my word and go fetch them when, to my surprise, Ben and Lucas appeared in the middle of the room. Their foreheads were shiny with sweat, and the look of urgency in their eyes shook me.
“What’s going—” I began.
“An alarm has been triggered,” Lucas said, wiping his brow with a tissue.
“An alarm?” Sofia gasped.
“They can detect fae now?” Rose asked, looking stunned.
Ben and Lucas eyed us with confusion.
“No,” Ben said, shaking his head. “I’m sure it wasn’t us. We thought it must be you. Kyle,” he yelled into the pilot cabin. “We have to leave. Now. The mutants are coming!”
“Wait!” I shouted, even as I cursed beneath my breath. “Your daughter’s out there!”
Victoria
About twenty seconds after we noticed the beeping red light, something detonated silently at the base of the cage. Tongues of fire burst out, followed by a heavy smoke that blanketed the area with alarming speed and thickness. I could only assume that this punishment had been meant for the werewolf… or rather, whoever was stupid enough to free him.
Arwen and I staggered back, choking and coughing. The smog felt toxic to my lungs. My vision became disturbingly clouded and before I knew it, I could no longer even see Arwen. Corrine shouted for us, for me. I tried to call out to her, but I only ended up choking more; my mouth and throat had dried out from the noxious fumes. I could barely even let out a whisper. I fumbled around, trying to feel for Arwen. Failing, I dropped to my knees and crawled through the undergrowth, attempting to get away from the fog. My stinging eyes began to water, impairing my vision even more. I blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear them. No chance. I have to get out of this.
As I sped up in a panic, my hands came down against the edge of a hole in the ground. Shivers ran down my spine. I’d reached the portal. And I’d almost lost my balance and gone toppling headfirst into it. I scrambled around the edge of it as I continued trying to escape the smoke. It was still surrounding me. Forced to breathe in this smog, I didn’t think I could remain conscious much longer. My head throbbed and dizziness was overtaking me.
Then, as if my fading mind didn’t have enough to deal with, high-pitched screeching drifted through the night air, making me stop dead in my tracks. I recognized that sound instantly.
The mutants were coming.
It had sounded distant, but with their supernatural speed, I knew we’d be lucky to have two minutes. Oh, no. Fighting to stand while my knees wanted nothing more than to give way and collapse, I forced my eyes open again in spite of the agony.
“Victoria!” Grace’s voice came from somewhere to my right.
Footsteps pounded toward me and then Grace and Heath arrived close enough for me to be able to make them out. Rushing to my side, Heath took my right arm and wrapped it around his shoulder, supporting me against him, while Grace took my left arm and did the same.
“Come on,” she wheezed. “We’ll get you out of here.”
I could only think that, being half-supernatural, they could bear this smoke much better than I could. Avoiding the portal, they began dragging me across the clearing… but we were too late to reunite with the others.
Two of the mutants crashed down into the undergrowth, blocking our path. They had fearsome hawk-like heads with razor-sharp beaks. They fixed their focus on us before letting out more deafening screeches. Their spear-like tails thrashed behind them as their deadly talons dug up the ground. And then came the fire. It shot from their gaping mouths and torpedoed toward us. If Grace hadn’t been with us to divert it with her powers, we would have been scorched to a crisp. At least, I would have.
This only angered the mutants and they jerked forward, forcing us backward until the backs of our feet were at the edge of the portal. The gun I carried in my jacket would not save us from these beasts. We only had one option left.