We continue this dance for a while. I fly all over the pit trying to escape him, sending fireballs and laser beams in continuous waves at him, but nothing works. He chases me, growing more and more agitated at his inelegant efforts to capture me.
And my words come back to taunt me as exhaustion infiltrates my body, sinking bone deep. My movements become more sluggish, and I make a fatal mistake—not moving fast enough to avoid capture.
I yell out in pain when his hand wraps fully around my body.
Coop is in my head in a flash. “What’s going on, Alinthia?”
“Can’t talk, Coop. I’m kinda tied up right now.” I snort at the irony even though I’m in no way amused at the situation.
It feels like every bone in my body is being crushed in his hand as he draws me closer to his head. I try wriggling, but I don’t even move a millimeter. I’m locked tight in his monster hand, and I can’t even free my arms to use my supertouch.
I’m well and truly screwed.
He angles his arm, and the swaying motion turns my stomach. When he opens his mouth wide, moving me closer, I scream as reality dawns on me.
Like fuck is this monstrosity going to eat me!
Renewed determination surges through my body, and I glance around me, looking for inspiration. My eyes flit to the pillar and I know what I need to do.
Focusing on the hefty lump of stone, I visualize it lifting in my mind’s eye. It’s vastly bigger than anything I’ve ever had to move with my mind before, but an imminent death sentence is a very powerful motivator.
The pillar starts shaking, the ground quaking, and I ignore the fact I’m dangerously close to being monster fodder, concentrating on the task at hand. The pillar oscillates from side to side as it starts lifting from the ground, and beads of sweat drip down my face with the effort involved in doing this. As soon as it’s free, I let out an almighty roar, pushing every ounce of energy I have left behind the movement.
The pillar lifts, turning horizontal as it soars through the air. Stale, warm gusts of air crash into me as my captor opens his mouth wider, and I reel back from the stench emanating from his insides. A red layer coats my eyes as I tap into my firepower, streaming beams from my eyes directly into his mouth, hoping this will hurt.
The distraction works, and he drops me just as the pillar impales his mouth, slicing straight through him in one clean motion.
I fly up, up, getting as far away as I can. When I’m at a safe distance, I whirl around, barely able to look at the ghastly sight. The pillar is embedded in his mouth with the top end protruding from the back of his skull.
His eye is glassy and unmoving as he falls to the ground, landing with a gargantuan thud that shakes the foundations of the auditorium to its core. Plumes of dust rise into the air like dirty sand-filled clouds, and I cough profusely as it itches my nose and stings my eyes.
It’s quiet as I lower myself down a couple minutes later, slumping the instant my feet hit solid ground. I’m completely shattered and drained of every sliver of energy.
Cooper’s frantic shouts resound in my mind loud and clear. Somehow, I’d blocked him out while I battled to save my life.
“I’m okay. It’s over,” I tell him. “Please stop shouting. You’re hurting my brain.”
“Holy fuck! Have you any idea how terrified I was just now? I didn’t have a fucking clue what was going on except that the connection was going crazy and your emotions were blaring at me like a beacon. Why were you so scared? What the hell just happened? And why the fuck did you shut me out!”
“I’ll tell you later, Coop. I’m exhausted.” I’m already fighting unconsciousness.
“Alinthia, please. We’re so worried.”
“Don’t worry, Coop.” I wonder if the words come across as slurred as I feel them leave my mind. “I’m okay. Just need to sleep.”
As I drift off, shouts and screams resonate around me, but I can’t work out if they’re real or if I’m dreaming.
“I’ve got her,” someone says, their voice sounding muffled. I’m lifted as an alarm rings out, the siren blasting throughout the auditorium.
I resist the call of sleep, forcing my eyes to open, needing to know what’s going on.
My mouth drops open, and I blink repeatedly as I stare into familiar green eyes, sure I must be delusional. “Daniel?”
“Just hang in there, Tori.” Kylie’s brother holds me effortlessly in his strong arms as he runs. “We’re getting you out of here.”
CHAPTER 16
“I need you both to put these on.” The good-looking man with light-blue eyes hands a clear mask to me and one to Daniel.
“Principal Foster?” I screech, jaw slackening for the second time in a minute. Either I’m going batshit crazy from exhaustion or things have just turned really weird. What the hell is our new school principal doing here?
“Hello, Alinthia.” He smiles, taking the mask from my hands and putting it on me. “I know you have questions, and I will answer all of them, but, right now, we need to concentrate on getting you out of here before we all get locked up.”
“Of course.” I wriggle in Daniel’s arms. “Put me down. I can run.”
Daniel winks at me behind the mask, his long, dark hair brushing his shoulders. “You were dead on your feet, Tori. I’m not putting you down.”
“This way,” Principal Foster says, guiding us around the giant of an alien lying motionless on the ground. Although he was hellbent on eating me, and my ribs ache from his firm grip, a stab of remorse flickers across my face. “You had no choice,” he says, recognizing my expression. “He would’ve killed you without giving it a second thought.”
“I know.”
He steers us back through the main gate, and they both start running along the same route I traveled earlier. A cloudy mist lingers at the top of the ceiling, stretching the full length of the corridor. The cages are disturbingly quiet as we race past. Unconscious bodies are piled in heaps where they collapsed. “It’s not poisonous, is it?” I ask, my gaze bouncing between both men.
“No. It’s just sleeping gas. There was no way we could get you out of here without using it. They’ll have one hell of a headache when they wake up, but there are no long-lasting effects.”
“What about the other prisoners. You’re freeing them too, right?”
Principal Foster has the decency to look ashamed. “Not this time, I’m afraid. There is no way to safely evacuate that many people and get away with it.”
“We can’t leave them here! Outwardly, it looks like they’re being treated well, but that’s not the full truth.”
“I’m well apprised of what goes on here.” We reach the end of the passageway, and he holds up a palm to stop us. Swiping his finger across a handheld device, he lifts it to the door, and a thin yellow light emits from the screen, vanishing through the door. “It’s clear,” he says, tucking the device back in his pocket and opening the door.
I look up, scanning the group of inert bodies flung across bleachers and the floor. “What about Zorc? He’s not behind this, is he?”
“Definitely not,” Daniel says. “We want nothing to do with that lying piece of shit.”
My lips curve up involuntarily. “I’m guessing the alien obsession was a smokescreen?”
He nods, winking at me as he follows the principal out into the corridor with the blood-red walls. I scream out a warning as the asshole guard steps forward, a big-ass scary weapon slung over his shoulder.
Daniel chuckles, but his laughter quickly fades as I fly out of his arms toward the enemy, fire dancing in the palms of my hands.
Officer Smith’s eyes widen, and he points his weapon at me as Principal Foster shouts out a caution. “Alinthia! Stand down! He’s one of us.”
I spin around in the air. “That asshole is not one of us!”
“I could hardly act all buddy-buddy with you, now could I, Princess,” he mocks me, and the urge to nuke his ass rides me hard.
“Do not call me t
hat.” I slowly lower to the ground, my legs almost going out from under me when they meet the tile floor.
Daniel is by my side in a flash, scooping me back up into his arms. “Wow, Tori. You’re amazing.”
“Thanks, I think, but stop trying to distract me.” I look over at the principal. “What is this? Who are you and where are you taking me?”
“There isn’t time to explain,” Principal Foster says, hurrying after Officer Smith. “But I believe you are aware of the existence of the secret society.”
I gasp. “You’re part of the secret society?”
“Elder Glennev is the leader of the secret society,” Daniel affirms, gesturing toward the principal. “And you can trust him. Trust us. I swear.”
I snort. “I trusted your sister. And look where that got me.”
“That was a clusterfuck of epic proportions,” Daniel says. “And believe me, I ripped Kylie a new one for it. If it helps, she has been beside herself with worry, and she’s full of remorse. If she had only confided in me, all this could’ve been avoided.”
“Alinthia!” Coop’s panicked voice invades my mind again.
“I’m here.”
“Are you trying to kill me stone dead?!”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to block you, and I don’t even know how I’m doing it.”
“What the hell is going on? I’m tearing my hair out here.”
I quickly fill him in, and he’s as shell-shocked as me. “I’m not sure I like it, Alinthia. It’s not like you can take Daniel’s word for it. Look how his sister betrayed you.”
“I agree, but I don’t have many options. I’m struggling to keep my eyes open, and if they can get me out, then it’s got to be preferable to staying here.”
“That’s debatable. What about your new friends? Are they going with you? There’s safety in numbers.”
“Oh my God. I can’t believe I forgot to mention them.” I rub a tense spot between my brows, sighing heavily. “Give me a few minutes to fix this.”
“Don’t shut me out again. Please. We can’t bear it.”
“I won’t. I’ll let you know once we’ve gotten out of here safely.” I disconnect before he can argue with me.
“We’ve got to rescue my friends, Ellya and Tav. They were planning on helping me escape, and I don’t want to leave them here. I’m afraid what Zorc might do to them in retaliation.”
“There isn’t time, Alinthia,” Elder Glennev says. “You are my sole priority.”
“Then make time,” I say, jumping out of Daniel’s arms. I can’t let him carry me and then turn around and make demands with any kind of authority. My limbs are a little shaky, but I’m determined to walk out of the compound. “Because I’m not leaving without them.”
“I thought you might say that,” asshole guard says, smirking. “And it’s already been taken care of.”
I grab his elbow, yanking him back. “What the hell does that mean?” I glare at him. “If you have harmed one hair on their heads I will end you. Slowly and painfully, and I won’t feel a shred of remorse.”
“Relax, Princess.” He shucks out of my grip. “No need to get your panties in a bunch. They are both fine. My colleague is escorting them to the rendezvous point, and they were given masks to protect them from the gas.”
“You better not be lying,” I say in a clipped voice.
“Wow. You have serious trust issues.”
“You betcha, and for good reason.”
We round the bend and run straight into a roadblock. Two men are blocking the entrance to the main compound. They have guns raised and pointed in our direction, but they both look absolutely petrified. The shorter guy is sweating buckets, and his arm shakes as he struggles to hold his weapon upright.
I let the flames lick the palms of my hands as I step forward. “We don’t want to hurt you. Step aside and you’ll come to no harm.”
The taller guard’s Adam’s apple bobs in his throat as he looks briefly at his colleague.
“She’s right, Jim. Nobody has to get hurt here,” the asshole says, stepping up alongside me.
Jim—I presume—turns furious eyes on the man at my side. “You think I’d listen to you? Fucking traitor.”
“They are not our enemy, and what’s being done here is wrong. Search your conscience. You know I’m right.”
“I know they’re all fucking freaks!” he yells, swinging his gun around wildly in a way that terrifies me. “And she’s the biggest fucking freak of all.”
The asshole looks like he might agree, but he surprises me with his response. “This girl is the only one who can keep us all safe. You’d do well to let her through.”
“Just do it,” the short, stocky guy says. “I’m done with this shit.” He eyeballs his colleague before dropping his weapon and holding his hands up in surrender. “You won’t get any trouble from me, Donovan.”
“Idiot!” Jim hisses, following suit, because he understands he’s outnumbered and he has no choice.
Donovan, a.k.a. asshole guard, apologizes to his former colleagues as he binds their hands and feet and secures a strip of tape over their mouths. He picks up their weapons, handing one to Elder Glennev and one to Daniel.
When we step out into the main compound, Elder Glennev holds up a hand, stalling us while he checks the area with his small handheld thingy. “There’s another welcoming committee one hundred meters in that direction.” He jabs a finger in a northeasterly direction. “More guards. The scanner has picked up their weapons.”
“Shit.” Donovan scrubs a hand over his chin. “I don’t know how anyone escaped the gas. We sent it through all the air vents, so it should’ve impacted every room.”
“Maybe they saw what was happening on the cameras, and they got masks on in time,” I suggest.
Donovan shakes his head. “We installed a virus in the main system. All the cameras are out.”
“Well, however they escaped it, we’ve got a problem.”
“Not really,” Daniel pipes up. “We’ve all seen what Tori can do.” His voice lowers. “She can take them out if they won’t let us through.”
“I don’t want to kill anyone else if I can help it.”
“Agreed,” Elder Glennev says. “Is there another exit route we can take?” He levels his gaze on Donovan.
Donovan shakes his head. “’Fraid not. We have no choice but to face them. At least we have a heads-up and it’s not an ambush like they’re expecting.”
“Okay, let’s move forward,” the elder says, walking alongside me. “Stay behind us and let us try and negotiate with them first,” he directs, before glancing at Daniel and Donovan. “Protecting Alinthia is our number one priority. Nothing is to happen to her.”
We walk quickly and quietly, making good progress. The lingering tiredness in my limbs is contained, as if my body understands the severity of the situation and is finding energy reserves from someplace.
“Hold up,” Elder Glennev whispers, bringing us to a standstill at the end of the corridor. “The ambush is just behind this door. Daniel, stand at the rear with Alinthia, and let myself and Donovan do the talking.”
Daniel nods like a good little soldier, and I smirk at him. He flips me the bird, and I clamp a hand over my mouth to contain my snort of laughter. The other two check their weapons are loaded and activated, nodding at one another while Donovan punches in the code on the keypad affixed to the door. It snicks open, and he pushes through, the clicking of multiple weapons audible in the strained atmosphere.
“Don’t shoot,” Donovan cautions, holding his hands up in front of him. Six guards are lying in wait in the passageway. All carrying weapons currently aimed at our heads.
“Drop your weapons,” an older guy with a mass of shocking red hair says, pointing his gun in Donovan’s face.
“And spare us the bullshit, Don. You know what happens to alien sympathizers around here,” another guard says, swinging his weapon on Elder Glennev.
“Hand over the freak an
d no one will get hurt,” the guy with the red hair says, releasing the lock on his weapon and keeping it trained on Donovan.
“Man, you know I can’t do that,” Donovan says. “And this won’t end well if you try to stop us. Just put your weapons down and let us through.”
“Says you and whose army?” the other guard retorts. “The way I see it, you’re outnumbered.”
“And don’t even think of unleashing the freak on us,” the redhead says. “We’ve reactivated her bands. She can’t hurt us.”
Ignoring the elder’s command, I sidestep him and Donovan, standing protectively in front of our little group. We don’t have time for this crap. The longer we are in this facility, the more our chances of escape diminish. I don’t like the odds, so it’s time to up the ante.
I lift my hands out in front of me letting the flames dance atop my palms. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I seem to have mislaid my bands en route.”
I’d figured out pretty early on that I could laser the bands off once they were deactivated, but I purposely chose not to do it until the time was right. There was zero point in removing the bands when I was locked in my room with nowhere to go. The director and Sergeant Green knew I could do it too, so I hoped it was a show of faith and that it lulled them into trusting me. I had decided to remove all our bands just before we invoked our escape plan, but today’s events overtook our previous plans, so I discreetly got rid of the bands while Daniel was carrying me out of the auditorium.
The redhead, the one who is clearly in command, smirks. “Bring them out.”
My stomach drops to my toes when Ellya and Tav are hauled out of a side room and tossed on the ground on their knees. A line of blood trickles from Tav’s temple, and his clothes are torn up. Ellya looks terrified, gulping as she pins pleading eyes on me.
“We thought you might need a little persuasion.” The redhead smirks again as two guards jab weapons into the back of Ellya’s and Tav’s skulls. Ellya starts quietly sobbing, and Tav places his hand on top of hers, trying to comfort her. He shows no outward sign of fear. Only quiet determination. “You have ten seconds to get your butt over here before we blow their brains out,” he warns me, starting a countdown.
The Warrior Princess: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Alinthia Book 3) Page 12