He was barely present, but the flicker of sanity I could see was pleading.
Telling us to run.
I turned, Crescent’s hand in mine, and careened down the hallway.
CRESCENT
I wasn’t built for running.
Reading? Yes.
Running? Absolutely not.
My lungs burned and my vision blurred; everything was out of focus around me. I could hardly see where we were going, and Sin’s grip on my hand was my only anchor. His clammy palm clutched mine, leading me forward at a breakneck pace.
The gun was in his other hand.
Maybe that was why my head pounded.
From the sudden pop of the gunshot. The scent of blood clogging my nose and that alpha’s earsplitting screams.
I wanted to ask where we were going, but I didn’t dare. Our footsteps were already loud enough. There didn’t seem to be anyone following—Karma had held them all back—but if there were that many alphas hunting us, there would be more.
We swerved down empty hallways, pausing in silence every once in a while to wait for someone to pass. It was a miracle we made it to the rusty door that Sin pulled open.
It screeched, and I winced.
No one came running.
He ushered me inside and closed it behind us, turning to lean his back against it.
His chest heaved as he looked down at me, dark pupils almost swallowing his crimson irises. He glanced down at the gun in his hand, then he tucked it into his waistband.
I didn’t realize I was crying until his thumb brushed a teardrop from my cheek, the salty droplet sliding down in a little streak along his skin.
With a hiccup, I threw myself against his chest. My sobs were stifled—I was trying to be quiet—but it was still too loud in the empty, pipe-filled room.
I was desperate to ask if Karma would be alright.
But that was a pointless question, because he’d shut down in the bond, and that could only mean one thing.
He wasn’t.
The two of us were here alone, and none of our alphas knew where to look for us—if they were safe at all.
PHANTOM
A year and a half ago
We were caught between a rock and a hard place.
Karma was breathless at my side, having just brawled with one of the new, and completely feral alphas—Vandle, I think his name was, from the fractional moments of lucidity he’d had around us.
The stupid, pointless brawl had gotten us stuck in here.
Trapped behind a massive out-of-commission boiler in the boiler room while a pack feud went on the other side.
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up!” I hissed at Vandle, my hand clamped over his mouth as he growled, as if about to confront the alphas just around the boiler.