A man that isn’t me.
I don’t know if I can help her bring him back. I don’t know if I can hold up my end of the bargain I promised her. Partially because of my own jealousy, and partially because of all of this conjecture. If Kyle is the first of many turned to do nothing but fight, then there’s the grave possibility that one of us will have to kill Kyle if he comes after Clarissa.
And she will never forgive the man that does.
“We go after him,” Theo says. “It’s all we’ve got. If there’s a war coming, we could use strength like his on our side. And we owe it to Clarissa. We made her a promise.”
“But what if he’s raw? Uncontrolled? I watched what him turning did to you. He was in your mind, Theo, and his rage alone almost killed you. That isn’t the Kyle we know. Whoever’s in that cage and communicating with you isn’t the Kyle Clarissa loves.”
“We made her a promise. We gave her our word. We keep alert, and we operate under the assumption that the prophecy is true. That war is coming and that we need to protect Clarissa. But we keep our promise. We go after Kyle.”
I growl and shake my head as I lean against the wall.
“Hungry?”
A tired Josie comes walking out of her room, stretching and yawning and stinking of human flesh.
“Sure,” I say.
“Whatever you have already prepared is fine,” Theo says.
“Then I better get cooking since I don’t have anything prepared,” she says.
Chapter 5
Kyle
Prison is terrible . The food is pathetic, and everyone wants to poke and prod at the new toy. I can’t stand it. But not because of the food or the people, but because of Clarissa. Because I’m in prison, I’m not out there protecting her. I’m not out there stepping in front of all those shifters who pant and howl after her like dogs in heat. She’s in danger. Luring them in without any control over the situation, and I’m not there to stop it. I’m her husband. Her confidant. The one person she can rely on.
And I’m trapped in a prison cage.
I slam myself against the ceiling and feel it dent underneath the weight of my destruction. My teeth are bare, and saliva is dripping to my toes. I have no idea what they’ve done to me. All I can remember is the agonizing pain I was in when those Primals came after me. Shearing me into shreds and removing slabs of my skin and gnawing into my body. Injecting me with some sort of serum as I laid there, bleeding out on the floor.
I can remember the ambulance hauling me off as my heart stopped. Which was the weirdest thing.
I can remember the moment my heart stopped.
The next thing I remember, I’m in a cage. Growling and clawing with talons protruding from my fingers. I’m covered in fur, and there’s skin attached from my wrist down my side and all the way to my hips. I feel different. I smell different. I can hear everything taking place around me. My anger is prevalent. Boiling and clawing at my mind. I can hear the blood rushing through my veins, and I can see every hair on every guard twitching with electricity whenever they approach.
It’s invigorating.
And petrifying.
But there’s relief every time I talk to Theo.
Well, every time I try to.
He hasn’t responded in a few days, and I’m worried. I’m afraid the connection is severed and that my hope for talking with Clarissa is gone. Are they coming after me? Did they even believe me? For all I know, they’ll convince Clarissa I’m still dead so they can have her all to themselves.
The thought alone makes me rage.
I slam myself against the bars and watch them bend underneath my weight. I always get so close. One thrust away from busting out before they catch me like they’re about to. I can see the guards with the shackles approaching me, and I scoot back into the cage. The top pops off and I try to lunge at them, but a needle comes down into my neck. My body falls limp, and everything is dark, and when I come to, I’m back in yet another cage.
Another cage that more quickly drains the life from my bones.
“Someone help me.”
I fall onto the floor of my cell and curl up into a corner.