“No.” Her huff and the way she readjusts in her seat is downright adorable. I can tell she’s fuming, though it comes across more like a pout.
Sydni has always been carefree and gentle, but this… this is something different. I caught a glimpse of it when Xeraphine was first taken, but now it’s on a whole new level. I know that if I give her the means, she won’t hesitate to tear someone in half to get my girl back. I’m inclined to want to see it, truthfully.
“I’m tired of this bullshit, I’m just—” Alaric cuts himself off as he slams on the breaks, bringing the car to an abrupt stop. I’d have questioned the dramatics, but in front of us is a gigantic wolf, bright yellow eyes piercing through the dead of night.
Brice.
He’d ridden his motorcycle ahead of us, much faster, arriving at the Asylum a good twenty minutes before we hit the Bison Road.
Alaric is already out of the car, and the three of us follow closely behind him. Werewolves, unlike Shifter wolf breeds, are significantly larger, their human forms a reflection of their animal counterparts. Brice is massive—that’s putting it mildly—easily three times Sydni’s size and twice my own, so it makes sense that his wolf form is just as imposing.
His massive head turns toward Syd, who scrunches her lip in mock defiance before quickly sticking her tongue out at him. I’m surprised she doesn’t flip him off before she sidles up to stand beside me.
I offer the Werewolf a smug grin, a silent means of telling him toback the fuck off.
Brice shakes out his fur as he approaches Alaric, and when his mouth opens, I amblownaway to hear him speak. “We have a problem.”
I’ve never interacted with a Werewolf in their natural form, and truthfully, I’m not sure why I’m taken by surprise. I make duplicates of myself, and Xeraphine can manipulate her blood. Why wouldn’t I be able to hear a wolf talk?
“What’s wrong?” Niyla asks, coming to stand on the opposite side of Sydni.
“Are we sure this is the right place?”
I’m the only one here that has any experience with this place, so I nod. “Yes, the Asylum is just at the end of this road.”
A low growl rolls from his throat. “When were you here last?”
I feel like this is a moot point. And they’re concerned aboutourquestions wasting precious time. “Why?”
He shifts, turning away from us. “Leave the car.”
As he barrels down the strip of road, I shift to Sydni, who has her eyes already on me.
“Run like you normally would. Your actions are just twice as fast,” Niyla offers, and places her hand onto her shoulder. Sydni immediately pulls away from her.
Watching as my butterfly runs straight after Brice, disappearing into the distance, has me sighing heavily.
Poor thing…
Sensing Niyla stepping to me, I look at her through the corner of my eye. “Not all creators wish to control their created. If I could separate our connection, I would.”
I’ll forever be grateful that she turned Sydni, because I can’t imagine a different outcome. I don’t even want to consider what kind of world would exist otherwise. I can only guess the type of chaos Xeraphine would unleash. That doesn’t change the fact that none of this should have happened.
Even if they haven’t outright said it, Alaric and his group knew something was off. I don’t buy for a second that Brice was following Sydni out of the goodness of his heart. Sure, he might actually have feelings for her, but that’s secondary to whatever Alaric’s real motives are.
“I just hope you understand your fate.” My tone carrying the weight of my words. When I turn my head forward, Alaric is gone, and soon, so am I.
It doesn’t take me but a few minutes to make it to the parking lot—or, what the?
“Wait,” I say aloud to no one in particular.
There are no cars parked in the area which previously housed a paved parking lot. The once-illuminated area, now as dark as the mountains that shadow the backdrop of the once-functioning building.
For a moment I question if we had taken the wrong road, because as I’m staring up at an edifice choked with overgrown vegetation, shattered windows, and broken doors, I’m thinking this can’t be the same place.
“Rhyse…” I can’t look down at Sydni who grabs onto my arm, because I am transfixed on the sight ahead of me. “This can’t be right… can it?”
It isn’t the silence that is eerie… no, it’s the smell of death that permeates from the building. It’s fresh.Toofresh.
