Unstable by Lacey Carter Andersen
5
Kiera
I’m tossedon the ground and the bag is ripped off of my head. Drake’s bag comes off next, and the instant he sees me on the ground, he growls and leaps at the demons. His hands are still tied behind his back, so he smacks the demon in the forehead with his head. The demon drops to the ground like a bag of rocks, and blood runs from Drake’s forehead as three demons wrestle him back to the ground.
The bags are pulled off of Emory, Adam, and Cole. Emory glances from me to Drake, and his eyes narrow. I watch him swell, but he’s taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself.
Adam’s golden eyes widen. “Don’t hurt him,” he begs the demons.
To my surprise, the demons all freeze and look at Adam.
Every muscle in my body tenses as I prepare for whatever our enemies might do to my mutant, but instead, it’s like his words calm them. Never in all my life would I have imagined massive demons listening to my kind mutant.
Instead, the one who’s bleeding says, “Okay, enough. Dragon shifter, will you behave? Your woman is fine.”
“I am fine,” I pipe up, trying to calm the situation.
Drake’s angry gaze meets mine from beneath the pile of demons. “You’re sure?”
I nod. “I just want to move this along.”
There’s a tense moment, and then he relaxes. The demons climb off of him and lift him back onto his knees beside us. We all kneel in a line, our wrists tied behind our backs still. If he hadn’t already been given the marks by the Blood Mages, I’d have thought this was the moment they’d execute us.
“Listen up,” the head demon growls, still rubbing at the blood running from his nose. “Our informants have let us know the location of the relic. Maxen the Asshole had it moved to a cabin in the woods a couple of days’ travel from here. Your job is to get in, get the relic, and get it back to us before the Blood Mage’s poison kills you all. Don’t waste time trying to find a cure to the poison. You won’t find one, and you’ll no longer have enough time to bring the relic back.” He nods to a black SUV parked at the side of the wooded road. “That’s your vehicle. Any questions?”
Adam speaks, surprising us all. “And if we get this for you, you’ll be able to stop that awful Maxen?”
The demon’s eyes gentle as they fall on Adam. “Yes, we will. This time, however, we won’t just stop him. We’ll destroy him. His actions show what we’ve suspected for a while, he’s a danger to everyone, not just the humans and berserkers, but the demons too. He can’t be allowed to live.”
“Good,” Adam says with an angry nod. “But will you follow through with your words to set us free afterward?”
The demon kneels down by Adam. “Boy, we are far older than you, so you might not be aware of this. But to see a mutant speaking, with his right mind, is a blessing to us all. Many people see demons the way they see mutants, as mindless monsters, but you prove them wrong, just as we do. None of us want you dead. If anything, we want you safe.”
“I believe you,” Adam says, giving him a smile.
The demon returns his smile, his face tender beyond what I’d have expected. He moves and cuts Adam free, followed by the rest of us. Then, he hands Adam a folded-up paper. “This has the address of the relic. Good luck!”
“Thanks!” Adam beams at him.
The demons climb back into their van, leaving the other vehicle behind. Their engine roars to life, and they peel out, leaving us all behind. My men are around me in an instant.
“Are you okay?” Drake asks.
“Yes,” I say, and he pulls me into his arms.
We hold each other for a long moment, a moment where I feel so damn warm and safe in his arms, before he releases me. Then, I hug Adam. A hundred moments flash through my mind. Of Adam in Maxen’s prisons. Of the torture he endured. And of the moment I thought he was dead. A sob catches in my throat, and I run my hands through his disheveled, blond hair, trying to calm myself more than I’m trying to calm him.
At last, he pulls back from me. Emory’s gaze meets mine, and there’s hesitation in his eyes. Things have been so strange between us. He helped Maxen take us. He acted as my guard. And he let them hurt Adam.
I want to hate him. But I also knew Maxen put him through such hell from the time he was a boy, that Emory really wasn’t capable of standing up against him. He was terrified, scarred, and broken, just like he was when he was young.
And even through all of his psychological trauma, he stood up for us in the end and saved our lives.
So, I hug him too. It’s hesitant. I can feel that there are things between us that will need time to heal, but I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that I’d always love Emory. And some tiny thought in the back of my mind whispered that I loved him even more after understanding, even if just a little, of what he endured when he disappeared from my life when we were children.
“This is all a waste of time.”
I pull back from Emory and glare at Cole. His big arms are crossed over his chest, revealing thin white scars along his skin. His expression is guarded, but there’s something about his stance that puts me off. And I can see the ripple his presence has in all my men.
“We should leave him here,” Drake says, his words a growl.
“He’s Maxen’s captain,” Emory continues slowly. “He can’t be trusted.”
“Says his fucking brother.”
“Half-brother,” Emory says softly.
Cole lifts an arrogant brow. “All I’m saying is that neither you nor I have clean hands in this thing, so we can keep the judgment out of it. We’re in the same position. We bring back the relic, or we die. And even though I serve Maxen, I value my life above his.”
“How do we know that?” Drake takes a step closer to him, and I seriously think my dragon might be looking for a fight.
“I guess you don’t,” Cole says with a shrug. “But I’m coming with you.”
“Unless we leave your ass here,” Drake says, smirking.
“Come on, guys,” Adam breaks in. “If we give him a chance, and he shows he can’t be trusted, we can be done with him. But right now, I think we could use the help.”
Before anyone else can speak, I rush out. “I agree. I don’t like him. I don’t trust him. But when we get to this cabin, he’s going to be the one person they let in the door. We could get in and out with the relic, without a big fight. That has a value.”
“I’d rather fight,” Drake snarls.
Cole doesn’t back down. “Dragon, you’re barely patched up. I can see that even this whole thing has been hard on you. You really think you can fight whatever powerful group Maxen left to guard the relic? Because I don’t think you can.”
Smoke rises from Drake’s nostrils.
I put a hand on his arm, and my shifter turns and looks at me. “Please,” I say. “We can’t afford to waste any more time.”
Tension sings between us all for a long moment before Drake snarls and stomps toward the SUV. Emory wraps an arm around Adam, letting the mutant lean on him a little as they follow Drake.
I walk after them but stop beside Cole. In a low voice, I whisper, “We might be in rough shape, but we can still kill you if you try to betray us.” Then, I keep going.
Behind me, I hear him say, “Right back at you, your majesty.”
Yeah, I really didn’t like this guy.
