remember you training me—”
The words are ripped from my lips as one of the figures crashes into me, wrapping its long arms around my waist. He pushes my backward, throwing me off balance, and we topple to the floor.
I grunt in pain as the figure lands on top of me and, for an instant, I want to curl up in a ball, close my eyes, and pretend this isn’t happening. But then those foreign yet familiar instincts kick in, and suddenly, I’m wrapping my arm around the figure’s neck, pushing his head down and swinging my body out from under it. I don’t stop there, either. No, I move around so I’m sitting on its back.
As I pin it down, I glance up and find that pure chaos has broken out as the other figures have started attacking the guys. Everyone is fighting, slashing their blades against the creatures’ flesh, the oily liquid weeping from the wounds and staining the floor black.
I’m living in a nightmare, I think to myself. But the thought is brief as the creature beneath me tries to push up. I grab the back of its hoodie and smack its head against the floor. It howls in pain, clawing at the floor with its overly grown fingernails.
“Ew.” I gag at the sight. “That’s so disgusting—”
I cut myself off as I spot a shadow on the floor in front of me, belonging to what I assume is a creature standing behind me.
I push up, kicking my leg out behind me, and the bottom of my boot connects with its jaw. It rushes back, and I knock the creature I’m sitting on in the back of the head, knocking it out before springing up, fists raised.
The creature barrels back at me, this time with a knife aimed at me. I do an awesome jump kick, bashing my foot into its chin. It howls out in pain but doesn’t stumble back, coming at me again while slashing the knife at me. I lift my hand to seize its wrist, and it drops it, but its creepy claws nick my arm, slicing the skin open.
Freak.
Loser.
Murderer.
For a panicking moment, I feel like I’m being pinned down on that bed again, but then I recover and kick the figure between the legs. It winces slightly but doesn’t collapse, so I’m wondering if maybe it’s female. Not that a vagina kick doesn’t hurt or anything …
Anyway …
I try another tactic, and throat punch the sucker. It makes choking sounds as it stumbles back, and I’m about to go all kickass on it when a siren echoes throughout the house. The noise is piercing and claws at my eardrums.
I cry out as I collapse to my knees, shutting my eyes.
The noise screams for quite a while, to the point where I swear my heart’s going to give out from racing at the panic of it. But then, just as rapidly as the noise and chaos crashed through the house, silence and stillness settle upon it.
I open my eyes and find the hallway in front of me empty.
What the hell—
A hand lands on my shoulder, and I curl my hands into fists as I spin around, springing to my feet.
Hunter is in front of me and hurriedly raises his hands. “Easy, sweetheart; it’s just me.” He has a cut on his forehead and his hands are covered in that black oily substance.
I keep my fists raised. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
I scan the area, seeing Zay is just to the right of Hunter and is dabbing blood off his lip with the hem of his shirt. His abs are on display, revealing these strange, angular scars across his abdomen, as if something scratched him.
Jax is standing right behind him, his dark hair a mess, blood smeared across his cheek. His eyes are on me, but his expression is unreadable, and not because it’s indifferent. No, I’ve just never seen him look this way before, which I guess makes sense since I’ve only known him for a few days … Except I haven’t. I’ve known him—them—for much longer.
“What were those things?” I ask with my hands clenched at my sides. “They weren’t human, were they?”
Hunter shakes his head, wisps of his hair falling into his eyes, one of which has a welt forming underneath. “No, they weren’t. But I have no idea what they are.” He twists around to look at Jax, lowering his hands to his sides.
“I don’t know what they’re called—my mind