Built to withstand the forces of a hurricane. Even one created by a raging beast.
He dragged over one of the nightstands and then opened the door, the force of the wind almost knocking it from his grasp. He used the nightstand to prop the door open enough where he could slide through. He didn’t know what would happen once he clicked the device, but he sure as hell didn’t want to take any chances.
Aidan walked back over to Jaylin, her breathing even slower than before. A gray pallor ate away her healthy glow. With shaking hands, he placed the device where she’d instructed.
Please give me the strength to do this.
He hit the switch.
Red flashed into the room and her body jerked. His beast sprang forward. A white explosion went off behind his eyes and he doubled over, feeling as if a red-hot poker had skewered his insides. He dropped to his knees as the snarling animal pummeled from within, slashing and clawing its way to the surface. Agony encased his body as his nails blackened and lengthened, his teeth elongated, and fur sliced through his pores like razor blades.
Never had he felt the change as he did now. Never felt the beast so out of its mind with madness, ready to maim…rabid.
He looked at Jaylin, her eyes round in terror as she stared at him and he grasped the full extent of why she hadn’t wanted him to use it to save her. The beast would hurt her, a shocking discovery, considering it would kill to protect her as Aidan would. He had to get away from her. Ensure that she was safe from the beast.
Crawling forward, he shoved the device into her side once again and clicked.
The beast caterwauled, charging forward. Aidan bellowed through clenched teeth, dropping the device as he landed on his side on the floor, clutching his midsection. The pain so intense he was certain at any moment his skin would split wide open. Bones began to snap one by torturous one. His energy waned.
Get out. Now.
Belly-crawling, he used his arms to pulls his weight toward the door. Halfway there, his knees and elbows dislocated and bent into feline legs as more fur carved through his skin, making him howl in agony. His nose and jaw cracked, stretched. Long claws clacked on the floor as he used the last bit of human he had left to drag himself the remaining few feet.
Kill.
His lips pulled back on a snarl.
Kill.
Half-animal, half-human, a contorted mess of fur, flesh, fingers, and claws, he turned around and took one step toward Jaylin, eyes locked on the white flesh of her throat. Bloodlust consumed him. Then she moaned, speaking to the last bit of human remaining in his shattered body.
Never!
He forced the emerging beast to turn, using the last of his restraint to thrust his body through the opening and shut the door.
Then he lost himself to the animal.
…
Groaning, Jaylin shifted on the bed. Muscles screamed in protest and she grimaced. Why did she hurt so bad? She tried to swallow, but her mouth and throat had become sandpaper. Opening her eyes, she flinched against the sunlight that streamed into the room, then moaned again as her body rebelled against the movement.
What had happened?
She lay still for moment, blinking to focus on the room, which had taken on a foggy haze. Everything sounded normal. Crashing waves, chirping birds, rustling palms trees.
All the noises she’d grown accustomed to.
The haze slowly lifted from the room.
Had she drunk too much?
No. Definitely not. She’d had her fair share of hangovers and this was not a hangover. Besides, an odd sensation coursed through her body, something she’d never felt before, like an extra electrical charge that created a metallic taste in her mouth and a slight vibration in her entire body as if she’d gotten shocked.
Shocked.
Aidan.
Gasping, she sat up, then flopped back onto the mattress and moaned as her torso constricted. Looking down, she saw the faded remnants of bruises across her abdomen. The previous night hit her.
Holy crap. He’d done it.
She’d been certain she was done for, had been horrified that her last moments on this earth would be watching Aidan torture himself to save her, which had made her wish she’d never told him how to use the Splycer and instead had him hold her while she took her last breaths, so she could go to Anavrin while looking into his eyes, with regret in her heart.
Last night as she lay dying, she would’ve given