choice regarding this very topic—only shifters who asked for the service would be stripped. Other than a few radicals, most of my faction seemed reasonable. Still, it was hard for me to truly wrap my head around actually destroying an alter. My Phoenix screeched anxiously in my head as I clamped down on my objection.
It was Mordred’s choice, and one I could understand. Besides, I had to remember we were in a war, and one not everyone was going to survive. This danger paled in comparison to what we were all about to face.
“For now, I will ask you to think of anything that may be useful for us. It will be faster to share the information mentally while Ryder prepares.” Damien and Mordred locked eyes as Ryder and Theo disappeared from the room, gathering whatever they needed to move forward with stripping his powers.
“You okay?” Killian whispered in my ear, kissing the tender skin behind it gently.
“You don’t have to stay for this part,” Hiro added, his voice just as quiet. “We’ll be able to handle it.”
“It’s alright.” I smiled, taking in the way his eyes softened while they searched my face. Hiro didn’t need mind reading abilities to read me, he just needed my body language. “I want to. I need to know what happens,” I admitted.
It only took a few minutes for Theo and Ryder to return with a kit and a bucket between them while Damien and Mordred continued their silent stare off. “Are you ready?” Ryder asked, the lines around his eyes tight. I knew he wouldn’t like this, my gentle man. He was about saving people, not harming them.
“I’m ready,” Mordred replied calmly.
“We’ll need to bind you,” Theo told him. He indicated the bucket, which I now realized contained water. “I know your chains hold you now, but with what we’re about to do, I prefer to have additional restraints.”
“Please,” Mordred agreed, his eerily empty eyes tracking their movements. “Whatever you need.” He reclined back onto the cot, his head settling against the pillow, the chains on his wrists hanging slack as he waited patiently for whatever Theo and Ryder had planned.
Is this some kind of trap? Ryder inquired cautiously.
I don’t think so, Damien responded. He opened his mind for me as much as he could, maybe even more than he meant to. He truly seems to desire becoming human. Though I would keep eyes on him when he is if this actually works. The last part seemed to be an afterthought.
Water rose up in a stream, solidifying into thick bars of ice that secured Mordred’s hands and legs to the bed before Theo and Ryder approached with whatever was in Ryder’s syringe.
“As a healer, I want to ask you again,” Ryder said. “There is a significant chance this will kill you or drive you insane. Are you sure you’re willing to take that risk?”
My heart was breaking for Ryder, and I knew it would kill him if Mordred died under his care despite the fact he wasn’t one of ours and was even technically still our enemy. Ryder was a healer through and through, and I never wanted that to change.
“I am.”
“Then proceed,” Damien declared, stepping back to join us as Theo and Ryder positioned themselves on either side of Mordred. My other mates closed in around me, their shoulders tense as they watched. If this worked, it could offer the children here who had been experimented on a different life—but that depended on the cost. The injection was smooth and simple as both Ryder and Theo stepped away, allowing the venom to creep through his veins. I hadn’t seen it work before, and I had no idea what I was waiting on. Did it take minutes? Hours? From their watchful eyes, it clearly wasn’t something that took days. Mordred remained calm and quiet, merely breathing as though he planned to take a nap where he lay on the bed.
I turned to Damien, my mouth opening to ask, when a shriek ripped through the room, echoing off the ceiling. I nearly fell, the pain in the sound haunting as it tore out of him again, his back bowing off the bed. He screamed a third time, so loudly I was sure his throat would tear, as he threw his head into the mattress, his blank eyes trained on the ceiling.
“What’s happening?” I asked, even as Killian and Joshua caged me in.
Ryder and Theo had jumped forward, holding him down as he thrashed and