Shadowlands Sector,Three - Mila Young Page 0,51

believe my eyes, but I’m scrambling to my feet and rushing over to him. I crash into the bar door, my arms threading through the gaps to reach him.

He came for me!

Tears never stop falling, while my heart bangs loudly into my ribcage.

“Angel legs,” he coos.

“Dušan! They have Dušan!” I blurt out, just as Lucien bursts into the room, his gaze sweeping wide until it lands on us.

“I’ve got keys,” he declares.

Bardhyl and I step back, and in moments, Lucien has the door to my cell swinging open.

I throw myself at my men, all three of us in a tight hug. I can’t stop trembling. I want to remain here and never leave their sides, but we are nowhere near safe. Our fight has only just started.

“Dušan,” I breathe as I untangle from them. “Mad took him and he’s going to kill him. We have to find him.”

Lucien’s mouth drops open while the corded muscles in Bardhyl’s neck twitch.

“Where would he go?” I ask, desperation raking through my chest.

No one responds at first and that tells me they don’t hold the answer. I’ll scour the whole settlement to find him.

“He’d do it with an audience,” Lucien finally answers, and there’s trepidation behind his voice. I hate hearing him scared because that skyrockets my own anxiety.

“It’ll be either in the courtyard or out in the field.”

“We follow the crowds,” I squeak, panic sinking in. Terror strangles me.

Bardhyl nods, then takes the lead and wrenches open the main door, while Lucien grabs my hand and we rush out of the dungeon.

“I’m sorry,” Lucien says, his face pale as fear swirls behind his gaze. “I promised to look after you, and I lost you again.”

“That doesn’t matter,” I say. “I would do anything to protect you—like you would me. And right now, we need to get to Dušan.”

An ache flares in my chest each time I remember the way Mad hauled him out of the prison. My insides shatter at the look on his face.

Dušan’s last words linger with me, refusing to leave me. Already, I know that if we don’t get to him in time, that memory will destroy me.

Rip me to shreds.

I can’t live a life without all three of them with me.

And I can’t even begin to imagine how I am meant to go on again. I glance over to Lucien, remembering how he lost his first fated mate. He is braver than I can ever be. Tears well in my eyes each time I think of losing Dušan.

But in my head, it’s clear that whatever happens, I will kill Mad.

I will burn down everything. My only salvation is Bardhyl and Lucien, but I’m not a fool. This will destroy them too.

Nothing will ever be the same again.

I feel it in my bones.

Distraught, I gasp for air and race up the stairs with my men.

We sprint out into an empty hallway. There is no pause. We swing right and frantically run to the side door we last used. The answer lies outdoors. I check the corridor behind us as Bardhyl sticks his head outside. With a wave of his hand at us, we hurry into a yard devoid of people.

In that same moment, an ear-piercing siren rings through the air, stealing the earlier silence.

I shudder in my skin, spinning on my heels, half-expecting an army of Ash Wolves to charge down on us.

“Fuck, fuck!” Lucien’s hand in mine shakes.

Bardhyl charges to the right and vanishes around the edge of the stronghold building.

“What the hell is going on?” I cry out.

“That siren goes off only when the undead have breached the settlement.”

My head spins. “Zombies have barged in here?”

Lucien draws me closer; the color from his face is mostly gone. “I suspect there’s something else going on.”

Moments later, Bardhyl careens around the far corner of the building farther away and bolts toward us like the devil himself chases him.

Fear twists his expression, and I feel sick to my stomach. Bile rushes to the back of my throat as anxiety strangles me.

I suck in each shaky breath as the ringing continues.

“I think Mad’s sacrificing Dušan to the zombies just outside the compound.” He gasps. “The siren must be to call the undead to him.”

A shiver grips my spine, and my knees buckle under me.

“I can stop it.” Before either of them respond, I rip my hand free from Lucien’s grasp and sprint to the edge of the fortress.

“Meira!” he calls after me. “Don’t go there!”

But nothing will stop me. My hands curl