my wolf and me. Together we are stronger than him, it thought.
“Don’t do it, Connor. You can control the darkness just like you did your wolf. It wants to dominate and use you. Don’t let it.” Zander’s voice was guttural and like nothing I’d heard before. The darkness thrashed and urged me to ignore him. I snarled, recognising a kinship with Zander’s other form—and a rival strong enough to destroy us.
Without pause, I lurched, trying to clamp my jaws around his throat.
With inhuman speed, he moved. Talons thrust into my belly and pain seared through me. I let loose a howl, except the sound wasn’t my wolf. It was something—other. Wrong, it was utterly wrong. Zander threw me across the room. I slammed into the wall and landed on top of Doherty’s corpse. Saliva hit my mouth and hunger consumed me. Ignoring Zander, I tore chunks of flesh from the director’s bones.
“Connor! Stop! Fuck! Use your wolf! Dominate the darkness. Push it back! Ember’s still alive! Do you hear me!? She’s alive, but we don’t have much time!”
I glanced up at him as bone crunched between my teeth. Doherty’s flesh was bitter. My lips curled back from my teeth. Evil made it taste that way, but it didn’t matter, this creature that I’d become loved it.
What the hell is happening to me?
My wolf growled, and helped me force the darkness away long enough to meet Zander’s eyes. He lifted Ember and, holding my gaze, bravely moved closer.
“Listen to her heart.”
A dull thud reached my ears, a faint and slow heartbeat. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. Ember wasn’t dead. Using all my strength, I slammed my will into the monster. It roared and fought, but it was newly born, and there was no way it could permanently take over my human body or my wolf.
“Connor! Shift back. We need to get into their clothes and use her body to get into the science wing. She’ll heal, Connor, she will.”
Pushing my wolf back, I was soon naked in front of Zander. He wasn’t taking Ember anywhere, not without me. He pointed a weapon at my gut, and a snarl curled my lips, but he was absolutely right, he shouldn’t trust me.
“Get those clothes on.” Zander gestured to the fallen guard.
Riding my wolf’s dominance, I hesitated.
“Now, Connor, or I’ll shoot you and finish this without you. I need her, not you.” His face hardened, his jaw setting. “It’s what she wanted, to help us get inside and see what’s really happening in there.”
“I know that, but seeing her like...this.” I gestured to the red stain spreading across her chest and swallowed hard. “What if she dies and doesn’t come back? What if that fire in her soul doesn’t work?” My voice was still gravelly and deep.
Zander glanced through the broken glass and down into the arena. “Like I said, we just have to believe that she will. Come on. Hurry up!”
There was a war going on down there. Thankfully, I hadn’t sensed any more of my brothers die, and I prayed to the Mother to spare them.
“Please, brother,” Zander entreatied, looking closely at my face.
“I’m not your brother!” I snapped. “My brothers are either dead or fighting for their fucking lives!” I breathed hard and fought the urge to shift again, if only to rip the world apart.
Zander’s face hardened. “Stick to the plan, Prime. We need a body to get out of this balcony and down into that wing, and she knew it. She didn’t want you to have to kill her. This knife? I slid it into her to save you the guilt of doing it. Now get those clothes on and come and take her.” He glanced out of the window again. “The warden’s come out to take the bodies. Quickly! The arena guards are fighting against the bots and the shifters, this is our only chance!”
Fuck! I should have known Ember would figure out our plan—that or Zander had told her because he knew I could never sink that knife into her. I tried not to look at her deathly pale face or the blood dripping through her clothes and hitting the floor. My heart missed a beat as I detected a faint sign of life. There was still hope. Maybe she could regenerate or be reborn or whatever the fuck she did, but part of me couldn’t just let her die. No matter what Zander said, if her gift didn’t work, she’d be gone forever.
My hands