Emryn didn’t know how to process. There was a familiar numbness in her chest that made it impossible to move. To breathe when Malcolm wasn’t. His coldness had changed. Switch from emotional to physical and all Emryn wanted to do was scream. To air out her lungs as she crushed theirs.

She could imagine it clearly. Abrax’s lying tongues ripped from their mouths. Their throats splattered in patterns of red to warn others of their colorful, false, words. There was a yearning to hear their necks shatter. But it wasn’t enough to just imagine it. Emryn needed to kill something.

Her fingers combed through Malcolm’s blonde hair. From the roots to his nape Emryn savored the soft feeling. She only wished he would move. Show some sign of life so she could wake up from this nightmare. Emryn pressed a soft kiss to his hairline, while her mind thought of Seth’s miraculous healing. She’d seen his skin stitch back together with a mere touch. It wasn’t too insane to think he could still help Malcolm.

Slowly, she rested him back on the mattress, as though he could still feel the pain. Her steps were heavy as she approached the first unconscious guard at the door. She looked at his face, slack and carefree, then she pressed her foot to his throat and reveled in the effortless force used to crush it. The blood soaked the tiled floor and filled her with the desire to do it again.

Crack and splatter. Press and crush. Again and again.

Her body moved through the corridor as if it were the one truly in control. Right then she preferred it that way. Every time she saw Malcolm’s blood on her hands her pulse spiked and all she could see was red.

It coated the white hall and caked the floors. She heard screams in a symphony of chaos and smiled.

Give them something to be scared of. Be the monster.

“Stand down!” Emryn opened her eyes to a crowd of soldiers, each aiming their weapons toward her.

Good. Let them think they have a chance.

Emryn removed the chakram from its strap and threw. The blade glided through the air, cutting down soldiers into nothing more than corpses. Loud bangs echoed as they opened fire. Emryn ducked and moved with eerie precision while the world around her moved slowly. She grabbed the nearest soldier and twisted his weapon from his grip. With the blunt of his gun she smashed his skull and he fell to the ground with a thud.

Kill them. Make them bleed. Show them what true pain was.

Bullets pierced her skin, tore through flesh, then logged between bone. But pain had always been a familiar companion. She threw out her fist, ignoring the pull of twisted muscle, hit the man closest and kept going. With her chakram back in hand she cut down soldiers one after the other. Still it wasn’t enough to quench her bloodlust.

“Emryn!” Arms circled her core and pulled back. Zaiden. That realization horrified her. Not here. Not now. She wasn’t ready to see him. Emryn was hauled back with enough force to make her wounds bleed out.

“Stand back, Commander!”

“You do not give me orders, soldier!” Zaiden yelled back but the men did not yield in their persistence.

Emryn thrashed at the arms restraining her. “She’s dangerous,” another screamed, “Get out of the way!” Guns did not stray from her form for she was a target they could not afford to miss.

“Lower your weapons and let me handle this.” As soon as the words spilled past his lips Emryn threw her head back and smashed into his skull. Finally his hold was cut loose. She spun around to face him, unsure of what she wanted to do, kill or hit, but she faced him anyway.

“Emryn,” he whispered, sounding so lost and afraid. At that moment he was not a commander or his father’s soldier. He was Zaiden, lost inside his own ideals. Emryn froze and in the second of hesitation she felt the barrel of a gun press against her skull. Zaiden’s eyes went past her to the gunman behind, once again putting up his facade of strength. “Stand down.”

The room was silent, air so tense it could be cut with a blade. The gunman hesitated then took one step back. Emryn stood still and chose to watch the one she had trusted, curious as to what his next move would be. He would not be able to sway her. Afterall, he could barely save her. Zaiden turned his attention to the crowd. “I have this handled. Grab the injured, take away the dead.”

Weapons slowly lowered to follow his command, faces eyed their leader warily knowing he too could be killed at any moment. They kept their distance small so to fight if the word was given. A monster was not to be trusted.

But Zaiden still reached out.

“Malcolm’s dead.” His hand stilled. Emryn tilted her head to see his eyes. “He used his last breath to tell me you’re a good person.” She stood closer, watched as his mask shattered back to a scared child stricken in pain. “Tell me he’s not wrong. Tell me you didn’t know.” Tears welled up near her one good eye. Grief had finally found its way through her mind. She latched onto his shirt, the material called between her fingers as a few nearby soldiers tensed. “Tell me you didn’t lie to me!”

Zaiden broke. His head fell to hers and stray tears dripped down his face while his arms circled her, bringing her in close. With each ragged breath he tried to calm himself. And then she knew.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Lips pressed the shell of her ear as he whispered, “I’m sorry.” Then something cold pricked her neck, digging into the flesh at her nape. When he let her go she could see the device in his hand, the dark metal staring her down like an animal on the hunt.

Her mind shut down. It became a fog her consciousness lost itself in. And the worst part was, she knew why. Harver once created an invention designed for a similar task. Putting her mind into someone else’s control was the only way to promise her loyalty. If Abrax and the labs were connected it made sense why they had it. The Mind Syfer had been their security blanket. A last line of defense against her. And Zaiden had chosen to use it.

A few drops of blood dripped down from the wound, warm against the piece of black metal now fused to her skin.

Zaiden backed up, device in hand, and gave her one order. “Follow.”

The fight drained out of her and she had no choice but to do as he said. Hre eyes couldn’t focus enough to analyze his face. To see what he was thinking. This couldn’t be it. Zaiden was a good person and Maolcolm was not a liar. Sure he had been a spy but he was the only one who dared to tell Emryn the truth.

They walked down the maze of hallways, the patting sounds of steps echoing through their wake, moved down through levels Emryn hadn’t seen before, although she could hardly see them now.

“You did good, boy.”

Emryn’s heart stopped. She knew who that vile voice belonged to. She tried to crane her neck to see Adnan Amin but the Syfer fought her for control. It was a fight she did not win.

“She’s under control. I told you you could trust me Father.” Zaiden’s voice was robotic and emotionless. Like he felt nothing for her at all. And that hurt far worse than the gashes on her flesh or the aches inside her skull.

Adnan clapped Zaiden’s shoulder. The most affection Emryn had seen him give to his son. “You did well.” Emryh wanted to scream. “Now grab the other and we’ll move on to the next phase.”

Seth. What had she done? Her soul ached for whatever they had in store for him. After hunting him all these years they finally had him. All thanks to her.

Zaiden ordered her to follow again, this time down a heavily guarded set of passages with tiles so white they were blinding. Lights flickered overhead followed by an annoying buzz. It was all Emryn could focus on.

Two guards pulled a set of heavy doors open to make way for their commander. Inside was a laboratory that mirrored the one she grew up in. Machines on every wall, decorated with charts and graphs. Vials of Salice were scattered throughout the room and in the center stood a human sized table and medical equipment. The array of blades made her skin crawl.

And hanging from the ceiling but a set of iron chains was Seth. Shirtless and bleeding. His head was hung low, eyes empty and fogged. Dr. Palai stood next to him, blade in hand as she watched Seth’s skin tether itself back together. This had been why they wanted him. They knew what his body could do.

“You’re dismissed.”

Dr. Palai flinched at Zaiden’s voice, now aware of the company she had, and stuttered all the way out the door.

“Come to visit me already?” Seth lifted his head. Even his smile looked vacant. And his eyes struggled to find Zaiden. Upon closer inspection Emryn could see the split pupils. They had blinded him, she realized. Her stomach churned.

Zaiden moved closer, hooked Seth’s chin in hand, and watched as he healed once again. “It’s stranger to see it up close,” he mumbled.

Seth shook him away. “What do you want now Amin? A date? You’re being far too clingy for my liking.” He shifted toward Emryn. “I don’t think your boyfriend’s loyal, Emryn.” His smirk faltered when she didn’t respond. “What? Nothing to say to that?”

“She can’t.”

Seth glared. “What do you mean she can’t?”

Zaiden held up the device. “Her mind is mine now.”

In one fell swoop Seth hooked his legs around Zaiden’s neck, nearly knocking the Syfer from his hands, and squeezed. Zaiden coughed. He fought against Seth’s grip but was severely outmatched. Seth still had the Salice in his veins. “You’re sick,” he seethed. Then Seth lifted his legs up, curling his body to move Zaiden off the ground. He was going to kill him.

Zaiden pulled a knife from his belt and ripped into Seth’s leg. One jab after another he relentlessly tried to loosen Seth’s hold. But he didn’t even scream. Emryn couldn’t look away. But oh how she wanted to.

Then Zaiden pried his arm through the gap between his neck and Seth’s thigh. It gave him just enough air to speak one command. “Get him off me!”

Emryn’s body moved before her mind. Her hand latched onto Seth and tore him away. Zaiden staggered back with haggard breaths. While he recovered Emryn held firm to Seth.

“Emryn,” he urged, “fight it. You’re stronger than them.”

“Don’t let him speak.”

Emryn’s hand clamped over his neck. Seth didn’t fight her. He didn’t even struggle. But he looked at her so intensely as if to say he understood. And he never dropped her eyes before he passed out.

Emryn felt a tear begin to form. She hated this.

Zaiden rubbed his own neck and tried to hide his labored breathing. He pulled out his communicator and ran off orders to the ones in the halls. As soon as he finished speaking he lingered. Too hesitant to say what was really on his mind. But for the first time Emryn was able to see the real him behind those eyes. A soldier and a scared kid rolled up inside one mind. There was a war inside his head. But Emryn couldn’t help him fight it anymore.

Adnan walked through the doors followed by a squad of armed men. “I trust everything went smoothly.” It was said with the arrogance of a proud child. If Emryn could move, she would’ve broken him in half. But all she could do was watch as they moved Seth onto the center table and wheeled it out the door. “You take care of her,” Adnan ordered.

Zaiden glanced at his father. He nodded, lips pressed tightly together, barely standing on weak limbs after Seth’s attack. For a second Emryn was glad she couldn’t speak. Because she knew at that moment she would have begged. Pleaded with Zaiden to let her and Seth go. To be far from Abrax and becoming lab rats again. Adnan smiled at her. “I’m glad to see you learn even you aren’t invincible.”

The next hours moved in a blur and Emryn was sitting inside a transport bus with Seth chained to the floor, out cold, while she lacked the freedom to even move. The Abrax base faded in the distance while Zaiden was silent beside her.

Time had moved backwards but this time she was worse than where she started. Emryn had lost everything all over again.