Animal Instinct

by Noelle N

  "We've got company," Dimitri called, from his post by the stairwell. He'd been standing there quietly, throwing glances our way every so often but his eyes and ears were sharp, peeled for any intruders. "Get him out of there."

  "I can't." My heart began to race in my chest when I realised that our situation had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. "Silver cuffs. We need a key to unlock them."

  Dimitri threw us another glance, his eyes zeroing in first on the cuffs locked around Jed's wrists and ankles, and then to Jed's beaten, exhausted face. His jaw tightened and he dragged out a knife from the inner lining of his leather jacket and flipped it twice in his hand. "Fine," he said evenly, "I'll get the keys. You get him out of here."

  I wanted to argue, but then thought the better of it. Dimitri was well-equipped to be in a fight. I was not, and Jed – I didn't know how long he could last. Giving Dimitri a quick nod, I tightened my grip around Jed and waited, heart hammering in my chest as I heard the slow but steadily approaching shuffle of footsteps. Jed heard it too, and he quickly stilled, dragging up a heavy arm to pull me closer to his side, half shielding me with his body.

  My heart sank when I saw the person who finally came up the stairwell.

  I caught a glimpse of Azazel's smirking face, slight amusement in his expression as he threw a quick glance our way. But it was over in a second, because Dimitri was never one for niceties or greetings of any kind, and sent his knife whizzing in Azazel's direction.

  Azazel ducked just in time, recovered swiftly, and drew out a weapon that made Dimitri still. It was a gun, but one look at it and I knew it wasn't just any kind of gun. "Knives are always so slow," he mused, lips curving up in a wicked grin when Dimitri faltered, his knife wavering in his hand. "Some bullets, on the other hand, can travel faster than the speed of sound. And silver bullets, well – let's see if the assassin can defend just as well as he can kill, shall we?"

  He tugged on the trigger the moment he finished speaking, and I heard the very first gunshot of many. The bullet zipped past Dimitri as he ducked, and he swept out a leg to knock Azazel off balance when the latter directed the gun towards us. The sudden pressure of Jed's hand on my shoulder lowered me just in time too, because the bullet shot right past, barely missing us by several inches and lodging itself into the wall behind.

  "Would take a lot more than a gun to kill me, you shit," Dimitri hissed, jerking Azazel's hand away as he fired another shot. This one lodged onto the ceiling above, but Dimitri ignored that and went straight for the keys hooked on Azazel's belt. With one sharp tug, he yanked the keys out and chucked it across the room to me. "Get him out!"

  I caught it swiftly and didn't waste a moment in unlocking the cuffs around Jed's wrist. It took several tries to figure out which key was the right one, but once I did, I heard that affirmative click, and the first lock was undone. Jed's fingers tightened around my arm and I went for the other lock, only to freeze when I heard three distinct gunshots, followed by a muffled cursing that was in Dimitri's voice.

  Spinning around quickly, I felt cold clamp down in my throat when I saw Dimitri hunched up over the floor, one hand curled protectively around his left shoulder as he gritted his teeth to rein in the pain. Azazel already had the barrel pointed at him, ready to take the next shot.

  I didn't even think. Reaching for Jed's arm and giving him a fleeting squeeze, I chucked the keys at him before reaching for my own knife that I'd placed beside me. When I flung it at Azazel, my aim was far off and barely grazed him.

  But it did catch him by surprise and with a snarl, he twisted aside to turn the gun on me.

  The next bullet sped past us when Jed snuck out a hand and pushed me aside just in time. And the next was intercepted by Dimitri, who'd dragged himself up and plunged a knife into Azazel's thigh. Azazel let out a pained yell and launched a swift kick with his other good leg at Dimitri, sending him crashing against the glass windows and out onto the balcony ahead.

  In the time elapsed, Azazel quickly strode towards us, gun in hand. It wasn't until he reached for my hair and dragged me to my feet that I realised he wasn't aiming for Jed at all. "Should've killed you when I had the chance," he spat, and I let out a wrangled cry of pain when he pulled me towards the balcony. Behind us, I could hear Jed struggling against the chains that still shackled him in, a look of utter terror on his face when he realised that we'd been separated once again. He reached for the keys and tried to undo the rest of the locks on his own, but with only one hand and blood still trickling from his fresh wounds, I quickly realised that I was all alone in this.

  "Let go of me!" I jabbed an elbow against Azazel's chest, but he easily evaded my attack. Glancing sideways, I noticed Dimitri still pushing himself up from the floor, the silver bullets clearly sapping him of his strength and the earlier collision throwing him entirely off balance.

  Azazel ignored me and shoved me towards the edge until my back hit the railing, his hand closing around my throat as he smirked, blood trickling from the corner of his lips. "Any last words?"

  But those words were barely out of his mouth when Dimitri rammed right at him, knocking the both of them sideways and off course. Azazel reacted quickly, sweeping Dimitri's legs from out under him and pushing him backwards over the railing, and right off the building.

  "Dimitri!" I gasped in horror and flung out a hand, reaching out to grab him by the wrist just in time.

  The sudden weight almost toppled me over and I felt myself flung to the edge of the balcony, the joint in my shoulder almost tearing with the force, but I gritted my teeth and held on to him. Then I felt the cool barrel of a gun against the side of my forehead.

  "This is too easy. Almost like killing two birds with one stone," Azazel mused, a sickening smile on his bloodied face and an evil glint in his eye as he kept the gun pressed to my skin.

  I was terrified, my breath coming in rapid gasps and my hand searing with the sheer effort of holding onto Dimitri. Azazel shifted a finger to tug on the trigger, but just before he could, a hand snuck around his and jerked the gun away from his grasp.

  A gunshot rang into the night, sharp and loud amidst the sound of the crashing waves below. The gun was twisted out of Azazel's grasp, and he screamed in agony as two shots were fired straight into his right shoulder. But before he could retreat away, he found the barrel pointed to his forehead.

  There was nothing but death in Jed's eyes as he looked at the man who was once his best friend.

  But Azazel met his gaze steadily. "Before you kill me," he rasped, his voice laced with pain as he clutched at his shoulder, even as the glint in his eyes sharpened, "save them first."

  And then he moved in a way that none of us saw coming – an unexpected sweep of his hand that pushed me right off the balcony. Dimitri was already hauling himself up, but the sudden momentum pushed the both of us off the edge again, a horrified scream wrenching itself from my throat when I suddenly found myself grasping nothing but air.

  But then Jed caught me just in time, latching a hand around my wrist, an abrupt jerk that made the muscles in my shoulder tighten with pain. Dimitri's hand latched around my ankle before he too could fall, and I gritted my teeth when I felt my knee burn, the joint in my shoulder tear with both our weights. It felt like someone had flayed my skin alive and I was in sheer, sheer agony, until I couldn't think about anything else but how painful it all was.

  Jed's jaw was clenched as he stared down at us, fear lacing his eyes when he realised how close we were to death. Twisting aside, he fired several more shots at an escaping Azazel, who was running away before Jed could properly finish him. Once Azazel was out of sight, he tightened his grip around my wrist and tried to pull me up.

  "Jed," I whispered, biting back a terrified whimper as I felt myself slip. Our combined weights were slowly but surely dragging us down, and the muscles cording Jed's neck strained as he tried to maintain a firm grasp on my hand.

  Then, all of a sudden, he paused, his hand stilling around mine as his gaze lo
cked on something. Or someone. Not on me.

  But on Dimitri.

  A sudden dread seized me and I followed his gaze down to where Dimitri was, my eyes widening in horror when I realised that he was looking down. Down at the deep, deep abyss, the dark waves crashing against the jagged rocks where nothing lay below but death.

  When Dimitri looked back up, the expression on his face was unreadable, but I could still see it all on his face – the dreading knowledge that Jed could only pull one of us up before he lost his grip on the both of us. And I knew at once that the decision Dimitri was about to make was irrevocable – one that would change everything, end everything.

  Panic bubbled to the surface and I reached out my other hand to him. "Give me your hand!" I shouted, when he glanced down again, then back up at me. Tears streaked blindly down my face as I continued to hold out a shaking hand to him, fingers grasping for a solid warmth that he refused to give. "Don't you dare let go, Dimitri, just give me your hand!"

  Dimitri looked first at Jed, whose eyes were wide as he furiously shook his head. Then he looked at me, his dark eyes meeting mine, so dark they were clearly obsidian like the first time that I had met him. Only this time, they held a sliver of apology in them. And when he spoke, his voice was barely audible amidst the sounds of the deafening waves below.

  "It was an honour serving you, Luna."

  His fingers released their grip around my ankle before Jed or I could even react. I felt the shift of weight suddenly leave me, the aching in my leg dull to a steady throb, but all I could focus on was that final glimpse of him as he fell.

  "Dimitri!" I cried, my eyes scanning the black waters below, and Jed was doing the same – the both of us looking, finding, searching for a glimpse of Dimitri that could prove to us that he was still there, still alive.

  But there was nothing and all we could hear was the thunderous roar of the waves that drowned out everything else.

  28

  PULSE

  I was still sobbing when Jed pulled me back up.

  Losing Dimitri was like losing Spike all over again, only far more painful, because I knew for a fact that Dimitri had given up his life to save mine. He'd said far too often that he had no loyalty to anyone, no Luna. But he'd called me his and I knew it. I just didn't say it, but for the longest time, I suspected that I'd somehow won over his loyalty the night I refused to let Titan make him a prisoner. And I had a feeling that he knew too that after losing Spike, he'd become the one person I trusted and relied on the most aside from Jed.

  So the fact that he was gone now was devastating.

  Jed patiently held me, his arms wrapped tightly around my shaking frame and his lips pressed gently to the side of my head. His fingers traced soothing patterns on the small of my back and the mere action alone, coupled with the way I felt entirely safe with him, was comforting.

  Hearing the occasional howl still echo in the background and remembering that the fight was still very, very much ongoing, I hastily brushed my tears away with the back of my hand. "I'm okay," I assured him, when I saw the way he was staring worriedly at me. He looked exhausted and beaten, but still seemed more concern about my wellbeing than his own. "We should go."

  He nodded and quickly climbed to his feet, biting his lip to keep from flinching at the sudden movement. I was guessing it had to be the bruises on his ribs, but he held out his hand for me to take before I could worry about him, and pulled me up. We made swift work, striding quickly across the now empty room and only pausing to pick up my knife along the way. Jed picked up several of Dimitri's, and I pushed aside the pang in my chest when I thought about how bravely Dimitri had defended us earlier.

  I kept close to him as we headed down the stairs, keeping close to the sides. Jed's eyes were sharp, even if his energy seemed sapped, and he didn't let down his guard. We were still in the midst of descending the second flight of stairs when Jed suddenly froze, instinctively pushing me behind him.

  Then he fell a step back. Placing a palm on the small of my back, he urged me back up the stairs. Before long, we were back in the same room. Jed glanced round the room, taking in the low ceiling and dim light by the pillar, the unlocked chains strewn on the floor. Nothing else. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run.

  In the middle of the dimly lit room, he pulled me swiftly towards him and dropped a quick kiss to my lips. It was fleeting but it was bittersweet, and I could taste the blood from the cut on his lip, but his taste drowned out everything else when he swept his tongue across the crevice between my lips, his fingers sliding up to rest against my cheeks.

  "I'll keep you safe," He said quietly, his lips brushing mine as he spoke, his green eyes meeting mine unwaveringly. "I promise."

  I nodded, because I never had any doubt that it was true, and took a deep breath. I was scared, terrified, and I knew that Jed felt the same way. But there were times when you couldn't keep running. Monsters you had to face once and for all. The time was now. The footsteps were nearing and Jed stood in front of me, his posture entirely defensive, eyes steadily fixed on the stairs as he waited.

  Then a chilling voice broke the silence.

  "Brother."

  Malthus Trevino reached that final few steps, his black eyes glinting in the shadows. He was just as I remembered – that straight nose and strong jaw that looked a lot like Jed's, but his eyebrows were set too close, the brevity in his eyes hard. Grim. Wicked. The sinister smile playing on his lips stretched when he saw us, my ashen face and Jed's bruised one. I didn't think he missed the fear in our eyes at all. "It's been awhile."

  It wasn't until he said that when I realised that Jed hadn't met Malthus during his earlier period of capture. The thought of that was strangely relieving – that Jed hadn't been left alone with Malthus. But the relief I felt didn't last long, especially when I saw the six men that trailed after Malthus. Four of them were clearly just rogues from Prometheus.

  Lance and Giles were the other two.

  Everything that Jed had told me about mind-linking came rushing back. This must've been why neither of them could be reached. Because somehow, amidst all the struggling and fighting and surviving that they'd done, they'd lost. Jed was no longer their Alpha.

  And Malthus was.

  Jed and I stood in frozen horror as we took in the decrepit states of Lance and Giles. Giles looked exhausted, bags under his eyes and the occasional scar peppering his skin here and there. When he saw Jed, there was a vague flicker of recognition, but it was quickly replaced by a look of complete hostility and suspicion. Lance, on the other hand, had his head lowered, his shoulders hunched, like he'd taken far too many beatings to even have a sliver of a fighting spirit left in him.

  "You know, brother, I have to say – you do have an eye for picking the strong ones," Malthus was saying, in a manner that sounded far too conversational and calm to be true. "These two put up quite a good fight before we finally broke them in."

  Jed stiffened so obviously that Malthus laughed.

  "Not in that way. That kind of special treatment from our father and I was only reserved for you."

  He smirked when Jed's fists clenched. Jed was furious, that much I knew. But there was fear too, when it came to a monster of his past that he finally had to face, and it slowly but surely pricked at him. Then Malthus turned his cool gaze to me, and I immediately braced myself, feeling Jed surreptitiously tuck me closer to him.

  "And you." Malthus smiled almost pleasantly, such a sudden, eerie switch that made a chill race down my spine. "Did you enjoy my lair?"

  I froze.

  "Nice place, isn't it?" He shook his head at me in silent mirth when I kept frightfully still. "I don't usually let people in – apart from the ones I keep there, of course; but you, you had the best reaction of all."

  My mind worked rapidly at his words, my fingers instinctively tightening around Jed's as I felt a surge of anger pulse through me. "You let me in on purpose," I said at last, my voice tight and strained as I remembered the traumatic exper
ience of setting foot into that room. "You wanted me to see that?"

  "Of course," He returned smoothly, flicking an amused glance at Jed, who was still standing stiffly. "I needed someone to let my brother know that our father's legacy was still operating. And who better to tell him that than you?"

  It was all a ploy from the beginning and I was almost angry with myself for not having seen it coming. Escaping had been far easier than expected, not to mention the fact that I'd managed to leave with Bianca, but I had all along thought that Dimitri had everything to do with it. Clearly, it wasn't just that.

  Malthus had let himself be played. Let us think that we were outsmarting him so that we would let our guard down. By letting Jed know about that Claudius's legacy was still in operation, Malthus was effectively toying with Jed's greatest fear. He wanted Jed to know, wanted Jed to be terrified, wanted Jed to fear him.

  And I'd played my role in his plans perfectly.

  "You're a monster," I breathed, but even as the words slipped past my lips, I already knew how absolutely redundant they were.

  "Oh, I am." Malthus fell an unexpected step back and raised his hand. With a sinking heart, I realised that he was gesturing towards Lance and Giles, who had both begun to shift at his signal. "But then, so are they."

  Jed tensed and pushed me behind him, before he shifted. His change was far swifter than Lance's or Giles's, bones cracking and resizing until he was a mass of black fur standing in front of me, posture rigid and snarling a warning at the two wolves approaching him. I recognised Lance's wolf form immediately – the same shade of brown that Lorraine's was, while Giles was the bigger one, a blend of matted brown and grey.

  It didn't matter that they were once part of Titan – their wolves had accepted a new Alpha and, judging by the loyalty that most wolves went by, I had no doubt that they would be willing to fight Jed to the death if the situation called for it. Jed, on the other hand, was entirely on the defensive. He kept them firmly away from me, but seemed reluctant to make a move that would hurt either of them.