Chapter 6: Break Out - Isolde

“Isolde? Isolde, wake up.” I hear someone whisper. I slowly open my eyes and take a moment to let the blurry figure to my left come into focus. It’s Alpha Jasper, with something glowing in his hand. “Is this supposed to be happening?” He asks.

My vision finally clears up and I can see the pendant in his hand glowing brightly. I smile and nod, “How long did you have it in the sun?”

“A few hours. You looked like you needed the rest, and the humans have been busy,” he says with a disgusted look on his face. I can guess what they’ve been busy with. “So what do I do now?”

“If you’re ready to get out of here, then stand back and throw it at the bars. We have to be quick because they’ll send an army down here to stop us, and each one will be packing everything they need to kill us,” I warn him.

“Boom and run. Got it.” He gets to his feet and presses himself back against the cell wall as I struggle to my feet, using the brick wall behind me for support. Jasper takes in a deep breath and hurls the pendant at the floor of the bars to his cell and the moment the pendant shatters, we’re forced to shield ourselves as the bars explode with extreme force. I cough and wave away the dust and debris now filling the air as alarms begin to blare around us. “Just how much power are you packing?” He asks, looking at me with wide eyes.

I smile, “And that’s not even my full strength.”

“Good thing I’m on your good side then,” he says, stepping out of his cell and walking over to mine. It takes him a few heaves, but he’s able to rip the gate off my cell. If he was at full strength he could have done that with ease, only reason he was even able to now is because the explosion weakened the bars.

Jasper steps into my cell and carefully wraps his arm around me allowing me to put my weight on him as he guides me out of the cell. I can hear the cries for help from the other prisoners, and I know I can’t leave them in here.

“We need to get them out of here, but I’m not strong enough.”

“Can makkares absorb someone else’s energy?” He asks.

I knit my eyebrows in confusion, “Technically yes, but–”

“Then take some of mine. I wasn’t in there long enough for it to zap all my energy, and the lupine has already worked its way out of my system. It’s not much, but surely the energy of an Alpha should give you enough magic to get these people out of here,” he suggests.

I smile at him, “I can see why you’re an Alpha. Are you sure about this? You don’t have much. I’d have to take almost everything you have to give myself enough of a boost to get us out of here,” I warn him.

“Those guards will be down here any second. If it means we all get home, then take every last fucking drop,” he says with strong conviction.

I shrug, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I lay my hand over his heart and can feel the Mark of the Alpha beneath my fingers. I draw on the tiny flicker of magic inside of me struggling to stay alive. I call it forth and reach out for the energy inside of Jasper. It’s warm and has my mouth tasting like marshmallows. As I pull it into me I feel the flicker of magic inside me growing in strength. I feel my eyes begin to change to obsidian pools with silver pupils and the more energy I pull from him the more my body begins to glow with a purple light. Jasper is panting and soon is dropping to his knees.

I go to pull back, but he holds my hand in place. “I said every last drop,” he pants through clenched teeth. I focus harder as I hear the sounds of the guards approaching. I take as much as I need until I feel just strong enough to do what is needed. Jasper can barely keep his head up, but he’ll be okay.

I gently cup his cheek, “If I’d taken any more, you’d be dead.”

At that moment, I see eleven armed guards storm down into the dungeon about to aim their guns in our direction, but I’m quicker on the draw. I raise my hand in their direction throwing a burst of bright purple energy at them, sending them all hurtling back crashing into walls and bars and falling to the ground in unconsciousness.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since I got here,” I smile. I look down both ends of the corridor and with a wave of my hands, every cell door unlocks and opens. I form a small ball of purple energy in my palm and throw it down the other end of the corridor blasting a hole in the brick wall. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for travelling air makkari, you will find your exit is the gaping hole behind me. Please make your exit in an orderly fashion, but as quick as you can so we can all get the fuck out of here,” I say cheerfully.

One by one, injured people exit their cells and help each other down the corridor and out through the hole I created. With great difficulty, I reach down and wrap Jasper’s arm around me and help him to his feet, “Come on, I’m not leaving without the person I came for.” Though it causes me great pain, I help Jasper out of the dungeon to where everyone is waiting on the grass outside. The sun is beating down on us and I breathe it in, letting its rays replenish me and keep me going. Makkares can draw their magic from the sun, the largest source of light and energy in our solar system, and one I’m very grateful to have right now.

“What do we do now?” A woman with blood-red eyes asks me.

“I want you all to think of your homes. Focus on them hard,” I instruct.

I take in a deep breath and push my magic out towards each of them and feel for the locations their hearts are calling out to. Once I have a strong enough grasp on those locations, I conjure portals behind each and every one of them and instantly feel my magic begin to dim. Even with the sun and Alpha Jasper’s energy boost, it’s not enough. I’m burning through it too fast; my body is still too weakened from all the shit they pumped into me and filled my cell with. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this up before I burn out.

“Are you okay?” Jasper asks.

I nod, “I have opened portals for each of you. Go through them now and don’t turn back,” I instruct. Some sing their thanks before stepping through their portals, and others just jump right through, desperate to get away from this hell and return to their homes. I can’t blame them.

“I don’t know how to thank you,” says Jasper weakly.

“You helped me just as much as I helped you, now go. More guards are coming, and I might not be able to hold them off.”

He takes and squeezes my hand, “I’ll make sure everyone knows what you did.”

Instant fear catapults through me. “No! Tell people whatever you like, but you can’t tell them it was me.”

“People need to know the truth. They need to know you’re not the monster you’ve been made out to be,” he argues.

“If you do that you are putting a target on your back. People who know the truth don’t live long, trust me. You have a family and a pack who needs you, don’t be stupid,” I warn him.

He looks at me, his expression torn, “I’ll never forget what you did for us. If there’s ever a time you need something, just know you can come to me,” he says with the utmost sincerity.

I smile and squeeze his hand, “And I won’t forget the kindness you’ve shown me. Now go be with your loved ones and try not to get captured again.”

He laughs, “Good advice.” With a warm smile, he steps through the portal near him and disappears. I take a deep breath as I feel my strength waning. With a gesture from my hands, I remove all portals and now focus on creating one more for myself. As the air in front of me ripples, indicating the portal is open, I’m about to step through when something halts me in my tracks.

“Don’t fucking move,” warns a soft, but stern Mexican voice.

Choosing not to heed the warning, I slowly turn around only to freeze in place. Standing just a few feet away is a gorgeous, bronzed goddess, standing at 5’7” and pointing a gun directly at me. I probably should be focused on the gun, but my stupid eyes are more intent on drinking up the sight of her. She has long honey-brown hair and honey-brown eyes that are staring me down like a predator would its prey. She’s wearing a tight, black leather corset with long, lace bell sleeves. The corset is rather short, revealing a very toned mid-section and ample breasts. Her pert ass is accented by the low-rise black leather pants she’s wearing and only made more pert by the black leather knee-high high-heel boots she’s wearing.

As if all of that wasn’t reason enough to stare at her, the biggest reason is the bright waves of copper energy that are radiating off her like a giant neon sign. Those waves are speaking to every nerve in my body, and already I can feel my energy starting to gain a little bit of a boost just from being in her presence.

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

This is the moment in every romance novel when someone in my position would describe the earth moving, or say something cliché like, ‘I’ve found the light in my darkness’. Pfft. No, I just found more darkness in my darkness. After all these centuries, I finally find my animai, but as per-fucking usual, nothing in my life ever goes right. My animai has to be a fucking venatrix and one of the people responsible for my capture and torture. Just fucking great. My animai is currently pointing a gun at me. Just what did I do to bring so much shit into my life? This has to be a mistake, I can’t accept a killer for an animai, what the fuck is the Goddess thinking? As they say, mieux vaut être seul que mal accompagné.

“Look, I really don’t want to hurt you, but I am leaving one way or another,” I say calmly. Even though she’s a venatrix the very thought of hurting her even a little bit has my heart clenching in pain. Stupid animai bond.

“You must be crazy if you think I’m just going to let you walk away,” she says confidently.

“Then shoot me,” I tell her, and I’m shocked to see her hesitate. That’s when a thought pops in my head. “You didn’t even have to warn me that you were behind me, you could have just gone for the kill and gotten it over with. Why didn’t you?” I ask curiously.

She steps closer, keeping the gun firmly pointed in my direction. “Didn’t want to risk wasting a bullet. Besides, I’d like to know how you managed to break out since that should have been impossible.”

I watch her carefully. Is… is it possible she feels the bond too? I know humans are fated to supernaturals all the time, but I don’t exactly know what it feels like for them. Is she hesitating because the bond is making her hesitate?

“I don’t think you actually want to shoot me, and I don’t think you even know why. So here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to leave, and we can just pretend this never happened,” I tell her.

“Take a single step, and I will shoot you,” she threatens.

“Let’s see which one of us is right then,” I say as I turn around and step through the portal. I’m halfway through when I feel a large weight crash on top of me, bringing with it jolts of static electricity as it pushes me all the way through the portal. The force, however, sends a shockwave of pain through every open wound and causes me to get a face full of dirt.