Hunger burned in my throat, tearing at me from within.
The weakness I'd felt turned to raw need. I pushed myself up and toward him, knowing I had to take him out before anyone else saw.
My mouth ached, teeth burning as I crashed into him.
And then, instinct took over. The pulse of his throat cast a web around me, and my newly elongated eyeteeth sunk into his flesh. Warm, coppery fluid filled my mouth, pouring down my throat, quenching the need I hadn't known I had. Satiating the craving that had slowly been weakening me and my powers.
I felt it all return. My power, my strength, my mental clarity. Everything.
And before his pulse stopped for good, before he died in my arms, I pulled away, his blood dripping from my lips. I still needed him to save the rebels.
Ragathon was finally under my control. He didn't move, didn't speak, didn't even blink. I reached for the helmet and put it back on, hiding my identity once again.
"Sir? Should we move in?" asked the Officer again through the e-Glass. "Alright, I'm making the call. Move—"
"No," I said. But it wasn't me speaking. I spoke through Ragathon. "Stand your ground. Let's see what they do."
I could hear the uncertainty in the Officer's voice. "But… Sir, yes, sir."
In my e-Video, the smoke cleared, and the rebel van was still there.
I smiled, and I realized it was actually my face smiling, not Ragathon, but I could still feel his mind in mine, feel his consciousness merged with my own.
Or maybe I'd merged with him. I couldn't tell. It all felt the same.
"Move in," I made him say.
The Officers obeyed instantly, seizing control of the rebel van and searching it in moments. "Sir, they're gone! Sir, what should we do?"
Of course they were. While under the cover of smoke, they'd escaped down into the sewers. Someone clever might have been able to figure it out, but fortunately for them, I was still in control.
"Nothing. Do nothing, Officer. Pull back."
On screen, the Officers were still for a moment, and I worried that they suspected something askew in headquarters. But they were well-trained puppets and they did as told by their commander, pulling back.
I'd won.
We'd won.
I held up my gun and pointed it at the Inquisitor. I could kill him right now. It would be so easy to pull the trigger and end him.
I started to squeeze the trigger, but my mind flashed with images and memories not my own.
His memories.
I was bending down talking to a little girl in blond braids holding a red ball. "Do you have to go to work, daddy?"
I—he—nodded. "Yes, my little lily. But today, daddy is going to end the fighting. After today, things are going to be easier. Trust me."
"Okay." The girl ran off, her yellow sundress billowing behind her as she bounced the ball in front of her.
My hand shook. My stomach cramped. I lowered my gun. He could be useful, I told myself. He could still serve a purpose down the line.
I clutched the gun in my hand and left out the door, then out the command center. I refused to think about that little girl looking so lovingly up at her father.
In my e-Glass, Trix spoke. "We made it. Thanks, N."
"Don't thank me," I said. "I'm done."
Chapter 11
A Teutonic Knight
I had just tossed the two e-Glasses aside and ditched the helmet when someone tugged at my arm. I swung around, my heart beating against my chest in loud thumps, ready to fight off whoever was touching me.
"Scarlett, relax, it's just me!" Jax let go of my arm and put his hands up. "Are you okay?"
I nodded, slowing my breath as I relaxed. "Yes, I'm fine. Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you," I lied.
"Trying to find you. The whole area's been quarantined. Something happened with the Inquisitor and everyone's in a panic. The rebels escaped. We have to get out of here."
"Of course."
He looked me over and frowned. "Why are you wearing an Officer's uniform?"
"There was gunfire everywhere. I didn't want to be mistaken for a rebel so I grabbed this from one of the dead Officers, figuring it would offer me some protection."
"Good thinking. A lot of innocent people lost their lives today." Jax looked more closely at me. "You have blood on your mouth."
I wiped it away quickly. "People were shot around me. Blood sprayed. It was awful." I wanted to feel disgust for what I'd done, but the blood had restored me, and had done more than that, it had given me a dark clue as to what I was becoming.
Jax held up my arm, his mouth a line of concern across his face. "You're bleeding."
As the adrenaline left my body, a dull pain replaced the euphoria. I looked down at my bicep. "I must have scratched it on something. I'm fine." Or I would be soon. I could already feel it healing.
He tugged at my other hand and led me to a vacant building where we sat in a corner and waited for the fighting outside to die down so we could go back to Castle V.
Exhaustion hit me—emotional rather than physical—and I rested my head against the cement wall.
Jax moved closer to me, his face a mask. "Scarlett, are you okay? You look… different."
"Probably just hungry," I said. Though that wasn't true. For the first time since I woke up on the broken and empty crystal box, I didn't feel hungry or physically worn out. I felt powerful, revived, restored.