Page 67 of Outcast
Waiting for a few more moments to see if they would elaborate further, I cringed at the sound of skin slapping against skin. Their sounds of pleasure continued, and I decided to abandon my post. Hurrying as quietly as possible, I exited his home and softly closed the door behind me.
I stood on the front step and looked around at our community as her words echoed through my head.
What did it mean? Was I thinking too far into this because of what Kira had already put into my head?
There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation. Maybe it was a wolf from a neighboring pack, and my father had offered resources in exchange for her to come to our pack?
Fuck, what do I do?
Crossing the distance back to my home, I slammed the door closed behind me as my mind raced.
The last thing Kira or I needed was me continuing to act wishy washy in my stance with her. There had been too much tug of war between us over the past two days already. I needed to be sure of what was going on with my father before making a decision.
If Kira was right and my father did have something to do with the Daimona, then none of us were safe. He held too strong of a foothold in his position with the elders and had a pristine reputation with the other packs.
Grabbing the whiskey off the side table by the couch, I took a few swigs, enjoying the burning trail it left in my throat and chest in its wake. Walking over to my new favorite wall, I yelled and punched a new hole into it.
How could I even begin to apologize to Kira if she was right?
I found myself at a crossroads, and I didn't know up from down at this point.
What the fuck was I going to do?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Kira
Nearingthe entrance of the Pit, I reached out for Milo's hand for reassurance. Squeezing it gently, he pulled me in for a quick hug and kissed the top of my head. His breath fluttered a few strands of my hair as he spoke, "You'll be safe, Kira. Seth and I would never let anything bad happen to you."
I released a shaky breath and pulled back with a resolute nod. "Let's get some answers."
Descending down the worn wooden ladder, I jumped off when I got close enough to the bottom and looked around the closest cells for Seth. Milo hopped down next to me as a horrifying screech sounded from the back.
"Looks like he got started without us," I observed, trying to make a joke out of the situation to calm my nerves.
Walking quickly to the back and turning the corner to the cell that had restraints drilled into the wall, my stomach rolled at seeing a Daimona up close again. I hadn't been faced with one since Maya's death.
It seemed more grotesque than I remembered, with pieces of blackened flesh hanging off it in various places. I gasped and stepped into the cell when it twisted, showing off the underside of a gaping piece of flesh.
I had to be seeing things. Were thoseflamesinside of it?
"Hey, Kitten," Seth purred from his relaxed stance against the wall with one ankle crossed over the other. His black, sweat-slicked hair looked as if he had just run a marathon.
"You've finally come."
Startled by the deep, gravelly voice, I took a few steps back and stared at the Daimona once more. Its large head swung to look at me, its eyes sending me back into the memories that haunted my dreams still. This was the first time I had been present with one, so it’s intrusion into my mind was jarring.
Flames consumed the sockets where eyes should have been, but somehow I could feel the weight of its stare, as if its darkness was seeping around me like an oil thick in the air.
The feeling alarmed me, and I reached for my flame on instinct, bringing the welcome warmth of my mark to my forehead.
Don't show fear, Kira.
Calling my own flames to the surface, I felt them wrap around me like a cocoon, dissipating any trace of the Daimona’s scent from the air. Lux was right. I needed to maintain an air of calmness.
"It has refused to speak the entire time I've been down here, no matter the methods I've tried. The guard on shift early this morning told me that this is the one that attacked Jameson. The alpha dragged him in and chained him to the wall himself."
I refused to look away from the Daimona as Seth filled me in, not trusting those chains even the slightest.
