Page 100 of Tethered to the World
Then Tyson screamed, his terror so visceral she was held spellbound. Black sludge oozed from his eyes, nose and ears, then began to bubble and spill out of his mouth. A film of shadows clouded his eyes until they turned completely black.
Tyson clutched the arm that held him, then stopped struggling as more and more black tar began to pour down and drip off his body. His flesh began to shrivel, and he whimpered in primal fear.
Edgar was a phantom like her.
No, not like her.
He was a pureblood.
It took a considerable effort for her to jerk her attention away from the spectacle. Both her uncle and Erickson watched the process with complete fascination, and she took advantage of their distraction and grabbed the magical book out of the briefcase where Erickson had shoved it, then danced away when he turned to look at her.
She shoved the book down the waistband of her pants, the leather nestled against her spine, leaving her hands free.
Greed stared back at her, then he lifted his phone and spoke into it like a walkie-talkie. “Security to the main office. Now.”
He would want to take them both alive.
She grabbed the back of Edgar’s waistband and dragged him with her as she backed toward the door. “Let him go. We have to leave.”
He glanced at her with a frown, then very slowly released Tyson. The body dropped to the floor with a thud. She didn’t know if he was alive and really didn’t care. The black sludge coating him was pure evil extracted from his soul, and she felt no remorse for the fate he brought on himself.
Annora continued to drag Edgar toward the door. Erickson just stood watching her completely calm, firm in the conviction that she and Edgar would be captured. Her uncle, on the other hand, followed them step for step.
He had no intention of letting her out of his sight again.
Edgar stood in front of her, blocking her uncle, and shoved her gently out the door, probably with every intention of staying behind, but she stood her ground, refusing to budge. “We’re tied together. You kill him in this realm, you’ll kill me too.”
Edgar glanced down at her with narrowed eyes, but his grip on her arm was gentle. “He needs to die.”
“Absolutely,” she agreed without hesitation. “He needs to be banished to the afterworld. It’s the only way to sever the connection between us.”
Her uncle stopped short at the comment, the first hint of doubt shadowing his face.
Before any of them could move, a screech of a large bird echoed down the hall, so loud her ears felt ready to burst. “Xander!”
When she ran into the hall, it was like entering a war zone—shifter fought shifter, blood splattered every surface, entire walls were destroyed. The ones juiced up on drugs looked to be in worse shape, because they just didn’t know when to stay down.
Then she saw her guys.
Xander and Mason took point for maximum destruction. The gryphon seemed to glide through the air, never landing for longer than a second as he ripped through the opposition. Mason wore only a pair of shorts, his muscular body on full display. The solid lines of his tattoo seemed to shimmer, like they were giving him strength…and she’d swear they were spreading before her eyes. With a sweep of his arm, he knocked aside two wolves, pinning them to the wall, then proceeded to pound the ever-lovin’ shit out of them.
Camden and Logan followed closely behind. Logan threw punches right and left, burning everyone who dared to get too close. It only took a casual punch from Camden to drop his opponents, the toxin knocking out everyone who got in his way. A number of different shifters followed in their wake, restraining or incapacitating the few who were left.
A few shifters she rescued fought alongside her team.
Instead of standing in the back and giving orders, Rufus entered the fray. He wore a large wolfskin over his shoulder. One second he was human, the next second the skin seemed to wrap around him, until a two-legged werewolf stood towering in the middle of the chaos. A massive howl erupted from him, and a number of the wolves in the hall stopped fighting. A few scattered and ran, but the majority knelt and bowed their heads to the floor in submission and cowered.
Rufus was an honest-to-goodness skinwalker, able to take the form of any animal skin he wore.
The guys locked eyes on her, their expressions fierce and determined.
Their moves became more violent, practically tossing anyone who got in their way into walls or over their shoulders, uncaring about the damage. Edgar possessively slipped an arm around her shoulder, staking his claim for all to see.
Growls rumbled from the guys. Mason bared his teeth, his upper and lower incisors sticking out of his mouth slightly, the thick fangs clearly used for crushing.
It didn’t take more than a minute before they cleared the hall and were standing in front of her. When they showed no sign of slowing down, their focus on Edgar, she held up her hands. “Hold it! Wait—this is Edgar.”
“What?” Camden blinked down at her as if he didn’t understand the words.
