Her Mortal Mate

Chapter Fifty: Devastation

Jadea

I wasn't going to lie.

My body ached everywhere.

I'd overused my powers. There was blood trickling out of my nose and I had a splitting headache. One that pounded against my skull and ached. My vision was blurring because of it.

And then there was the searing pain lancing up my side and down into my hip from the sword wound. Blood was seeping out, further weakening me.

I was glad Blade had tucked himself under my arm, otherwise I would have collapsed to the ground and I might have stayed there.

"I've got her," Derrick stated, stepping forward and scooping me up in his arms. "Let's go--

"No!" Adam shouted, his voice quivering just enough to expose his inner turmoil.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to see he wasn't okay.

"We can do this later," Garret's unyielding growl wasn't kind.

"I said no!" he snapped holding his ground.

"Blade, I'll take his right arm, you take his left. We'll drag him out if we have to--

"Wait!" I commanded in their minds. "Give me one minute."

Derrick set me down on my feet right before Adam. His ocean blue eyes were swimming in overbearing tears. He looked so lost. He looked so torn. "Adam," I called softly, gently my mind embracing his. "We have to go."

"I-I-I c-can't," he whispered as he crumbled. Tears streaked his face. He didn't understand why he was hurting.

I could see it. Could feel it. He was overwhelmed by everything he had seen. Leviathan. Hans. Leila. Ryland. Me. The real possibility of being crushed under tons of rock. He was shivering as a result of his body's response to the shock coursing through his system. His body was taking over. His mind shutting down because it was overloaded by everything. It was immobilizing him. "Look at me, Adam." I encouraged, reaching out and laying my hand against his neck. He leaned into my touch and desperately clung onto my arm.

He was beyond scared.

"I know you're afraid. It's okay to be afraid," I whispered, holding his gaze calmingly. Soothingly. As if I was talking to a frightened animal. "There is nothing wrong with feeling fear."

"I-I shot h-h-her," he wheezed.

It was hard shooting anyone when you weren't a killer. It was hard coming to grips with taking any life, even if it was the life of the one who abused you. "She will survive."

"How do you know?"

"Because she is an incubus," I explained. "She is an immortal too. The bullet only incapacitated her."

He swallowed hard, his gaze flitting down to my abdomen and back up. I saw the color drain from his face and I knew it wasn't Leila he was truly worried about. He was having a hard time coming to grips with what happened to me. It was just easier talking about her instead of me.

"I'm okay."

"Y-You're only saying th-that. Y-You're not alright!" He snapped angrily. "I-I can't lose you."

"And you aren't going to. Look into my mind Adam. I will live. I promise. It just looks worse than it is."

He swallowed hard.

"Do you still trust me?"

"Always." There was no hesitation. Good.

"We are almost to our exit, Adam. When we get there, we will be homeward bound. When we make it out of this cavern, we will book the first flight home. When we get there, Aidan and Anika will be waiting for us."

"When... Not if?" He looked confused.

"We are going to survive this Adam," I stated fiercely, resting my forehead against his. I couldn't show my fears, even though I wasn't entirely convinced we would make it out alive. If I did give into my fear, if I allowed him to see it, then it was over. "The sooner we make it to the exit, the sooner we can snuggle those littles." I knew if anything could snap him out of his stupor and get him moving, it was them.

He nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay."

"Okay. Let's go," I turned back to Derrick and waved him off when he was about to scoop me back up. Adam needed me to be strong right now. If I showed any weakness...

"Blade, lead the way. Derrick, you're behind him in case we have to break into the crowd. Briar, behind Adam and Garret you'll bring up the rear."

Blade quickly wove us to the main path where it was no longer crowded. Rather, it was completely void of life.

"Well, I guess on the bright side, we don't have to worry about fighting our way out," Garret grumbled.

An ear splitting cry rent the air and spurred us on as Leviathan continued to wreak havoc in the belly of the cavern. The vibrations in the earth were becoming stronger. Cracks were starting to form in the walls. The shops hanging from overhead were swaying and they were starting to shake loose.

"Look out!" I shouted, pushing into Adam's side as one such shop crashed to our left. Others fell and crashed around the cavern. It was then it really hit me. The devastation. The loss of life. The fight between good and evil that had always been there but was placed into such sharp focus.

This was the life Constance and her guard faced daily.

How they didn't crumble under such pressure was beyond me.

"We are almost to the tunnel, Adam," I said to him as I reached back and took his hand.

As much as I wanted to break, as much as I wanted to beg Derrick to carry me, I couldn't. Around the wound, my shirt was soaked and blood had oozed down my skirt as well. There was a coppery taste in my mouth and I was becoming light headed. I stumbled as we entered the tunnel at a sprint.

This, right here, was what my father had trained me for.

Survival.

I blocked the pain. I dulled the panic. I was the alpha. I carried the weight that no one else in the group could. I held fear close to my chest and never allowed it to poison my pack's mindset. I was the rock. My pack relied on me to never bend. To never break. This was the burden I had to bear alone. I had to make everyone else believe we would be okay. That we would make it out alive, even if I knew otherwise.

A pack was only as strong as its alpha.

And so, I focused on my breathing. I regulated my heart. I soothed my pack's fears with a gentle command. And then I reached out to Adam. His mind was still in chaos. His body tired and weak. Even though I could barely breathe for myself, I focused on breathing for him.

Time was inadequate.

While it felt like an eternity to get to the surface, I knew it was only a matter of minutes. If that.

"We made it!" Blade announced.

"Blade, you're first. Garret." I turned to my beta and he was hot on Blade's tail. They needed to clear the area first, especially when Harley was out on the prowl.

"It's clear!"

"Briar," I reached for her. Derrick practically picked her up and threw her up and out of the hole.

"Adam," I said, gently pushing his arm.

He hesitated, his wild gaze connecting with mine frantically.

"I'm right behind you," I promised.

The moment he was out I growled to Derrick, "Out!"

He scampered out and then reached down and yanked me up.

The vibrations in the earth weren't as noticeable here. And for one split second, I had to wonder if Constance and her guard had overcome the beast and eliminated the environmental threat he posed...

That was until sirens started blaring throughout the abandoned store and in the surrounding areas.

"Move!" I fairly screamed knowing there were only seconds to get out of the building and to safety. I knew it wasn't the safest outside, but we needed to get as far away from the cavern as possible. When it collapsed, everything that was built over it on the surface would collapse into it. I didn't want to be on the edge of it if that did happen.

There was a chance it could be a small magnitude quake, but I wasn't taking chances.

We fairly flew out of the building.

Right as we made the door, the ground started to roll and shake violently.

"s**t! s**t! s**t!" Garret chanted as we made the street and continued to run.

We made it to the middle of the street safely right before our feet were shaken right from under us and we hit the pavement hard. Thankfully, all the cars had been stopped due to a light. And they weren't going anywhere by how the ground was shaking.

Derrick rolled over on top of Briar and held her safe.

I was in motion too, rolling to protect Adam's head and neck. Even though we were out in the open sky, it still wasn't safe. “I’ve got you, vanilla,” I breathed into his ear, trying to convey calmness.

Blade and Garret covered themselves but kept an eye out on the sky.

Screams rent the air as people panicked. Other loud crashing sounds could be heard as belongings fell to the ground. Glass broke and rained down on everything below. Some of the shards even made it to us, leaving small nicks in our skin. Mostly the buildings held, because California had taken earthquakes into consideration when building. Their technology was geared towards minimal damage in a quake.

"Damn they're swaying!" Garret shot and through his eyes I saw the buildings swaying.

"They aren't going to be able to take much more of that!" Blade snapped.

"Aren't these things supposed to be over in minutes!?"

"Naturally occurring ones yes."

I felt their growing terror. They fed into each others fears as the quaking grew more and more. Damn it! "Enough!" I snapped into their minds as I connected everyone like I used to do in a hunt. "Close your eyes," I commanded.

"But Jadea--

"If a building collapses, we aren't going to get out of the way in time," I reasoned. Not with how the ground was shaking. We wouldn't make it far. Besides, it was safer to stay in one spot during an earthquake than to try and run. "Close your eyes. Now!"

They did as I said, even as Adam and Briar both whimpered.

"Give me a quick beat," I demanded Derrick.

"Jadea, this is no time--

"This is the perfect time," I snapped as Derrick bopped a beat in his mind.

I had to distract them. I had to refocus them. And this was one of the ways I used to do this way back when we were an amateur pack. It connected us. It forced us to be on the same beat. To work together as one. It would re-regulate everyone. It would make everyone relax.

And then I started singing "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor.

"You're f*****g mental, you know that right!?" Garret growled, but I ignored him.

Briar was the next one to fall in line. Then Blade. Adam joined in brokenly. And finally Garret.

The sounds of the devastation around us fell away. The fear. The pain. The hysteria eased. Their blood pressures were easing, their bodies regulating themselves as their focus shifted.

We were about halfway through the song when it happened.

There was no ignoring the deafening sound as the earth collapsed in on itself. The song was forgotten as we watched as a large part of Los Angeles just fell and disappeared. A rush of dust and dirt and debris crashed over us. I huddled over Adam once again, praying all of this would be over soon...