The Invasion

19 | Saving

It is a mistake to fire the gun.

Zarius easily sidesteps as the bullet whizzes past his body and hits the wall instead. Leaving a hole in it. When his head snaps back towards us, he glowers at Jace, his wintersky eyes gleaming with rage and zero forgiveness. He says nothing, but his body speaks differently; guarded, sensitive, and furious. A low, inhuman growl rumbles deep from his chest and sends a shiver down our spines.

Sometimes, I forget Zarius isn't human like us. He can be an apex predator if he chooses to. And it is only in my presence that he doesn't do that, because he doesn't hate me.

But not for Jace.

And he—that idiot—has definitely added another enemy onto his list the moment he fired that gun.

"Cordelia!" He yells at me. "Get away from that thing!"

"Jace!" I stand tall in front of Zarius to protect him from getting shot again. The two of them are eyeing each other in revulsion. Standing between them, I feel like a deer that has accidentally trod onto the highway and is about to get hit by vehicles from both lanes. "Zarius is not a thing! He's with us!"

"No!" Their voices come in chorus, and they glare harder at each other. It's amusing how they are from different species, yet their behaviors are the same.

Hearing Zarius speak, Jace's surprise follows, looking utterly confused. "Wait, that thing can talk?"

I groan in annoyance. "Yes, and he can understand us! If you could just stop interrupting and let me explain—"

Before I can finish my sentence, the windows in the room shatter violently. I feel a rain of glass slicing my skin as dark masses burst through the openings, startling us all.

Zarius immediately reappears by my side. With impressive timing, he grabs the neck of an enraged siren and holds her at arm's length—one who's hissing and snapping her pointy teeth at me menacingly.

But it isn't just her.

There are at least three sirens in the room staring at Jace, and especially me.

Zarius did mention before that they hate females, right? Even if it isn't my intention, they've somehow perceived me to be their competition. But hell, I would very much like to slink back into the shadows and blend in with the walls. Thank you very much.

I hear him shout my name quickly. "Delia, run!"

His command has my legs moving. Likewise, Jace grabs my hand and we scuttle out of the room. In the hallway, we spot another siren climbing up the stairs and we both yelp in sheer terror. We backpedal into the bedroom, slam the door shut, and lock it. I don't know how long that will hold us.

Around us, we hear thumps and crashes. Tremors rock the entire house as the fight takes place in the next room.

I dart over to the broken window. Beckoning Jace over, I thrust my dagger into what's left of the glass pane to carve a bigger opening that might fit us.

Behind us, something rams against the door. Attempting to bust through any second now.

In a hasty manner, I throw out my backpack and crawl out of the window, ignoring the jagged edges of the broken glass cutting into my skin. I glance backwards once, just to check if Jace is still with me, and let out a thankful sigh when he is. He gives me a quick thumbs-up sign and I carry on.

Grabbing my bag, I inch closer to the edge of the blue-painted roof and leap off, landing on the ruined flower bed below. Jace mirrors my actions and falls next to me with a gruff groan.