Greykin Valley

| 48 | The Arena

⥐ ⋞ ☽ ⋟ ⥐

| Jackson |

As hard as he tried, Jackson couldn't find the inimă.

With a frustrated sigh, he opened his eyes and shook his head before looking at Sebastien. "I can't find it. All I feel is this like...invisible barricade. Maybe it's too far away."

Sebastien, whose frustrated expression was worsening with every failed attempt, gritted his teeth and grunted, "Keep trying. You did it before, you can do it again."

It wasn't working; he'd been trying since Kane left, and that must have been well over an hour ago. But he couldn't give up. If Damon's escape plan was going to work, they needed the inimă. He knew that the Alpha had a backup plan, but Jackson liked the sound of the one where they had his demon ethos at their disposal much better, and he was sure that everyone else felt the same.

He closed his eyes and focused, trying to connect with the amulet the same way he had back when he was stuck in that hunter cage. Be connected with his demon ethos—the silver collar around his neck made it a struggle, but he managed—and then he tried even harder than he did last time.

But Jackson hit that invisible wall again. It was like all his senses just suddenly shorted out, leaving him feeling winded. He grunted and exhaled as he opened his eyes, and when he looked at Sebastien, he shook his head.

"God fucking damn it!" the white-haired demon exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," Jackson insisted as he started feeling guilty.

"I told you," Julian then said. "We're not getting out of here."

"Stop it," Tokala told them. "You're upsetting everyone."

Jackson dragged his hands over his face and exhaled deeply. He glanced at Damon, who was sitting with Remus. There was a pondering look on his face; was he trying to think of other ways for them to get out of there? Wesley and his Epsilons were watching the arena outside the bars, and everyone else sat with haunted looks on their faces...even Wilson. Jackson wanted to go to his friend, but he couldn't waste a single moment. He had to find the inimă.

He closed his eyes and concentrated again, connecting with his demon ethos. But his attempts were starting to make his head hurt. He didn't care, though. He wouldn't stop; his pack were relying on him. So, he frowned and tried as hard as he could to reach beyond the invisible wall that he kept hitting. The pain in his head got worse and made him grimace, but he didn't care—

The wall suddenly started giving way, but the sound of scraping metal, cocking guns, and grunting voices forced Jackson out of his focus before he had a chance to reach beyond it.

"Grab one of 'em," one of the ten men standing outside the barred cavern said as another guy slowly pulled open a door-like section of the bars.

Damon's pack burst into action, leaving Jackson with a confused, nervous look on his face as he jumped to his feet. He watched the Epsilons grab the two men who walked in, and Wesley grabbed the guy who opened the door. They snatched their weapons as they shoved the men away, and then aimed at the guys outside the bars, but in the commotion, one of the men outside managed to grab Bly and had her pulled against the bars with a gun to her head.

"Put the fucking guns down or she gets it," the man growled.

Bly grimaced and grunted painfully as the silver burned the back of her head. "Don't," she insisted.

Jackson's heart started racing. He looked at Damon, who stood between his armed packmates with a conflicted look on his face.

"Drop them!" one of the other men yelled as he pointed his weapon at Damon.