Matt knew the moment the words left her lips that something was bound to go wrong.
At a young age he realized that somehow Soli had always been able to feel a disturbance before something bad happened, though she, herself hadn't really caught onto this fact. He didn't know if she picked up on the energy, or a shift in the atmosphere, but somehow she always knew. She had known before the branch of the apple tree he'd been climbing would snap, warning him not to climb that far, but he did anyway and Drea had to mend his broken arm, and she had somehow knew the day before the wedding all those years ago, when she came into his room a few hours before, asking him if he'd still love her if something were to happen because of her. He doubt she'd remember that conversation now though, but nevertheless, she somehow knew.
So when she stopped him and said that sentence, a bitter unease settled in his chest.
"If it all turns to shit you both just head straight to Eçalis."
"Soli, I can't. It's my job."
"I don't care that it's your job, Matthias, I care that you're alive to see your kid. You'll head straight home. Promise me."
She had always been stubborn, he thought, despite her meekness as a child she still was a force to be reckoned with once her mind was made up. That's why instead of debating and wasting precious time, he agreed with her even though he didn't agree with the decision himself. He rested his hand on the one she still had attached to his arm. "Okay," he said, knowing that he didn't mean it. He was a Dove at K.O.A.C, he couldn't leave his duty behind. "I promise."
Somewhere along the lines he had forgotten just how well Solaure knew him. She squeezed slightly, pleading with her grip and looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "Bind it by the Goddess."
He sighed. There was no way out now. "I swear by the Goddess."
"In Eçalian."
"Pir ila De'assami."
The sound of clicking glass disrupted their conversation and his eyes followed the sharp sound, finding a woman standing on the stage. She made a toast, her voice like honey and venom, and then when she descended he swore he saw the ghost of a smirk on her bright lips, aimed at their direction. She stopped on her way, pausing to speak with a woman with violet skin, and he took Dre's hand and blended into the dispersing crowd.
They followed the swarm of bustling guest as they exited the emptying room, their voices loud with excitement, and though his face didn't show it, he was seething.
Somehow they had unconsciously formed a line that had slowed significantly as some of the guest dropped off their sacrifices with awaiting guards. Matt slackened his face as him and Drea stepped forward.
"Anything to donate, sir, ma'am ?" The man's voice was low and monotonous and Drea flashed him a dazzling smile.
"We left our pet with the other guard," Drea spoke with someone else's voice, the pitch higher than her usually smooth lilt. " but it seems like I should have waited for you to take it off our hands." He noticed the way the guard's eyes stayed on her, his posture becoming more relaxed as he took her in. A tactical move on Drea's part– her being the one to answer.
The guard chuckled and stepped aside to allow them to pass. "Enjoy your evening."
"We will."
Drea gasped as they entered the room, her fingers tightening on Matt's arm. The pain didn't bother him though, his brain was too busy registering what in the Seven Hellish realms he was seeing. Glass cages lined both sides of the hall, inhabited by people and Creatures alike, stark naked as they danced. There were collars around their necks and chains preventing them from going more than a few feet as they moved to the tempo of the drums.
Matt watched as a Lycan stopped, baring her impressive fangs at the people roaming the halls, gawking at the Creatures as if they were in a zoo. She growled as a man stepped closer to the glass, ogling at her bare breasts like a virgin schoolboy. The Lycan swiped at him, her claws bared as he pressed his mouth to the glass, running his tongue along the reflection of her body. She continued to paw, to slash, to howl, then suddenly her body went rigid and she stopped, no doubt the collar sending a volt of electricity through her. A chorus of laughter rose from the spectators as she fell, unconscious.
Matt's fist were tight balls at his side as they continued down the hall, trying his best to keep his rage at bay until the time came. The hall opened up into a larger room with seats resembling bleachers along the curved wall, a railing was to the front, giving a perfect view of the room a few stories below that had mirrors for floors, and the people cloaked in red drawing a diagram on the surface. The guest each took seats, murmuring giddily against themselves and looking down at the scene beneath.
Matt and Drea stayed standing; they didn't plan on staying long anyway. He felt a soft tap on his shoulder and turned to see Caspian, a grim look on his face and they followed the other man to a door to the left that stood unguarded, slipping out.
"I checked the entire bottom floor and there's no sign of the kid." Caspian said once they were far enough from prying eyes, fixing his tie. " There are more cages below, but no one there matched the picture Soli gave me. "
"What about the other rooms?" Drea asked, her eyes roaming over her surroundings.
"I'd made it halfway through this floor before a guard spotted me, but I told them I was lost and they redirected me to the 'showing room'."
"How did that work?" Drea asked with a raise of a thin eyebrow. " Everyone knows that trick."
Caspian shrugged. "I have a trustworthy face."
Matt pulled his pager from inside his shoe and sent a quick text to the soldiers outside, telling them to be ready to set the plan in motion. " K.O.A.C's coming in. Let's check the rest of the house."
A scream came from the room they came out of and they took off down the hall, not waiting to get caught in the crowd; There was nothing worse than fleeing rats.
A door opened in front of them and guards spilled out, coming to an abrupt halt once they saw three out of place guests.
"Why are you in this hall?" The burly one in the middle asked, a scowl on his face.
Drea was quick on her feet.
"I thought they said this place was guarded!" She all but shouted at the group of twelve who shrank under her tone that was equally angry and hysteric . "K.O.A.C just stormed the place! We were almost fucking caught!"
"We're sorry ma'am." The one in front said, signaling some of this colleagues to go on. "We don't know how it happened; the location was secure."
"Sorry? We almost fucking died and you're sorry?!"
"We'll get you three somewhere safe, if you'll please—" the guards eyes widened before they turned stony. Matt was confused; everything was going smoothly— until he looked at Drea. Actual Drea. The glamour was gone.
"F'kasin." He cursed under his breath and drew the gun-like weapon he had Drea conceal from his coat in one smooth action, firing a silent Enaidium bullet through the guard's head without hesitation.
Cas and Drea followed suit, taking down the rest of the guards who had turned back upon hearing the body fall to the floor. They made quick work of them, Cas and Drea fighting with weapons they had concealed as well, and before five minutes were up almost all twelve guards were dead at their feet. He walked to the last man, crawling on the floor like the roach that he was and buried a bullet in his head as well— but not before the guard had a chance to bite down harshly on something in his mouth.
Matt thought nothing much of it at first but then another door opened, releasing grey, sickly looking things that had inky beads for eyes and no mouth. Mouthless— at least that was what Soli referred to them as. Matt emptied the chamber, reloading the magazine, and got to work.
They fought. Drea's magic lighting the hall, Caspian tearing through bodies with impressive speed, and Matt, emptying bullets until the last fell to the floor, black goo coating their shoes. There was chaos when they finally emerged from their bubble; the same spectators who had been anxiously awaiting the show to start now ran, frantic as K.O.A.C rounded them up, hunted like they had hunted the people in cages.
They got caught in the chaos, fighting and assisting the other soldiers as they pulled the Creatures from the countless cages, aiding the injured ones and coughing from inhaling the smoke from a fire that had broken out somewhere.
A familiar man caught Matt's attention, about to slip into a door that had been concealed by a large painting before, and he sent a bullet flying. It lodged itself into the man's chest and he crumpled, his eyes as wide as it had been when he stared at the Lycan's nakedness. He walked towards the scum on the floor, watching his pain as the life left his eyes. He didn't deserve the mercy of another bullet.
Matt's eyes snapped upwards, towards the crack in the door that gave him a clear view of the room. He pushed the door open further, revealing a bedroom of sorts, the open windows casting reddish light on the woman sleeping as stilly as a puppet on the bed.