Void(106)

I poured until I wasn’t the Void anymore. I funneled the last of myself until the world was black and the Void was dead.





Chapter 27





I was moving. I knew that much. Every muscle, every nerve in my body had a hollow achiness to it that was making me feel sick. People were talking, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I wanted to fall back into oblivion, but the jarring movement wouldn’t let me.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a tear-stricken Reed shaking my shoulders, screaming at me to wake up. It took me a moment to orient myself. I didn’t feel...like myself. I didn’t feel whole. Something was wrong. Reed’s sobs sounded as if they were traveling down a tunnel, echoing off the walls and bouncing against my ears.

“What’s happening?” I finally croaked out as Reed wiped snot from his nose. I’d noticed that we were in a moving car, night shadows passing by in the window.

“Fuck, I’m so glad you’re awake!” he sobbed before wrapping his shaking arms around me. Reed smelled like blood and wine.

I looked at him, but I felt...empty. Something wasn’t right. I patted myself down, touching the soft material of the dress someone had put me in with a wince. It was like a part of me was missing. Where was I? What happened?

I looked up to see who was driving while Reed cried against my neck, surprised to see that it was Render weaving through the traffic at frantic speeds. “What’s going on?” I asked him. He looked at me through the rearview mirror with sad eyes as I clutched the leather seats.

“The vamp is taking us away. You...you drained them all,” Reed whispered in answer while pulling away from me.

I blinked, trying to clear the webs in my head. “What?”

And then the pieces fell into place, and my memory started knitting together. I remembered the dinner party, the unconscious supers. My paragons. I remembered Banner’s betrayal and my mother’s greed. I remembered what I did. I still felt the residual need buzzing under my skin. I took them all. I took all their powers. And I’d do it again.

“So, you know now?” I asked Reed tentatively while keeping my eyes on Render. He honked the horn at a car in his way before driving on the shoulder of the road to get around it.

“The details are fuzzy, but I get the gist. Right now, we’re headed to a private airport to get the hell out of here while your harem of hotties smooths things over.”

Smooths things over? Oh shit.

I looked back at Render again. Why couldn’t I feel the pull to him? It was like nothing was there anymore. “Render?” I asked in a small voice. I needed to hear him talk. Needed to know he was okay. A headlight flashed through the windshield, and I noticed that he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly it looked like it would break. “Render, what’s going on?” I asked again.

My voice was unsure as I stared at him from the backseat of whatever car we were in. I had so many questions, but most of all I had doubts. The council finally turned me into the monster I was afraid of. They’d wanted to use me to make them stronger, and in the end, they were left with nothing. And for some reason, it felt like I was left with nothing, too. Did my paragons hate me now? Did they hate me for what I was capable of?

“What about my mom?” I asked, not sure I wanted to hear the answer.

“She’s fine. Bitching about you. God, Devi, I had no idea how awful she was,” Reed said, patting my knee. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to chase away the hurt. My own mother sold me out and had been willing to steal from Quade to get powers again. She’d been willing to use me, to endanger me, her own daughter.

“We’re almost there,” Render said in a solemn tone, speaking for the first time. He turned right off the shadowed street we were on. The moment his tires went from gravel to pavement, I felt my heart plummet to my stomach. “Where are we going?” I asked.

Once again, he didn’t answer me directly. I felt like I was going to be sick. It wasn’t until he parked and opened the driver’s side door that I realized there was finality in the air. I got out of the car and took quick steps over to him. He hadn’t said much of anything during the drive, and his silence had anxiety coiling up in me like a snake.

“Render?” I called out.

He started pulling bags out of the trunk, his grip strong on the handle and his forearm flexed. He didn’t even look my way when I called his name, so I touched his arm to try and get his attention. The contact was like a zap of electricity. The moment our skin connected, smoke started to pour from his mouth and fingertips. His skin buzzed, and his fangs elongated. I snapped my hand back in shock.

“What the fuck?” I asked as the remnants of the wispy smoke disappeared. “Was that—”

“You transferred the Void to us,” Render explained in a dark voice without looking me in the eye. “I don’t know how you did it, but I can feel it inside of me.” He patted his chest to emphasize the point, and pain like shards of metal pierced my skin.

Oh gods. No.

I reached up for my chest, noting that my amulet was gone.

And I didn’t feel hungry.

I felt...nothing.

I reached out to touch him again, but he pulled out of my reach. I felt sick to my stomach, grief over my loss of identity battled with my guilt for what I’d done.

My entire life, I’d hated my powers. I’d cursed who I was and longed for a way out, hoped for an opportunity to feel normal and experience life with Reed. But now that it was gone, regret bloomed in my chest. How could I miss something I’d always hated?