"Keelan, what..." Darian started.
"Move out!" Aiden whispered loudly.
Colton took point and checked the door. Luck was on their side; the door was unlocked. Stealthily, they made their way down the dark hallways. Darian could tell it was making everyone extremely nervous that there was no resistance. He was about to concentrate on Amelia to get a direction when they heard screams.
"Amelia!" Darian hissed. The men ran toward the sound of the screams. It took everything in Darian to resist the urge to run into the room. Aiden held up a fist and peeked in the open door. He nodded and they ran inside.
Darian watched in horror as his mate writhed in pain under a glowing crystal. Keelan darted forward and pressed a series of buttons. The crystal dimmed, and the straps holding his mate were released.
Gavriel turned to Keelan. "How did you know how to do that?"
"Saw it in a dream," Keelan said, pulling a lever down that shut off the entire device.
Darian caught Amelia as she slumped forward. When she opened her eyes and saw him she began to cry.
"It's okay my love, you're safe now." Darian lifted her up into his arms.
Her eyes were unfocused as she shook her head. "Trap. It's...a...trap," she whispered.
Keelan grabbed Darian's arm and shoved him toward the door. "Run!"
They had only made it about halfway down the hallway when a bright light appeared behind them. Darian looked back, and a large, glowing sphere appeared in the middle of the hall.
Keelan stopped and planted his feet. Lifting up his left hand, he started casting.
"Keelan, come on!" Darian yelled.
Keelan raised his head, and the look on his face was peaceful. "Remember what I told you, don't hesitate. Colton, get Aiden out of here." Behind him, Darian heard Aiden fighting Gavriel and Colton as they practically carried him down the hall.
Keelan smiled. "Goodbye, my friend. Tell my brother he was right, but this was the only way I saw where you all lived. Tell him I'm sorry for what I've done, but I'd do it again." Behind Keelan, the sphere pulsed. He turned back to Darian, tears in his eyes. "Go!"
Darian held tight to Amelia as he turned and left his friend behind him. Outside, Gavriel and Colton had tackled Aiden to the ground to keep him from going back inside. Out of nowhere, Lorcan and the Beta Unit ran up to them from the parking lot.
"Where are we at?" Lorcan yelled.
"Bomb!" Colton shouted.
Kade, the Beta Unit witch, had just enough time to raise a shield when a pulse wave slammed into it. It threw the men to the ground, shoving them back several yards.
It took a couple minutes for the ringing in his ears to stop. He gently laid Amelia on the ground. She wept uncontrollably into her hands. He stood on unsteady legs and blinked, trying to clear the dark shapes from his vision.
He could just make out the forms of the other men standing and shaking their heads.
Lorcan turned to him. "Where's Keelan?"
"Guard Amelia!" Darian yelled.
He didn't answer Lorcan's question, because he didn't want to say it out loud. If he said it out loud, it would become real. He pushed past Lorcan and ran with Aiden back into the building. The turned the corner and skidded to a stop. There, in the middle of the hallway, lay Keelan's crumpled body.
"No! No, Keelan! You idiot!" Darian ran over and pulled his friend into his arms. "Aiden, help him!"
Aiden sat on the ground, his elbows on his knees his face in his hands. Was their commander crying? He couldn't be crying, because that would mean they'd lost Keelan.
He shook Keelan. "Wake up!"
Behind him, Oron tried to gently pull Keelan from Darian's hands.
"No!" he pushed Oron away.
"He said he'd been having the same nightmare for weeks, and every night he tried to change the outcome. This must have been the only series of events that he would allow to happen. He said this was the only way we'd all live," Amelia said, tears streaming down her face.
He pulled Keelan up and yelled in his face, "You knew! You sonofabitch! You knew and sacrificed yourself anyway!" He heard his voice crack and didn't care.
"Get him up! We need to get Keelan back to Lycaonia, maybe we can figure out the spell to undo whatever this was," Lorcan said.
"The voice over the speaker said that the spell would rip the soul from the body of any living thing in the building, creating soul spheres. He said that they would collect the souls of all the Alpha Unit members." Amelia shuddered.
Aiden looked up from his hands. "They have his soul?" His voice was almost unrecognizable. Amelia could see the image of a bear semi-imposed over his body. Aiden's anger was almost palpable.
Lorcan looked around, confused. "Why didn't they just kill us in the parking lot when we were all stunned for a few minutes?"