The rogues are here.

Elara

The living room fell completely silent, except for the constant cackle from the other end of the call.

Soon every single sound had disappeared under the heavy weight of the truth. The phone was still on the coffee table and it was still  on speaker. It was so quiet that I could hear my own heart pounding in my chest and If a pin had dropped on the floor at that moment, we all would have heard it.

Brielle spoke through the speaker, breaking the silence. "Elara? Are you still on the line?"

My throat was dry. I struggled to speak and stuttered out, "I... yes."

Brielle sighed into the phone and said a quick apology. "I am sorry, Elara. But Damien is not giving up. Like I said, he paid rogues to come take you. They are already on their way. If he finds out I called to warn you, I will be in big trouble."

Louis breathed in sharply, his face was so full of rage.

He opened his mouth to yell at her, but Ronan moved fast behind him and placed his hand over Louis's mouth, smothering his words and stopping him from speaking into the phone.

"You've got to leave now before they get to you, Elara." Brielle said from the other end. Her silence after she'd said those words signaled that she was waiting for a response from me but when she saw that none was forthcoming, the line went dead as Brielle hung up.

As soon as the call ended, Louis pulled Ronan's hand away from his face. He backed up and lost his temper completely.

"How dare he?" Louis shouted, his eyes going dark with fury. "Damien has been poisoning my sister for years, making her weak, and now he sends rogues? I am going to kill that bastard the second I see him!"

The brothers stayed calm then Kieran stepped up and spoke in a steady voice. "Louis, you've got to calm down. Shouting isn't what is going to help her right now, we need to find a way to hide Elara from these rogues before they come."

Louis shook his head. "No, we are not running away, we are going to f stay back and fight them right here."

Jace nodded his head, agreeing with Louis. "He's right. If we don't stop Damien now, he's just going to keep coming after Elara."

I stood there in shock while listening to them speak, I was completely terrified and too dumfounded to even let out a sound.

I trusted my brother and his friends to protect me, but I couldn't get rid of the fear that was gnawing at my veins.

And that was because I knew Damien too well and what he was capable of, I've seen him do worse in the past.

I knew he would destroy anyone who got in his way just to drag me back to him.

Suddenly, loud shouts echoed from outside, disrupting my thoughts and jerking me back to my harsh reality.

The rogues had arrived already. We heard the sound of glass breaking and people screaming in the street.

The rogues didn't spare anything in their sight, they were attacking everyone on their way to the apartment. Then, just as fast as it started, everything went quiet again. The rogues disappeared into the shadows.

A second later, a rogue broke through the window and ran straight to me before anyone could react.

He yanked me towards him with unnatural speed and before I could wrap my head around what was happening, his arm went round my neck, choking down the scream that was about to escape my lungs.

He suffocated the air out of him as he tightened his hold, trying to knock me out cold. I tried to struggle myself free but he was too strong.

I scratched at his arm but he didn't budge. I struggled for breath as everything went black around the edges.

"Elara!" Louis screamed.

Kieran rushed forward immediately and tackled the rogue, breaking his grip on me.

Kieran hit the rogue hard with all his strength, overpowering him and knocking him unconscious onto the floor. I coughed, blood splattering on the floor in front of me as I dropped to my knees, wheezing and struggling to get as much air at once.

More noise came from the hallway as Ronan, Jace, and Louis fought off the rest of the rogues.

Kieran rushed towards me. He crouched to my level and tried helping me up but I felt lightheaded and couldn't hold up my own weight.

Seeing I couldn't stand on my own, he picked me up and carry me to safety.

But as he lifted me, his hand touched my side. When he pulled his hand back, it was covered in deep red blood.

I looked down and that was when I  felt a burning pain in my ribs. The rogue had stabbed me during the struggle, and blood was pouring out of my side.

My head felt more light and dizzy.

The sounds of fighting began to grow faint. I felt like I was floating and swimming in mid-air as my eyes started to close.

"Kieran..." I whispered weakly.

Kieran looked at his bloody hands in horror. He opened his mouth to call for help, but heavy footsteps suddenly thudded right outside the back door, followed by a loud, dangerous growl.

"We've got you conered now, don't we?!" The rogues voice dripped with satisfaction.

Kieran's eyes widened instantly. I had very little strength in me to worry about what was going to happen next. I could only pray to the goddess to keep I and my child alive.

"Stay with me, Elara... please..." Kieran's lips kept moving but I couldn't make out a single word.

I was still looking at him when the darkness began to close in. I wanted to tell him to look behind and see the rogue raising a weapon over his head but my lips wouldn't move.

The rogue's face swam in and out of detail as he inched closer to us and swung the weapon down.