"No," he said.
"What about the night I ran?"
"Yeah,” he chuckled. “I think so."
"You—are you…” huh, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something about him. He gave me a weird feeling.
His appearance didn’t ring any bells. No, his voice was the familiar part. I’d heard his voice before. Then the physical details became important. The dark clothes, the mean smirk… and when a passing car added light and highlighted his freckles and green eyes, it all clicked.
“Oh, shit."
This guy had been there the night I escaped. He’d been behind me speaking to the other Accelerant psycho. And Rob’s description matched him, the guy he hooked up with. Kyle the elemental mage, member of the crazed fire coven.
23.Survival Mode
Max
Confronted with a psycho mage, survival mode kicked in.
I threw my hands up to attack, trying to make him flinch, then I kicked him as hard as possible and swiveled around and bolted. I didn’t get far. Yelling and struggling, he covered my mouth and dragged me off.
The rest happened in fragments, some agonizingly slow and others lightning fast. The trip to his vehicle lasted an eternity, fighting him every step and trying to draw attention to us, until he did something magical, touching my chest and stunning me with what felt like liquid fire. He stuffed me in the trunk of his car quickly, plunging me into darkness.
Adrenaline flooded my system as I urged myself to stay calm, think, search for any way out. My angelic insta-traveling abilities would sure come in handy.
Instant travel only seemed to happen when things lined up just right, when my focus and desire combined and became action. This circumstance? In no way, shape, or form resembling right.
Kyle dragged me to some shithole. A warehouse building with a sign I couldn’t read in the dark and looked like it was missing some letters anyway.
With no trees or other cover to hide me, the building seemed like the best chance to put distance between us. Pitch black inside, Kyle threw me against the wall.
I kicked out and made contact with something soft and vulnerable because he wheezed, “you fucker” and gave me an opportunity to run. Finally, my first stroke of good luck.
But this unfamiliar building was pitch black. “Dammit!”
The darkness hid me, but it also hid everything else. I ran right into a solid object that connected with my stomach, the impact making enough noise to give away my location that I didn’t bother holding back the curse. So much for good luck.
“Are you done yet?” the fucker’s voice echoed from a good distance behind me, like he hadn’t even begun chasing me. And he was amused, that double fucker.
“You can’t blame me for trying.” Switching to cautious movements, I crept away after speaking, hoping I’d given him the wrong trail to follow.
“Oh, I don’t. My whole coven’s in custody and I knowexactlywho to blame.” The room seemed to grow hotter with his anger. “Rob’s never been subtle. I heard rumors he was a rat and then suddenly he starts texting me out of the blue and we get busted? He sold me out.”
The blame clearly fell on the guy starting fiery blazes and terrorizing others, not the guy who helped catch the fire-starting psycho. I stayed quiet about this, inching along with my hands out as I guessed my way through the dark. Questions kept swirling in my mind.Is there another exit? Can I sneak around him? Which direction did I even come from? Does anyone know I’m gone yet?
"I’m the only one left." Dammit, he sounded too close this time. “I can’t break into the DSA and rescue them on my own. I need more power. I need an offering. Make the flames happy and they’ll grant me more strength.”
Thud.Shit. His chilling words distracted me and I ran right into something metallic. I leaped forward blindly, desperate to distance myself after giving my position away.
“Isn’t life funny? We couldn’t find you when we wanted a rematch but then I’m looking for an offering and there you are. Rob woulda made such a nice sacrifice, but I saw youfirst.”
Hell no. I didn’t survive the basement to become a sacrificial lamb.
I stumbled as the floor went uneven for a moment. Something banged against a wall next to me… had I crossed through a doorway?
Was that a light up ahead? Was I seeing things? No there was a window, the front of the building so close, only—
Hands seized on my back. “Gotcha."
