Angelica stamped her foot. “Why does no one want to shop with me?”
Maximus dragged me away. I tried to get a last look at Trey, to make sure he was alright, but the crowds quickly blocked him out.
I had no desire to speak with Maximus and no patience for his bullying. “Let go.”
Maximus’ grip tightened until my fingers spasmed. With him holding me, I couldn’t teleport away, and he was too strong to fight. I could stop time but just thinking that made me trip over my own feet. I crashed downto one knee. Unbothered, Maximus kept walking, wrenching my arm until I cried out in pain.
He stopped without releasing me. The crowd split around us, their gazes harsh and judgmental, irritated to find their path blocked.
“Get up,” Maximus said. “We need to talk.”
The last thing I wanted was another damn private conversation. “Let me go first.”
Maximus dropped my wrist and jerked his head to the side, indicating another alleyway.
I shook my head. I wasn’t going anywhere secluded with him.
He crouched beside me and whispered in my ear, “Get up and walk on your own, or I will drag you there, regardless of any witnesses.”
I stared back at him. “I thought you weregood.”
“Only to people who deserve it.”
Maximus reached for me again, following through on his threat. I tried to stop time, but it slipped through my fingers. It paused for a second, a hitch of breath, before continuing again. He grabbed my arm and dragged me across the floor to the alley.
He barely waited until we were out of sight before he slammed me up against the wall. One hand pinned my shoulder, the other wrapped around my throat. He wasn’t squeezingyet, but I didn’t know how long his restraint would last.
“I don’t know who you are or why you’re here, but I know evil when I see it,” he growled. The puppy had grown up into a guard dog with fangs. “I want you to leave us alone.”
“I’m not going to hurt anyone,” I insisted. I grabbed his wrist with both hands, trying to disengage from him. If time reset while he held onto me, he’d come with me, like Delilah had, memories intact.
His fingers tightened until black spots formed in my vision. “I don’t believe you. I think you’ll get someone killed. Maybe you already have.”
The image of Trey flashed in my mind. A tree branch sprouting through his back. Blood soaking his shirt, spilling from lips I’d kissed a dozen times. The way his face crumbled with pain that he tried to mask with flippancy as he said,“I don’t think a health potion will be enough.”
Tears formed in my eyes, a mix of pain and grief. Maximus’ eyes widened in shock and his grip loosened.
A clock bell tolled in the distance.
Ten second warning.
I yanked my knee up, directly into Maximus’ groin. He released me and bowed over himself, clutching his bruised balls. I shoved him away and started running, choosing a random direction, anywhere that would put distance between us before time reset.
One Hour Earlier,
Inside a Carriage
Headed Toward the Windermere Plaza
Delilah’s blunt nails dug into my arm. “What did you do?” she hissed in my ear.
“I’m gonna be sick,” Trey said.
My stomach jolted and bile rose in my throat. I choked it back down and whispered, “Me too.”
Fitz’s eyes widened and he hurriedly slammed on the roof, ordering the coachman to stop. As the carriage slowed, Trey threw one of the doors open and stumbled out. I followed shortly after him, barely landing on the ground before coughing up stomach acid into the dirt.
Wet sounds came from beside me as Trey did the same.
