I spun back toward the perimeter.
“Ash!”
I ran.
He was still on the outskirts of the base, the wind roaring around him in violent spirals. From where I stood, I saw his eyes — glazed, unfocused, like he wasn’t commanding the storm anymore.
Like the storm had claimed him.
His power was too strong. The air between us fought me with every step. I couldn’t get close. Couldn’t reach him.
The device discharged.
A thunderous boom ripped through the base — not sound alone, but force. The air imploded first — sucked inward so hard my ears popped — and then the shockwave of light exploded outward, flattening everything in its path.
I stumbled as it hit.
Ash took it full-on.
It hurled his body through the air, flinging him back hundreds of feet like he weighed nothing at all.
He struck a tree with a sickening crack that echoed louder than the blast.
And the wind died.
Strong arms seized me, hauling me back. Soldiers swarmed Ash.
My phone was stripped from me.
And all I could see was Ash.
Lying on the ground.
Still.
What the hell have I done?
Chapter 24
Seph
The moment I saw Sable at the gates, I knew something was wrong.
Her eyes were dark and shuttered. Her jaw ticked once. She stood rigid at the gates, fury vibrating through her.
I slowed without meaning to.
“What?” I asked.
She closed the distance in two strides and stopped inches from me.
“You are a stupid, reckless girl,” she hissed.
The words hit because they weren’t wrong.
“Sable!” Dev snapped, already moving.
She didn’t even look at him.
