Her eyes burned, even as she looked through the sea of people’s legs, searching for a way out of this. A way to get Remi out of here. But the only way would be to make it look like Nicoletriedto kill her, and failed. At least then she could ask to try again, or offer to hunt someone else.
Anyoneelse.
The phone in her hand had locked, now useless.
This was the only option.
‘Fight me,’ Nicole whispered, hauling her back up. ‘Remi, for god’s sake, fight me with everything you have. We need to make this look real.’
She shoved her friend backwards, inwardly cringing at the force.
Remi staggered, eyes full of wounded disbelief.
There was a strange type of bond with siblings that meant you knew you weren’t hurting one another if you ever fought – like in training, or even accidentally. That you didn’tmeanit. They’d trained together for so long it was an exercise. But tohitRemi? To hurt her? When the stakes were so high and someone that could kill them both was watching?
Nicole had to suppress every part of her that rebelled. Because both their lives depended on it.
So she dived.
It was a dance. Remi was smooth in her movements. Nicole knew her friend favoured her voice but could still throw a solid punch. She knew Remi’s throat was her weak point; that a right jab there would stop her ability to loose certain immobilising sounds.
And yet even as the crowd caught on that something was happening and began to shout and point and stagger out of the way, Nicole couldn’t strike hard enough. A glancing grab there, a too-wide punch next.
But Remi also knew Nicole: knew that her body was her strong point, and after her transformation, her skin was near impenetrable, the muscles beneath steely. She was holding back, too. Remi had an attack in her arsenal that could decimate Nicole’s heightened hearing. It would hurt enough that Remi could get away, but she was resisting.
And they were running out of time.
Alexander would force her, or god forbid, take over this kill if she didn’t manage to get Remi out of here. They needed a distraction, now.
‘Remi,please—’
A flash of pain and grief went through her best friend’s eyes. And in a brief, blinding moment, Nicole wished none of this had happened. That they could have all stayed in Estwood. That they could have continued their coffee mornings before classes, laughing themselves sick watching their shows. Dreaming of being a part of a secret world that was showing them time and time again, it wasimpossible.
But even if Nicole never got to see her again, she would always,always, cherish the fact that for a few wonderful years, she had a friend. Remi had taught her that it was possible to trust someone who wasn’t her family, and Nicole wasn’t sure that without that lesson, she would have been able to have any relationship with anyone else and feel the way she did for Kyan.
Then Remi let out a scream that tore through Nicole’s ears and promptly muffled them as they filled with blood.
Bright, crippling agony lanced through her skull. The horde of humans and supernaturals dropped or clutched their ears. A few people slumped to the floor, immediately unconscious. Glass shattered from every window and tore through their clothes.
Nicole barely had a moment to recalibrate before she felt herself being hauled up by her jacket and thrown in Remi’s fleeing direction. Alexander didn’t say a word, he didn’t need to. The message was clear.
Finish this.
Nicole staggered into a run despite her ringing senses and blurred vision, the sunlight knifing her eyes. She struggled to right herself as she leaped over and around humans.
Straight into the museum.
Remi ran beneath the great vaulted ceiling and the giant skeleton of a whale strung above. The interior was so beautiful Nicole would have stood here for half an hour if she’d had the time.
Instead, she bolted after Remi until her friend reached the grand steps up to the exhibits. There was an apology in her eyes as she spun, and blasted a note. Not towards Nicole, butup.
So the great skeleton came crashing down.
It seemed to fall in slow motion, the colossal maw of the animal outstretched as if it had come to life to devour her. Nicole threw herself forward onto the stone floor, covering her head. Her shoulders barked in pain as her back was whipped by the falling bones, the bare skin of her hands lashed and sliced.
Shoving off the debris and struggling up, Nicole bolted after Remi, barely knowing left from right. But she could scent her, still. That violet perfume and even the earthy scent of her lipstick, so subtle but distinctive.
Then her feet left the floor and the world went sideways. The force slammed into Nicole from the right and a wall slammed into her from the left, her head cracking against it as someone tackled her.
