Page 235 of Volik

Sentient.

I do not attempt to rein it in.

I fill my lungs with fire, and I focus on letting it out.

My footsteps crack the tile.

My body thrums with my wild heartbeat.

Paintings fall off the wall behind me.

Screams echo from somewhere else in the building.

I hook a finger over the top button of my shirt and drag it down. The material feels too constrictive.

The piece of shit who blames my family for his mate’s death has Nix.

The inferno inside me stokes.

If he kills her…

I fight to breathe.

A pulse of gravito pushes the door open.

More screams.

My shoulder dents the doorframe.

Her scent lingers out here.

We were just here.

And then someone took her.

I open my mouth, pulling in air.

My enemy took her.

Metal scrapes over blacktop.

A bike rack slides toward me.

Trees bend toward me.

Students grip at grass as they’re dragged across the lawn toward me.

I tear at the cuffs of my sleeves.

“Volik!” Henry yells from a distance.

Morell. Has. Nix.

My jaw aches.

A window shatters.

Someone screams again.