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“Take them!”
Then she flung the ropes at him, and he was lost in a rush of surging horseflesh.
And she was back in the barn.
He couldn’t catch the ropes quickly enough. The horses bolted for the path behind the barn, the path where he’d first met Layne, the path that led to the woods and safety.
He had no idea whether she was right about the whole herd animal thing, but the woods were better than the barn. He let them go, then dove into the cloud of smoke after her.
After the sunlight, the darkness of the barn was almost absolute. Sparks dripped from the ceiling, catching at loose straw and wood shavings to create small fires in his path. But most of the fire was overhead, in the hayloft, a pulsing glow that called to him through the smoke.
You’re here! Come play.
“Layne!” he yelled. The roar of the fire was a living thing, muting his voice. Horses were still screaming in the darkness a sound that had started as panic and now carried mostly pain.
He shouted her name again, dropping to his knees where the smoke was less dense though it didn’t help. The fire had found something new to burn, and metal cans were bursting somewhere to his left. He could smell chemicals.
Settle, he pleaded.
He hadn’t realized how much Hunter’s presence helped, how much another Elemental let him focus his power.
This was too much for him to handle alone.
“Layne!”
Nothing.
How could he have done this? His control was no better than when he’d killed his parents. And it was going to happen again.
He swept the aisle, going from side to side, using his hands to learn if she’d collapsed in here somewhere. He found all kinds of items he couldn’t identify no Layne. He heard a crash, and before he could identify the source, something heavy ran into him, knocking him aside. Hooves hit his rib cage; his head hit the wall. Metal horseshoes scrabbled at the concrete flooring, and then the animal was gone, tearing into the sunlight.
Gabriel coughed and rolled back to his knees, ignoring the new pain in his chest, the starbursts flaring in his eyes. He deserved a broken rib or two. A concussion.
He deserved to be trampled. To death.
“Layne!”
Fire rained down more steadily now. Bits of wood struck his back, his cheeks, his hands.
There was only one horse banging now, from what he could tell. Had they all escaped? Or had some died from the smoke, the heat?
Would he find Layne, or just a body?
Stop it.
Larger parts of the ceiling fell behind him, flaming planks of wood crashing into the aisle. Fire leapt onto the walls, into the open stall doors, catching the sawdust bedding and turning it into a carpet of flame.
What if Layne wasn’t in the aisle at all, but inside one of the stalls?
Help me, he begged the fire. Where is she?
But this fire didn’t care about people. It cared about the burn, the destruction, the pure energy.
Metal struck concrete again, and Gabriel scrabbled out of the way. Smoke swelled around the running animal, revealing a white head, soot-covered flanks, and then a tail swallowed up by the smoke.
No more banging.
Someone had let that horse out.
