AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But then the front door opened, and Hunter straightened.
Moonlight reflected on dark hair, a trash bag crinkled, and Hunter recognized his mark. He was out of the car in a heartbeat, creeping along the sidewalk.
Be a shadow, Hunter. Can you be a shadow?
It was one of the first things he’d learned from his father. He’d been six.
Noah Dean never saw him coming. Hunter had him on the ground between the houses before the kid could draw enough breath to scream.
He was fighting now, though, and his flailing foot caught a trash can.
Hunter bit back a curse and braced an arm against Noah’s neck, using enough pressure that the boy whimpered and froze.
“That’s better,” Hunter said.
Noah’s breathing was shaking. “My parents will know something is up. I was just taking out the trash.”
“You and your friends have been killing people. You think I give a crap about your parents?”
“They’ll call the cops—”
“Then maybe I should work faster, huh?” Hunter added another few pounds of pressure, until the boy’s eyes squeezed shut.
“What?” he cried. “What do you want?”
“I want to know where Calla is hiding. What you’re planning.”
“I don’t—I can’t—” The boy choked and gasped and squirmed under Hunter’s grip.
Hunter held him there for another minute, until the fear in the air was potent.
“If you think I won’t hurt you,” said Hunter, “you’re wrong.”
“Fuck you.” The boy squeaked out the words. “You’re just proving our point.”
“And what point is that?”
“The Guides are the ones who should be destroyed.” Noah squirmed again, trying to ease some of the pressure on his throat. “Your talents don’t make you better than the other Elementals. They make you worse. Just look what you’re doing right now.”
His rage practically hit Hunter in the face.
The guilt that followed was his own. But he couldn’t let this kid go. This was so much bigger than just the two of them.
“What are you planning?” said Hunter. “What’s Calla planning?”
Noah choked and squirmed. “Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be around here on Monday.”
A door creaked around the front of the house, then a female voice called out, almost wavering. “Noah? Are you okay?”
Hunter looked down at the boy he had pinned to the ground and knew he had about three seconds to figure out what to do.
“Tell me where Calla is or I’ll shoot your mother.”
He must have sounded pretty convincing, because the boy’s breathing shook. “Leave her alone. She doesn’t know about this. My mom’s not an Elemental.”
Hunter had told Kate that he needed these kids to be afraid of him.
Now that Noah was, it felt horrible.
