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But my body had a different plan. With fresh air in my lungs, I bolted after him. He darted across the road and nearly got flattened by a two-ton truck with a confederate flag on the tailgate.
The driver stuck his middle finger out the window, gunning it to the next light. Theo ran down the street and into an old warehouse for one of the factories nearby. I stayed on him, bursting through the door of the darkened building.
A faint cry somewhere in the warehouse distracted me from my mission. My feet skidded to a stop and I listened for it again. I had to be imagining things. Maybe it was a seagull or a breeze blowing through the rotted rafters. But, behind the small office building in the middle of the giant wooden structure came another cry. I abandoned my pursuit and rushed toward the office.
“Hello?”
I couldn’t see much in the shadowy room. A few chairs stood about with messy stacks of newspapers surrounding them. I squinted in the dark, unsure where to go.
“Is anyone there?”
“Here. I’m here.”
The weak voice drew me to a set of boards that had been laid across two abandoned sawhorses.
I didn’t recognize her at first. Michelle had lost ten pounds which she couldn’t afford to lose on her tiny frame. Her usually black and shiny hair was dull and stringy, plastered across her forehead. Two cuts on her arms were dripping blood into buckets set below.
Across her bare stomach was the same symbol I’d seen on Mr. Yonas – a circle with a Z shape inside, and several other symbols around it. I rushed forward to untie the ropes which held down her arms and legs.
“Where’s Kit?” I asked, helping Michelle sit up.
Her face paled with the effort, but she remained conscious.
“Where’s your son?”
“I don’t know, that monster took him.” She twisted her neck, searching for Kit in the dark. “We have to find him. We have to find my baby.”
A chilling laughter made us both freeze. Theo was standing twenty feet away, facing us with a wicked smile on his face. He cocked his head at me, as if bowing to an enemy. I would’ve liked to leap across the room and take a chunk of flesh out of his face, but Michelle was leaning hard on my shoulder. I couldn’t leave her alone.
Theo held up his palm. A swirling mass of fire floated above it. It looked just like the power Nicky had used to barbeque me last night. They must’ve stolen that power from the same person during his training.
He puckered his lips and blew on the palm of his hand. A massive wind flew from his mouth and joined the fireball. They tumbled in the air together, expanding rapidly as it began to move toward us. Through the flames, I caught a glimpse of Theo running in the opposite direction, heading to the exit.
“We have to move,” I yelled, pulling Michelle to her feet.
The fireball was only growing bigger with the acceleration of the wind, and soon it would be on us. A building this old and full of old wood would go up like a pile of matches. We had to get out, now.
“My baby. We have to find my baby.”
Michelle fought me, clawing at my skin while I dragged her across the floor. She kept screaming, calling out for Kit. I looked up to see the roof catch fire; the wooden beams and rafters lighting up like kindle. If we didn’t get out soon, it’d fall and bury us in flames.
“We have to go.” I pulled Michelle along and unfurled my wings to help carry her weight.
Heat rolled over my back, singing the tips of my feathers. There was no way I was going to get burned two days in a row. Chicken wings weren’t on the menu for tonight.
Flames licked up the sides of the walls. I glanced over my shoulder. The swirling ball of fire was nearly on top of us. Thick black smoke choked the air, burning my lungs. With a final flap of my wings, Michelle and I burst through the side door, landing hard on the pavement and rolling to a stop.
The building began to collapse behind us, the studs breaking like toothpicks under the weight of the collapsing roof. I held Michelle back as she cried out for Kit. No one else was coming out of that building alive. Wherever he was, I hoped we hadn’t left him to die.
Chapter Fourteen
The elevator dinged and then opened, letting Gideon and Agent Silva off. Gideon still wore his black suit, but it was clear by the wrinkled and half untucked shirt that he’d had a rough day. His tie was missing, and the shadow of a beard grew along his chin and jawline.
Agent Silva had returned to her impeccable style of a crisp white blouse and straight legged black pants. Her slicked back ponytail and clean face hid any signs of weariness.
I stood outside Michelle’s hospital room as her IV for fluids was being hooked up. She looked rough, but doctors had already told me she’d be okay. With a few day’s rest and some stitches, she could be back to normal.
Except, normal didn’t exist for Michelle anymore. Her family had been harvested by a madman. There was no way to bounce back from that. And we didn’t know if her son was still alive. For all I knew, we left him to burn in that warehouse. The idea made me want to vomit.
