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Jace looked over at me with an inscrutable look. “I think he went to We 7.”
I nodded. All these secrets shrouding us was suffocating me. “Okay, well I’m going for a run.” It kind of hurt me that Remy hadn’t even let me know that he wasn’t going to be here.
I had a feeling Molly’s visit had upset him in some way, but I hated feeling like I was constantly being shut out. I hated that Jaxson and Jace had never told me about their mother. I understood their need to handle their emotions the way they felt was best, but it also made me feel like they didn’t feel like I was worth the effort to be confided in.
I tightened my shoe strings on my running shoes and did a quick warm up, put on my headset, and turned on Drake’s iPod before I headed out towards the road. My feet on the pavement was oddly therapeutic. I was still troubled, but at least I had an outlet for all these negative feelings.
I should have been more aware of my surroundings, but I was careless. I hadn’t seen the dark van parked off on an old access road beneath the billboard advertising Knightstown. My music was blaring in my ears, and I knew I was running at a much faster pace than I generally did. I was pushing myself hard. I was running from the demons and insecurities in my head.
One moment I was running on the road, and the next it felt like I had hit an ice patch. My feet went out from under me, and I didn’t have the time to stop myself from falling hard to the pavement. I felt and heard the resounding crack to my head. I tried to roll over to my knees and blinked in confusion, my vision blurring. What the hell happened?
I saw five pairs of feet and legs surround me. “Quick, someone inject her before she can protect herself,” a timid nasally voice demanded in a panicked voice.
I tried to compel them to leave. Nothing. I then tried to erect my forcefield. Nothing. I held up a shaking arm, trying to produce a fireball. Nothing. I took a deep breath trying to focus on any of my gifts, but they were eluding me.
Through the fog in my head I saw a beautiful girl with black cropped hair squat down in front of me, her elbows braced on her thighs. She wore black makeup, including her lipstick. Her eyebrows, nose, lip, and ears were covered in piercings. She gave me a cruel smile before she looked up at her companions.
“This little thing is someone I should fear?” she scoffed as she extended a finger towards me. An electric bolt shot from her fingertip, and I felt like I was struck by lightning as my body convulsed uncontrollably in pain. My hands went out from under me and my face connected with the pavement this time.
I gasped in pain as the residual effects of her gift wracked my body. My vision was doubled. I felt a warm stickiness running down the back of my head and neck from my original fall. My whole right side of my cheek was already swelling. It made it even harder to look out of my right eye.
“Knock it off, Static,” another voice reprimanded her. “The boss wants her in one piece.”
Real original nickname, I scoffed inwardly.
“She will be,” another male voice said with chilling glee. I braced myself for more pain as I felt my body engulfed in ice. I felt like I was being plunged into freezing water. “Just slightly broken.”
I felt so close to blacking out as I looked up at the billboard. I was unable to focus on any of my gifts. The pain in my body was too great. Jaxson! I screamed.
“Blake, what’s wrong?” his voice came to me immediately.
“Help,” I gasped. “Billboard.”
I thought I was being offered a moment of respite as the ice left my veins. “Is that all you have,” I mumbled. My voice sounded slurred even to my own ears. I couldn
’t access my gifts, but I needed to stall for as long as possible. I knew they were here to get me. There was no way in hell I was going to be separated from my family and friends again.
I heard another female laugh to my left. “She’s got balls, but mine are bigger,” she said smugly before I saw weeds from the side of the road begin to crawl towards me. The long vine-like foliage wrapped themselves around me to the point that I could barely breath. The vines constricted painfully around my chest and throat.
When I felt the vines finally recede from around me, it felt like everyone was so far away. It felt like I was seeing everything through a blurry tunnel. I thought I saw Drake as a force field was erected around me, successfully separating me from my tormentors. I heard the chaos and shouts, before I finally allowed the pain to take me away
I came to as I was being carried into the bathroom. I looked up at Drake and was instantly lost in his blue eyes. He should take his glasses off more often, I thought. I reached up and touched his face. He hadn’t shaved today so the blond and light brown stubble was rough against my palm.
“You found me,” I breathed in relief. My body was still riddled in pain.
A look of sorrow and regret entered his eyes. “I was done with my swim and found out you went out by yourself. I tried to catch up with you, but I was too late to stop the worst of it. Luckily, Gavin, Jemmy, and Rachel were on their way home. Then Micah showed up to teleport you back here, while we went after the people trying to get you.”
“Why the hell was she out by herself?” I could hear Will curse from my bedroom.
I was unable to hear their response as Noah came into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Drake had turned on the shower and was waiting for it to warm up as I lay naked in his arms. He gingerly walked me under the warm showerheads. He was carrying me like I was make of glass.
Noah stripped down to his boxers. “We’re so sorry Blake,” he muttered as he stepped in front of us. He methodically started to lay his hands on my face, my hands, my arms, and I sighed in relief as that pain receded. He touched the back of my head last. “Anywhere else?”
Drake cleared his throat as he slowly lowered me. “Her back and hips,” he said his cheeks stained red.
I should have been more self-conscious being naked in front of them, again, but I was still shaking from the shock of the morning. They were stripped down to their boxers, and I felt no shyness or embarrassment. They were my connections.
Noah placed his hands on the only physical areas that hurt.
