AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can manage the chains,” I said.
Gabriel was already standing, waiting, when I made my way in. Damon stayed next to me, his hand on my elbow. A wobble passed through my bones as I cast the spell to break the chains. Gabriel touched my cheek and kissed my forehead, and I fought the urge to sag into his embrace and just not get up for at least a year.
“You did it, Sprout,” he said. “You’re fucking amazing, you know that?”
“I haven’t done it yet,” I muttered, but I soaked up the warmth of his words all the same. “We’ve still got two more to go.”
As much as I reveled in feeling them close to me, I hated that I had to lean on the guys—almost literally—the rest of the way along the hall and down the stairwell. Despite the brief kisses, my chest was aching around my spark again. My thoughts scattered and collected and scattered again.
I’d never worn myself out this badly before. I’d barely had the chance, since I’d only had my spark fully lit a short while ago.
“That door,” I told Kyler, pointing. “And that one.” He unlocked them with a swipe of the key card, which gave off a crinkling of magic as well. They had a spell on them that worked with the lock, I guessed.
Gabriel opened the door to Jin’s cell, and Damon helped me in.
“We’re making our grand escape?” Jin said as I split open his chains. “I wish I could have seen how you took them on.”
“I just hit them with a spell to leave them unconscious for a while,” I said. “I don’t think it looked all that spectacular.”
“Hmm. Briar Rose putting everyone else to sleep now.” He stepped closer, and Damon shifted to the side to let my artist consort take his place. Jin hugged me and gave me a short but tender kiss.
In the last cell, Seth spread his wrists as far as they would go to give me a clear view of the chain between them. I broke it in an instant—and an instant after that, stumbled forward into him. He caught me against his tall brawny frame.
“Are you okay?” He glanced up at the others. “Is she hurt?”
“Just tired,” I mumbled.
“She’s been protecting us this whole time,” Gabriel said. “And then knocking out the whole building—she must be exhausted. Come on. Let’s get her out of here.”
Seth scooped me up, cradling me against his shoulder. I made a murmur of protest, but really I wasn’t in much condition to argue.Iwas starting to feel kind of numb, with an unpleasantly biting tingly sensation that was spreading from my ribs out to my limbs. Seth exchanged a glance with Ky, who nodded with a small smile to his burlier twin.
“All right,” Gabriel said, falling into his usual role as leader. “We need to find an exit, and we need some kind of transportation, because I don’t think we’re making it very far on foot.”
“No kidding,” Damon said in a snarky tone, but he craned his neck at the same time. “I think I see a bigger set of doors down at that end of the hall. Maybe that exit leads to a lobby?”
“If we’re in Seattle in the main Assembly building—or near it—there’s probably an underground parking lot,” Ky put in.
“I haven’t seen any elevators,” Gabriel said. “Let’s take a look around as quickly as we can.”
Seth carried me along with the others with powerful strides. I nestled my head against his broad neck, absorbing his warmth and the sun-drenched bronze smell of him, but I kept my eyes open. I still had a little power left, if we needed one last burst of magic.
The double doors Damon had spotted led into another shorter hall. The door at the end required Ky’s keycard. He peeked out and shut it again.
“It looks like a lobby. I can see traffic going by outside. We’re definitely in a city. Do you think we’re clear to just walk out, or could there be more of those Assembly people around, Rose?”
I frowned. “I’m not sure. I don’t think they had time to warn anyone that I was trying something… But there could be a guard or two nearby that I missed with my spell. We’ll be pretty noticeable going out there like this.”
“There’s a stairwell here,” Jin said, opening a side door. “Stairs going down. Your underground parking?”
“We’d better take a look,” Gabriel said.
We hustled down the stairs into a dimmer, cooler space with only a few vehicles parked under a concrete ceiling: a couple of sedans and a white delivery van. Gabriel made straight for the van.
“This will hold all of us—and be better for hiding us.” He stopped and looked to me. “Can you manage this last door, Rose?”
I nodded against Seth’s shoulder. When I shifted, he eased me down. I narrowed my eyes at the driver’s side door on the van and sent a swift burst of magic at it.
The lock clicked over. Gabriel scrambled in and bent beside the steering wheel. “I should be able to manage the wiring. The rest of you get in, wherever you can.”
