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Charlotte:Good. You can follow directions. Throw your phone in the fountain and take the middle path to the river overlook.
Gavin let his phone dangle at his side, fear and helplessness rising up in his chest and trying to choke him. The phone buzzed again.
Charlotte:Don’t keep us waiting.
Fuck. They could see him right now. He swallowed hard, his breath speeding up until all he could hear was the thunder of his own blood rushing in his ears. Gritting his teeth, he threw the phone and all his hope into the fountain. He took off at a jog down the middle path. The river overlook was a good distance away, and if he tried just walking, he knew he’d never make it. Fear would curl him into a lifeless shell, left fetal and pathetic on the ground. He needed to be strong. Had to be strong. For Charlotte.
Fred appeared in the space right in front of him and grabbed his arms. Startled, he shrieked as they both went tumbling to the ground.
“No!” Gavin said, scrambling back to his feet. “Let me go! You can’t be here!”
“Stop,” Fred barked in a voice far deeper and older sounding than the man in the leopard print robe from the kitchen should have been capable of. “I can’t hold this illusion for long.”
“What?” Gavin was panting, sweat gathering in his hairline even though he felt cold and his arms absolutely frozen where Fred gripped him.
“I created an illusion. No one can see us right now. Not even the cameras. Anyone watching will think you tripped, and now you’re just standing here catching your breath.”
“Oh.” Gavin’s eyes went wide. He’d known the seers were powerful, but damn.
“The mages are waiting for you. They’re in the river directly beneath the center of the overlook. Play along with HAP and stay alive. They’ll do the rest.”
Fred was gone as quickly as he’d appeared, leaving Gavin standing there doing exactly what the illusion had shown—catching his breath. The hope that exploded through him brought tears to his eyes. He squashed the smile that wanted to bloom on his face and wiped his eyes and forehead with the tail of his shirt.
He started jogging again, feet moving faster. Atlas was up ahead. He didn’t have to face whatever was waiting at the river alone. Maybe that made him selfish, but it also gave him the strength to put one foot in front of the other.
As he approached the overlook, he slowed his steps. The overlook was paved with more of the same flat gray stones as around the fountain and arced out over the water in a half circle. This side of the park had a safety fence running the length of it. Past the fence, the slope down to the river wasn’t insanely steep and there was another concrete barrier keeping the river from washing away the park’s edge.
Gavin wasn’t sure how it all worked, but the park was well-liked for its river views. During the warm months, the grassy areas surrounding the overlook were always crowded with people.
He glanced toward the railing along the overlook’s edge. If a person went over the railing there, it would be a straight drop down into the water. Where were the mages hiding? Surely Fred hadn’t meant they were actuallyinthe river?
“Stop there, Gavin,” a man’s voice said from the shadows between two of the lampposts.
Gavin stopped, still twenty or more feet away from the overlook’s edge. “Who are you? Where’s Charlotte?”
“I’ll be asking the questions.” The man walked out of the shadows. He was of average height and build and covered head to toe in black clothing. Even his face. Gavin couldn’t make out a single distinguishing characteristic. When Gavin didn’t say anything else, the man gave him a single nod. “Good. You know how to listen. Question one, did you allow those mages to access your tainted blood?”
Tainted blood.“Um,” Gavin said, trying to parse out how the man made every single syllable drip with disdain. “I haven’t allowed anyone to do anything with my blood.” Movement behind him made Gavin look over his shoulder. More men in black were moving among the trees. Calmly. Slowly. Like they didn’t have a care in the world and weren’t each carrying a large gun. Gavin glanced to the other side and saw the same. There had to be a dozen of them.
He turned his face back to the first man. “Charlotte was never here, was she?”
There was a smile in the man’s voice. “Oh, she’s here. Don’t let it concern you, though. You’ll never see her again.” He lifted his gun and aimed it at Gavin.
A loud rushing sound filled the air a second before a huge wave of water crashed over the overlook’s railing, knocking the man off his feet.
Shouts and gunshots rang out from all around Gavin. He dropped to the ground, cold water coating his front as a transparent green dome formed over him. Sweeping his gaze around wildly, he finally landed on Atlas.
With a bubble of green magic around him, Atlas plowed through a line of the men, using his fists and magic to lay them out. Bullets struck the sphere around Atlas, sending splintering lines of deeper green racing over the sphere’s surface. On the other side of the overlook, Pike was making similar strides, a dazzling blue vortex swirling around him like water. Their magic was beautiful.
“Demons!” Men further back in the trees screamed as another line of men started shooting at Atlas and Pike.
On instinct, Gavin slammed his eyes shut and covered his head with his arms.
“That won’t save you,” the first masked man’s voice said from above him.
He looked up into the barrel of a gun pressing against the green shield of magic covering him. The masked man moved his finger to the trigger, but a tree branch connected with the back of his head with a crack.
“Asshole,” Charlotte said, standing over the crumpled body and holding a stick thicker than her arm. “You okay, Gav?”
