Page 52

A few minutes later, I spotted Ace and Zane fighting on the hill near the dome, the former taking out soldiers with his electricity, the latter firing a pulse gun like it was the best day ever.

I’d never been so glad to see the two in my life.

After taking out a couple of soldiers charging up to fire on Ace, I rolled to a stop and quickly transformed.

Both of them quickly spotted me and then returned their attention to their fight.

“Fallon and Noah? Dick or the girls?” I asked.

“Fuck knows,” Ace shouted over the noise.

“Those filthy fisherman tried to catch us, but we slippery salmon wriggled our way free,” Zane added as he shot down a soldier who’d just attempted to surrender. The guy was enjoying this a little too much.

We didn’t have time to waste. “We need to get to Angel. Let’s go!”

Zane took a band from his wrist and tied his hair up into a man bun. “Where to, oh, Captain my Captain? This place is overrun. Potentials are dropping like anchors out here.”

“The control room,” Ace said suddenly. “We’ll waste too much time searching the arenas. And we’re like sitting ducks in the open. We might find the others on the way, but that’ll be the best place to see everything going on.”

“Aye, aye,” Zane said with a salute. “Lead the way, mighty sea dog.”

I shook my head at his utter lack of reading the room and restored my rock armour, keeping pace with the guys as we ran toward the control room.

About halfway there, we came upon soldiers who miraculously fell limp to the ground, their throats slashed, or their bodies dotted with stab wounds. I looked at Ace and grinned. “Chameleon’s having a field day over there.”

“Oh, ghost fish,” Zane called as we approached.

Noah appeared before us, panting from the fight. His naked body gleamed red, and he looked a little creepy staring back at us from a blood-soaked face.

“It’s always the quiet ones,” Zane whispered to me conspiratorially, though his voice was loud as shit. “They’re always crazy good in bed or just plain crazy.”

“So, which is it, Merman?” Noah asked with a grin.

Zane chuckled. “The sea never reveals its secrets. Ask Starfish when we find her.”

“Shh,” I hissed as we neared a fight between three Potentials and some soldiers. By the looks of it, the Potentials were winning. Their powers flared in reds, greens, and blues, lighting up the night. Fuck yeah.

“Best to go quietly from here,” Ace said as we avoided getting involved. “Stay low and stick to the bushes. We’ll need to make a run for it when we’re close to the main building entrance.”

Even Zane remained silent as we crept through the foliage, stopping when some soldiers passed or when the flare of power and pulse guns came too close for comfort.

Eventually, we stopped in the bushes opposite the building.

It was perhaps a ten-metre dash from here to the door, and it was fully in the open.

Soldiers were scouring the grounds in droves.

Even the moon was of no help tonight, bright and full in its seat in the sky.

“I could teleport us?” I suggested. “But it’ll take a lot of power, and I’ve used a fair bit already.”

“No. We can make it. Wait for my go,” Ace said, holding his hand up like some kind of war expert.

When the coast was clear, he nodded. “Noah, you first.” Noah resumed his invisibility, and I knew he’d made it when the door opened and shut as if from a ghost.

“Zane,” Ace said in clear command. The merman did some kind of weirdo crab crawl as he dashed across the quad, then ducked inside with a cheery wave.

“You go next,” I said before Ace could play the hero. “I’ll cover your back.”

Ace nodded and sprinted without hesitation. Not so long ago, he would have rather punched me in the face than have me watch his back. But we had come a long way since then. All because of Angel. Gods, I hoped she was alright.

I followed shortly behind and Ace and I made it inside without incident.

We hurried along the hallway, gritting our teeth every time we heard a scream or gun go off.

It wasn’t just Potentials screaming, it was the staff, too.

Victrus wasn’t just taking out competition for the crown, he was executing the entire personnel of the academy.

I had to wonder how Fallon survived that monstrosity growing up.

The only positive was that the way was clear, with most guards presumably outside defending the grounds.

Before long Ace had short-circuited the lock on the control room door and we were inside.

We stood before an array of screens with live footage all over the academy grounds.

On a separate panel were several screens for the drone footage.

Every single one had gone dark as if Victrus had known exactly where they all were and had shut them down so no one would see this attack.

“Where are you beautiful?” I muttered as I scoured the academy security footage.

“There’s Kendra and Lou!” Zane shouted.

“Shh,” Noah and I said in unison.

“There’s Kendra and Lou,” he tried again, still relatively loudly. “Dick’s with them. Look at him go! A majestic swordfish, ploughing down his enemies. They’re near the lake.”

“Right where I was in the first place,” I groaned. “This is hectic.”

“I can’t find her,” Ace hissed as he raked a hand through his hair. “I’ve looked at all of them, she’s not here.”

It was the first time I’d ever seen or heard him panic. That woman had really gotten under his skin. But what was new? We were all hooked on her.

“She has to be somewhere,” I snapped. “Rewind it or something.”

“Guys,” Noah said, his voice commanding yet soft. “I found her.”

We rushed to him, all of us leaning over the screen.

He was way ahead of us, having scoured through past footage on his device to land on an image of Fallon.

I watched her in admiration as she tore apart a building to crush her opponent—one I recognised instantly.

Maybe I was an asshole, but I couldn’t remember the girl’s name.

Chrissy? Cassie? All I knew was that it started with a ‘C’.

Shame washed through me. I’d slept with that girl, but I couldn’t remember her name.

As soon as Angel had come into my life, every other girl just became a blur. Now she was dead.

As we watched the screen, I knew what was coming. Still, my entire body froze as soldiers made their way onto the scene. About a dozen surrounded her. She’d put up a fight, but it wasn’t enough. My stomach flipped as the leader laid his dirty hand on her.

“That fucking cocksucker,” Ace swore. “If he touches her, I—”

“Quiet,” Noah barked.

Thankfully, the guy must have thought better, because he snatched his hand back shortly after. A tousle followed, and the last thing I saw before someone cut the footage was Fallon being knocked out by the butt of a soldier’s gun, her head lolling uselessly as they dragged her away.

We looked at each other, a little shocked. It had to be Victrus and his men, it just had to. Which meant Victrus hadn’t come to kill his surviving daughter. He’d come to kidnap her.