Page 42

“ Er … copy, patrol five.” Command’s hesitation came through clearly, and I wondered how many people knew this patrol was a farce. Or had been, at least.

We tore through the streets, cars getting out of our way, and my phone vibrated with a text from Kara. I’ve lost you. What’s happening?

I texted her the address. 220 Wickenden Street. Even without sirens, she’d only be a few minutes behind us, and damn I was glad she was here.

Wickenden Street was a long, straight road lined with trees and tall buildings. Parked cars narrowed it further, traffic forcing us to slow, a burst of speed whenever it cleared.

The mood turned serious as the troopers readied.

Myas grabbed the radio, updating the second Humvee behind us.

No one had the throat mics or earpieces of Reyes’ REACT teams. Max bulked up, his flak vest straining and his skin turning gray.

I focused, letting my senses stretch out.

His aura was thick with iron and moss. Lavender flushed opalescent, the exact color of her name.

Her aether was all velvet and soft edges, coaxing instead of pushing. A siren.

Iyoni remained still beside me, showing no signs of tension. I wondered what it would take to ruffle her—then decided I didn’t want to know.

“Thirty seconds,” Myas barked, but even as she spoke, the driver slammed on the brakes.

We skidded down the street, tires screeching, thrown against our seatbelts as a box truck pulled out of a side street ahead.

But it didn’t turn. It drove straight across the road, blocking both lanes, before slamming into a parked car opposite.

Brakes squealed behind us as the second Humvee tried to stop, slamming into our rear with enough force to jar us. I glanced over my shoulder just as a second box truck crashed into a car, shoving it aside to block the road and cut us off.

“Command, command,” Myas spoke urgently into the radio. “Patrol five under attack. Deploying to defend.” She slammed the radio down. “Everyone out!”

A second later, a fireball shot from the roof of a nearby building, striking the Humvee behind us. The troopers bailed through the flames, magical shields flaring.

Lavender kicked open the door and hurled herself through.

I was right on her tail. Parked cars lined both sides of the road, shops beyond, civilians crouching on the sidewalk, wide-eyed and terrified.

Supes poured out of a shop ahead of us. An elemental raised her hands, sending the car in front of us flying into the air.

It spun as we dove to the side, crashing into the Humvee … just as Iyoni was getting out.

Myas grabbed me by my flak jacket, yanking me to my feet, and together we huddled low beside a car. “Fucking pinned down everywhere,” she spat, then pushed herself up, flames spewing from her hands in a wide arc.

I stared at the Humvee, trapped under the car half on top of it, willing Iyoni to reappear. But another fireball whooshed down from the building above, slamming into the Humvee’s roof and engulfing it in a wall of flames.

An ear-splitting scream snapped my head toward Lavender, who stood in the street, fists clenched, the air shimmering around her with the force of her sound attack. A supe dropped, face contorted in pain, hands clutching at ears that gushed blood.

A supe from the other Humvee crouched near the box van, his arms over his head, paralyzed with fear. It was Turner, the man Myas had chastised in the vehicle bay.

Max leaped to the roof of a car. A norm raised an automatic weapon, unleashing a spray of bullets that tore into him.

The first hit his leg, the next his flak vest, and the rest raked his shoulder and torso.

The bullets barely penetrated, leaving shallow, bloody wounds.

Max grunted, leaping again, his fist connecting with the gunman and sending him flying backward through a window, shattering the glass.

Yards away, a SPAR trooper from the other Humvee drew a sword, only to be cut down as a torrent of gunfire struck him.

An elf threw up a shield too late to help, then grimly raised a wand and fired jagged shards of ice.

Two norms screamed from behind a car as the slivers hit and burst in a spray of red.

I staggered to my feet, intent on reaching Iyoni.

“Stay down!” Myas shouted, turning to cuff me back behind the car. Something struck, spinning her around. She grunted, collapsing beside me. A shard of metal protruded from her shoulder—smooth, razor-edged, and impossibly perfect.

The roof of the Humvee burst upward from within, blinding white light exploding out, pushing the car blocking the door aside. Iyoni climbed out, her usual serene expression replaced with grim determination. A gash marked her forehead, blood flowing into one eye.

A third fireball seared through the air, striking the Humvee and exploding with a deep whump, flames swallowing her. The fire swept over her, but her shield shimmered through the blaze, solidifying as she raised her hand, a spear of white light flashing upward toward the roof.

A man stepped around the rear of the car I was crouched against, his hand raised, the air rippling with his energy. Everything else blurred when I saw his face, the world condensing into a tunnel of focus. I’d seen him before … at Moreau’s estate. “Goodbye, warlock.”

A jet of fire erupted from Myas, her grunt of effort harsh as she raised her hand, even as she bled beside me.

Moreau’s man flinched back, crying out as the flames seared across his face and shoulder.

His hand jerked away from me, sending metal shards spiraling into Myas instead.

They punctured her flak vest, driving deep into her body.

She gasped once, her hand falling limp to the ground.

I was next, and there was nothing I could do. Only seconds had passed since the first box truck drove out—Kara was nowhere near. So damn helpless.

Every instinct screamed to move, to run, but he’d only cut me down if I did. He’d cut me down anyway, but damn him if I’d show my back.

I gritted my teeth, staring at death, and he wore the face of Moreau’s man.

My white aether swirled inside me like a tempest, but what did that mean?

All it did was detect supes, and knowing more of what his magic did wouldn’t make me any less dead.

Yet, just as that thought finished, a tendril of aether tore loose, snapping away from me, latching onto Iyoni.

I felt her jerk—a jolt of fury, outrage, of something powerful bending—then it gave way in that same instant, like it welcomed me in.

My eyes widened—too slow, almost too late—but as the man readied his hand, I yanked whatever Iyoni could offer, just like borrowing Kara’s nimbus.

His shot unleashed a spray of metal that should’ve shredded me, but instead, it ricocheted off a barrier shimmering silver around me. Shards peppered the car—bouncing off the door, tearing into the sides. The window exploded in a spray of glass.

An instant later, Iyoni appeared, a sword of light in hand. She swung it through the man’s neck, and his head flew free, his body crumpling to the ground.

A second sword manifested above her, massive and crackling with power, its sheer weight pressing into the air around it. It hovered, point aimed directly at me, as though it existed solely for this moment. Inevitable. Impartial.

She’d just saved me. I should’ve felt safe, but I didn’t. The new sword wasn’t wielded against an enemy or raised in defense. It was poised to strike, and all I could see was the razor-sharp tip, and the distortion it created as aether bled off it.

I couldn’t breathe. My aether still linked to hers, tethering us—no, tethering her .

It didn’t matter that I couldn’t understand how. I’d bound her, and now she’d kill me.

Iyoni’s gaze fell on me, cold and resolute, yet without a flicker of emotion. And as our eyes locked, the sword hesitated, faltered, then vanished. Air snapped inward with a sharp, implosive crack, leaving only stillness behind and a concussive ringing in my ears.

Iyoni cocked her head, regarding me like I was a curiosity. “Interesting,” she said.

I pushed myself to my feet, my body shaking.

My chest ached with unrealized tension. She’d judged me …

and somehow, I was still here. I’d bonded her—how, I couldn’t say—and still she’d judged me.

The tether pulsed between us as I focused on it.

Like Kara’s but not; the aether white, not black; warm, not cold.

She was no demon. Did that mean I wasn’t a warlock?

What the hell was I?

A wave of dizziness rolled through me, and I braced against the car for support.

I stared at her. She smiled back.

Nothing else. Just the smile—warm, welcoming, content.

Too much to process, and this wasn’t the time.

Behind her, a man wrenched an ice-blue sword from the body of the SPAR elf, turning toward us as the elf slumped, blood spilling from his mouth.

All around us, devastation. Lavender sprawled lifeless on the ground, her purple skin unmistakable. Both Humvees burned fiercely. Norms—both those who had attacked us and innocent civilians caught in the crossfire—lay dead on the sidewalks.

Myas lay in a pool of her own blood, her final act saving my life.

I clenched my jaw, fury surging through me, blinding and righteous. Light formed in my hand, and it was easy to raise my arm, aim at the sword-wielding supe, and release.

A searing flash struck him in the chest, blinding and gone in an instant. I blinked away the afterimage as the supe dropped to his knees, a hole where the flare had hit, then collapsed face-first onto the asphalt.

I was rage incarnate, but it wasn’t the mindless fury I’d always feared. It was focus, intent, burning with the weight of everything I’d held back. For the first time, I was no longer the one who needed saving.

I walked into the middle of the road, barely aware of Iyoni beside me.

A norm lifted a gun to his shoulder and fired, the bullets striking the air before me in flashes of light. My next bolt blew through his head.

I gasped, staggering, my strength fading like I’d lost too much blood.

Across the street, Max fought a supe, his gray skin marred by a dozen bleeding wounds. I raised my hand again, my arm heavy, and this time the light shot out as a thin beam. It still hit with enough force to spin the supe around, and Max’s fist smashed into his skull, finishing the job.

I dropped to one knee, too weak to stand. I hadn’t even noticed when or where I’d been hit.

My vision blurred, and before I could register the ground coming up, everything went black.