Page 3

Chapter three

Jackson

Gifted Enterprise agents swarm through the portal as a coordinated unit, circling around us and blocking any chance for an exit.

They’re armed with guns, aimed at either Aiden or me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if any of them had gifts as well.

I think we’ve at least earned that minimum requirement for anyone they send against us.

If not, and they still underestimate us, I’ll make that correction now.

Thorne chuckles as the circle closes in front of him, separating us.

“I guess that’s all the time I have with you today, Jack.”

I mimic his smile, unimpressed.

“Running because you know you’ll lose?”

“Jack,” Aiden urges me again, reminding me that we need to leave.

But with Reid unconscious and severely injured and us halfway across the city, it’s not looking good for our timing.

Resting my arms behind my back, I send as many knives from the ground as I can over to Aiden .

My ex-mentor waves his thumbless hands at me, the result of Gordon freeing him from the power-blocking cuffs we’d had him in.

“I’m at a bit of a disadvantage now, don’t you think? You can’t call it a fair fight when I’m handicapped like this.”

“I’ve killed you enough times by now to say I’m stronger. I don’t need to prove myself in a fair fight anymore.” My smile ratchets up my face, a borderline crazed look in my eyes based on the visible shivers some of the agents have when they see it.

“All I need is for you to stay dead, even if that means cutting you to pieces too small to be put back together again.”

Thorne’s expression sours.

His pride doesn’t like hearing that very much.

Good. I’d like him to stay so I can end this once and for all.

I’ll cut him to pieces so small, there won’t be anything left for Royce to resurrect.

But I have to be fast.

Hold on, little one.

“—ir. Sir. THORNE!” one of the agents yells.

“What?!” he shouts, finally looking away from me.

“He’s doing something!” The agent points at the knives making their way to Aiden inches from the floor, piling up beside him.

Aiden places his hand on the pile before they can do anything, melding and morphing the pure metal into a shield.

I keep sending the knives to him.

As soon as the blade touches his shield, it immediately joins the rest. The shield widens, growing around Reid and Gordon on the floor and him as well, until he has enough to cover them from all sides.

Perfect .

There are only a few knives remaining, but that’s more than enough.

There’s a popping noise, and then something warm and tacky consumes my hands.

I stare at the thick, gooey substance, and try to move my fingers.

It’s too thick and heavy.

Pulling my hands apart doesn’t work either.

“Ready!” the present leader of the GE agents calls out.

I glance at Thorne, who shifts his gaze between Aiden’s metal barrier and my hands, then meets my stare.

“Until next time, Jack,” he says mildly, and I smile.

He knows how this fight is going to end, so he’s leaving while he can.

I’d bait him again to stay, but I really have lost too much time.

“Aim!”

Time to go.

“Fire!”

I jump into a handstand, then swivel and kick my feet around, sending a forceful gust of wind throughout the room.

Their mistake was thinking I could only control my gift with my hands.

The burst of air throws the agents crashing into the wall.

Bringing my feet back to the ground, I step on the substance between my hands and pull myself up.

It takes a solid few seconds of effort before it starts to move.

To stretch and thin as I keep the momentum going.

“Jack.” Aiden has a small opening in his wall where he’s half-way through, his whip sword out.

He doesn’t need to say anything else.

I shift my body away from the goo as much as I can, holding my arms out and apart, and his sword slices through it with ease.

I doubt a regular knife could have done it, but Aiden’s sword is made of pure titanium and sharpened perfectly to his will.

Gunshots fire behind me.

I spin, waving an arm with a sludge-covered hand, and send the bullets back to their owners.

It takes out five of the thirty agents.

A couple are still knocked out or struggling to get up from hitting the wall, but the rest look like they’re readying their own gifts.

Ordinarily, I would enjoy taking them down one at a time.

But I’ve taken too long already.

Holding out my arms, I begin to draw in the surrounding air toward me, sucking it in with me at its center.

It doesn’t matter that my hands are blocked.

My arms direct it just the same, until a wind vortex spirals around me.

A few agents drop to their knees and grab their throats as the air around them thins.

Once I have what I need, I lash out with the accumulated air in a loop.

Slashes of wind strike at the agents indiscriminately, cutting them with one or more deep lacerations like the one given to Reid.

All the agents fall at once, ruby red coloring the circling breeze.

Whether an agent was struck multiple times or only once makes no difference.

They’re dead.

My chest heaves as I catch my breath, the strength needed to pull off that attack draining more from me than I’d prefer, but it would be better to make it to Raegan faster than worry about conserving energy.

The goo on my hands thins and drops in a heap of sludge now that its user is dead.

I turn before I’m ready, my foot catching on the ground as I stumble, but my other foot steadies me.

I keep moving to Aiden, who has taken down the shield and is tending to Reid.

“Wake him up,” I murmur.

“I blocked some of Thorne’s attack, so it shouldn’t be fatal.”

“How long would it take you to fly to the bunker first?” Aiden asks as he tries to wake Reid.

“Too long. Either he teleports us, or we’re too late.”

Aiden frowns, jostling Reid a bit harder while trying not to further injure the deep laceration crossing his back from Thorne.

“Reid. Reid . If you want to save Tinsley, get up!”

I squat by Gordon lying on his front, eyes closed.

His skin is pale, and blood drools past his lips.

I press two fingers to his neck, seeking out his pulse.

Nothing.

I check again at his wrist.

He’s dead.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

It doesn’t settle my anger and frustration at the situation one bit.

We may have Gordon like I promised her, and I’ll still bring him to her, but this wasn’t what she wanted.

I yank the blade from him and kick him onto his back, pointing the weapon at him even though he’s long gone.

“You may be dead, but I’ll make sure you get no second chances,” I promise him.

“She gets what she wants first, and then you’re mine.”

Reid groans .

“Reid!” Aiden shouts.

“No one is answering at the bunker. Can you move?”

“Can you teleport?” I add, prioritizing that need over anything else.

He curses and struggles to push himself upright.

“Ah! What—” He reaches back and winces when he touches the open wound on his back.

I may have blocked the worst of it, but that just kept him alive.

I’m sure every movement, every drawn breath, is painful for him right now.

I step up in front of him, flipping his two-point dagger in the air and catching it by the blade, then offer the handle to him.

He looks at it. Looks at me.

Then takes it. “Yeah. I can teleport.”

I nod, my respect for him increasing.

It’s going to hurt like hell, but he’ll do it for the others because we need him.

“Good. We need to make a stop first with him”—Aiden gestures at Gordon— “so GE doesn’t get their hands on him. Then to the bunker. We’ll get Cassandra to heal you as soon as we can once we know what’s happening there.”

Reid doesn’t waste any time, even though his face is pinched with pain.

“Someone grab him and hold on.”

Aiden swivels his head to where Thorne had been held captive by the cuffs and chains.

“Wait.” He runs to grab the gift-blocking cuffs, using his gift to drop the metal chains from them, then returns to our sides.

“Now.”

I grip Gordon since I’m closest, and then Reid with my other hand.

And then we’re gone.