hating the guy.
“TacTeams are already neutralizing them, we just need to keep a low profile and wait it out,” Gabe says, his voice confident and clear. The change in the group is instant, some of the worry and panic easing like his word really does mean something to them all. I wish I felt the same, the fear is still coursing through me, but my head is still clear enough to see what’s happening around me.
That isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially when another group of Resistance comes jogging past us dressed in riot gear. I seal my lips shut, smothering my own breathing in case I inadvertently make some noise and give us away.
Then the doors to the building across the courtyard open and students come running out in all directions. The Resistance turn and immediately move in after them, one of the guys in the front sending out a wave of fire and I have to look away because there’s no way I’m watching people being burned alive right now.
“Ardern, do not leave Oli’s side,” Atlas snaps, and then he’s gone, sprinting through the shield and heading right for the Flame just as the screaming of his victims starts up.
Gabe curses under his breath, glancing around at who else is in the group with us, but none of them are moving to help out. He looks at me again and I nod at him. “Do it. Go help him, I’ll be fine.”
He hesitates again for a second and then grips both of my arms. “Dara is the best Shield I’ve ever seen, no one will know you’re even here so long as she’s with you. Don’t move from this spot, Oli. Promise me.”
There’s another explosion sound and then Gabe is tearing his clothes off, kicking out of his shoes and shifting so fast I can barely say I’ve witnessed it. One second he’s standing there, all golden skin tight over his muscular frame, and the next there’s a huge wolf standing in his place.
I’ve never seen a shifter up close.
It’s fucking incredible.
I stand there with absolutely no intention of moving. I can’t, not without using my gift, and there’s no reason for me to do it right now. I can’t help the people burning, and I trust Gabe and Atlas to do what they can to stop the fighting. They’re both more useful than I am right now and I have to believe that the others are on their way to us right now.
Then I hear it, Gracie’s screaming coming from behind us.
“Oh my God, Sage! SAGE!”
No.
Absolutely fucking not. Over my dead fucking body am I standing by for something to happen to the one person who accepted me without any reason or expectation.
“Fallows, are you fucking stupid—” I don’t wait around for the rest of Martinez’s bullshit opinion, I leave at a sprint. There’s smoke everywhere but I follow the sound of Gracie’s screaming until I literally run straight into her, my vision completely impaired by the aftermath of the explosion.
“Oli? Oh my God, please, where are your Bonds? They’ve got Sage, they’re—”
I grab her arms and shake her, as if I can shake the information I need out of her. “Where, Gracie? Where the fuck is she?”
She doesn’t get to answer me because I hear a voice I was hoping to never hear again in my goddamn life call out, “Power surge! Grab that one.”
I already know that Sage is strong, I’ve heard stories about how she came into her power, and her elemental control is elite. It’s for this reason that I don’t immediately run away screaming as Olivia’s voice cuts through the chaos.
Olivia Turner.
The Resistance’s sniffer dog is here to find the Gifted worth taking, which means they’ve already gotten Sage and now they’ve found me. I can’t help Sage unless I let them take me too.
It’s stupid and reckless and I don’t give a fuck because she’s my best goddamned friend.
So I stand there, shoving Gracie away from myself as I snap at her, “Run,” and then I let them take me too. The smoke is too thick to see them until their hands are already closing around my arms and I thrash a little as if I want to get away as they tug me along. The two men holding me both have masks on, completely covering their faces, so they’ve come prepared for the exact warfare they planned today.
When we stop at the back of a convoy truck, I look up