Synnr's Hope - Kate Rudolph Page 0,38

His apartment was located on the second floor of the nine story building.

“If you think you’ll need them, bring your wings out,” Solan instructed. “We don’t need to be stealthy.” Not exactly true. The suspect could have a lookout in another building, but it was a risk Solan was willing to take.

They didn’t chat today. There wasn’t as much time to wait.

The call came in through the comms that the strike team was heading in just as Lena flared out her wings. Solan took a second to appreciate them. They looked so much like his own it was uncanny. That didn’t happen with all Matched pairs, not even Zulir/human Matches, but when it did, it was a sight to behold. And a primal part of him liked knowing she was wearing his mark, that anyone who saw her wings knew she was taken.

Matched.

Not taken.

He tore his gaze away and listened to the comm chatter. He hoped they took the suspect quietly with no fuss. He didn’t know if he and Lena were ready for another test, and he didn’t want to suffer another failure. But today wasn’t the day for his hopes to be met. The cry came that the suspect was heading up the stairs, and he and Lena sprung into action. There were other teams waiting to intercept on the floors before the roof, but as the suspect passed the first and then the second team it became obvious that they’d be the ones to stop him.

Lena was ready by the door with Solan standing a bit behind her. Her wings pulsed in the air around her and he was ready to believe that she could do this, could use her powers successfully and pull this mission off.

The door burst open, and for a minute all was well. Lena shot a bolt of her spark at the suspect and he stumbled. Then his own wings shot out, angry red and black and bigger than they should have been, and he jolted up and tackled Lena. They scuffled, spark shooting back and forth. Solan sent his own to join her, knowing it wouldn’t do any damage to his Match. But the extra power distracted Lena and the suspect reared back and slugged her across the face.

Solan’s own jaw ached from the force of it.

The suspect shot to his feet and looked around wildly. There was nowhere for him to go, not unless he wanted to jump to one of the nearby buildings, and even with the help from his wings it would be a risky trick. Solan saw the moment the suspect decided to try it. He dug his feet into the roof and bent his knees, ready to run.

He glanced quickly at Solan, as if daring him to stop him. Solan’s spark flared out, but the suspect dodged it and took off. Solan chased him, knowing he wouldn’t catch him in time. The angle was off, and if he tried to take him down with his spark there was too much risk of the suspect falling off the roof.

Solan knew that. Lena didn’t.

He heard her call out but didn’t look back, too focused on taking the suspect down. The suspect had made it to the edge of the roof when a spark of power blasted him between the shoulders. He stumbled, and time slowed as he tripped over the lip of the roof, arms and wings flailing wildly as he tried to get his balance. He wasn’t going to. He was already pitched too far forward. There was no stopping the fall.

And Solan was running too fast to stop. He slammed into the suspect and they both went over the edge.

LENA SPRINTED TO THE edge of the building, yelling for Solan with every step. Her heart threatened to explode with worry and her mind offered up dozens of images of what he’d look like sprawled out, dead and broken on the pavement below.

She forgot about the wings.

He’d caught the suspect by the time she spotted him and was gliding down with more control than she would have been able to muster. But they were still moving fast and the ground seemed to rush up to meet them. Even from nine stories up she heard the yell, but she didn’t know if it was her partner or the person he had in custody. For a crazy second she was tempted to follow him over the ledge to get down faster, but her wings were faltering in and out of