on alert, my ears listening for any little sound, but I dared not turn around again. As my steps almost doubled in speed, I could clearly hear theirs keeping pace behind me.
We rounded a bend, and the brightly lit square and a corner of the admin building came into view past the trees.
“What makes you think you get to decide who can have Variant abilities and who can’t?” a deep male voice growled from behind me.
My heart flew into my throat as the female voice added her own hateful words. “You arrogant bitch!”
Instead of telling them to back off or putting himself between us, my supposed protector chuckled.
I didn’t think, didn’t turn around to argue, didn’t even falter in my steps. I just dropped my bag and books and took off running.
My sparring may not have been advancing as well as Kane wanted, and my upper body strength still left much to be desired, but I could run. I’d been doing it for years, and it was one thing I had confidence in. I took off so fast and so suddenly that I halved the distance to the end of the path in no time.
But just as fast as I’d taken off, I ground to a halt. Something wrapped around my ankle, and I flew forward. My palms and cheek slammed against gravel.
I didn’t focus on the pain shooting through my wrists and head or the fact that all the air had been pushed out of my lungs. I immediately started pushing myself up.
But once again I found myself flying—this time up instead of down. Whatever had wrapped itself around my ankle snaked up my leg and banded around my middle, lifting me clear off the ground until my feet hung below me uselessly.
I thrashed and wriggled as a scream tore through my throat. Desperate, I reached for my distress beacon necklace, but as my hand closed around it, another two branches snatched my wrists and yanked my arms behind me.
I was being restrained by the very grounds of Bradford Hills Institute—tree branches, vines, and shrubs moved like tentacles on a sea monster to hold me hostage.
Tyler’s name came out on a screech. He was the closest, in his office in the building I could see right there, but I had no idea if he’d be able to hear me.
“Would you shut her up?” the agent growled, his youthful features twisted with hate.
The girl took her scarf off and handed it to the other guy, who rushed up to me. He had to reach up, but his rough hands tied the scarf around my head, the light fabric shoved into my mouth.
The chick wasn’t saying much. The muscles in her forearms strained as she held her hands out in front of her, teeth gritted, panting. Clearly, she had some kind of plant-control ability similar to Dot’s animal control—the flora to Dot’s fauna—but it didn’t seem as though either of the guys was her Vital. She looked as if she was using all she had to hold me up. Impressive, to be sure, but I didn’t know how long she could maintain it without a Light boost.
The Light!
I gasped. I wasn’t completely powerless, despite being bound and gagged.
I dared not close my eyes for fear of missing what their next move might be, but I concentrated as hard as I could, tapping into my own Light deep inside me.
I was going to drain that bitch of every last drop until she released me.
“Shit!” The guy who’d gagged me threaded his hands into his hair, panic evident in his wide eyes. “What the fuck do we do with her now?”
The agent answered. “We get her to Damari so he can fix us.”
“How? Do we knock her out? How do we even get her past the guards at the gate? How do we even contact Damari? I don’t know him personally, do you? And what about . . .”
“Shut the fuck up!” said the agent. “I’ll take care of the guys at the gate, and we can worry about the rest after. Just help me find something to tie her up with. Elena can’t hold her forever.”
I bit down on the scarf and narrowed my eyes. Just as I began to glow, footsteps came thudding toward us.
I kept my focus on the Variant in front of me, letting my instincts take over and latching on to her distinct energetic signature. Then I pulled.
She gasped, her eyes going wide, and wrapped her hands around