his hands. Crashing and banging followed the gestures.
Failing to get to my feet, I finally looked down at my father.
I had no idea if draining his stolen ability would kill him, and I’d done it without a moment’s hesitation. It was time to find out if I’d just committed patricide.
He was prone on his back, his eyes closed, his head to one side. I couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not. I leaned forward, reaching out to check for a pulse.
Before my hand connected with his neck, he took a giant breath, his eyes flying open as he shot up into a sitting position. He breathed hard for a few seconds, his eyes darting about and then, finally, landing on me.
“No,” he breathed, pressing his hand to his chest. “What did you do?” he roared into my face. “Give it back! Give it back to me now, you stupid bitch!”
He lunged for me, and I didn’t have the strength to fight him. My back hit the floor hard, knocking the air out of me, and we slid back dangerously close to Ethan’s fire wall.
Davis started slapping and hitting me, his movements jerky and messy as he shouted incoherent things into my face. I barely had enough strength to lift my arms and protect my head from some of his blows, but I refused to let my hold on the Light slip. To come this far and then end up accidentally transferring his ability back to him would be tragic.
He smelled like sweat and desperation, the foul odor mixing with the metallic tang of blood in the air.
Searing pain exploded in my side, my shoulder, my neck, my temple. My vision blurred. I was vaguely conscious of several voices calling my name.
I searched for a way out—something, anything to make the blows stop.
But I had no chance. I could hardly move as he kept taking all his madness, all his fear and anger and inadequacy, out on me. He’d been doing that my whole life in one way or another.
He reared back onto his knees, one on either side of my torso, and backhanded me. My cheek burned and my ears started to ring.
With my head turned, I could see Ethan frantically looking between me and something in front of him, his arms still raised to hold up the fire wall as protection from whatever was the bigger threat on the other side. Josh hovered just over Ethan’s left shoulder, bullets coming within inches of his face before falling to the ground. So many bullets.
I couldn’t hear it over the ringing in my ears, but I could see Ethan yelling, his eyes wide.
Was he calling for help? Telling me to hold on? I supposed it didn’t matter anymore.
Davis’s hands circled my neck and squeezed.
I doubled my own chokehold on the ability I refused to let him have again. Even if he killed me, I’d die knowing I took from him what was never his to begin with. I’d die knowing I’d crippled him.
I refused to look at Davis. I didn’t want my last image of this world to be his ugly, hateful face as he choked the life out of me.
Instead, I kept my gaze on the beautiful rage of the blue flames.
Thirty-Two
As though I’d summoned him, Alec burst through the fire.
He ran at full speed, taking the scene in and reacting with precision. He raised his gun and pulled the trigger, but it was empty. Without missing a step, he threw it aside, dropped a shoulder, and tackled Davis off me.
They crashed into some furniture beyond the fire wall, and Davis’s screams filled the air.
I took spluttering, excruciating breaths, my lungs burning as they filled once again with air.
Tyler burst through the flames a second later, gun raised, the look on his face feral. Blood was running down one side of his face, and his right shirtsleeve had completely ripped off. He lowered the gun and rushed straight to me just as Josh landed at his side.
I managed to lift myself onto my elbow and hold my other arm out. “Stop,” I croaked, the word sending a hundred razor blades down my throat. They both paused inches from me and crouched down. Their eyes raked over my body, but they kept their hands back as I coughed and spluttered through the pain. “Need to touch you all at once.”
Tyler nodded, but an abrupt escalation in noise distracted all of us. We couldn’t really see past the blue fire wall,