The lethal piece of metal was still lodged in his body somewhere. Killing him.
Why wasn’t he wearing a vest? Was Tyler wearing a vest?
I whipped my head around frantically, but Tyler was right next to me—fine. He looked as panicked as me, his eyes wide, his hair all over the place, but he was upright. He was moving. He wasn’t bleeding.
I wasn’t losing them both.
But I might lose Alec.
Our guys were administering first aid with speed and precision. Alec was still conscious, but his eyes kept rolling back in his head. His breaths came in short pants, as if he couldn’t quite make the air reach his lungs.
Every time he managed to get his eyes to focus, he looked right at me.
“Ev . . . Evie . . . I . . .”
I grabbed his hand, struggling to keep my grip against the slippery blood.
“I love . . . y . . . you.”
He said, “I love you,” but he meant “goodbye.” I heard goodbye. And I was not going to accept that.
As Alec’s eyes closed and his limp hand slid from my grasp, a heavy steel barrier shuttered over my emotions. All that was left was white hot rage and a determination fiercer than I’d ever felt before.
No one noticed me rise slowly to my feet; they were too focused on saving Alec’s life. By the time I was standing, my skin had already begun to glow.
I embraced the Light. I let it flood me, consume me, until it filled every fiber of my being. My glow became so bright that some of the people fighting stopped to shield their eyes.
Several guns pointed right at me, and I barely registered Tyler’s panicked yell as the triggers were pulled. I didn’t even flinch. I already knew a shielding ability was coming up behind me. The representative from Japan, Mr. Takata, appeared at my side, his hands held out in front of him. The bullets harmlessly bounced away.
I continued to push Light to Alec remotely, as much as he needed. It would by no means save him or heal his wounds, but at least it would assist the healing.
As long as Alec held on, I had something to fight for. And I was so ready for a fight.
Thirteen
I pushed some Light to Mr. Takata, and as I stepped out from around the reception desk, he stayed beside me, keeping me shielded. Tyler stuck by my other side; he kept his gun raised but didn’t fire. I was keeping him juiced up too, and his ability would’ve told him what I was doing. Soon there would be no need for bullets.
My instincts were taking over. I surrendered to the Light and watched in awe as all the Variants in the room became obvious to me, almost as if I were playing a video game and all the guys on my team were marked.
I held my hands out at my sides and closed my eyes; I could feel them. I could feel the ones who were using their abilities most; the ones without Vitals who were getting depleted; Mr. Takata with his shield; a woman with an ability to freeze a person on the spot, trying to get close enough to touch people without getting shot; a man with a fire ability like Ethan’s, but instead of throwing fireballs, he had to intensely focus to make an object or person erupt in flames.
I could feel Davis’s men too. They had a shield, a man with a water ability thwarting our fire guy, a few others with common speed and strength abilities. I felt the Light inside them, and I pulled until they fell to the ground unconscious.
The Light flowed through me with the force of a waterfall—making my skin buzz until it almost went numb—and went straight into the Variants who needed it.
With the Variants on the other side incapacitated and our guys overflowing with Light, we overpowered them in seconds.
Most of the Melior Group operatives moved off immediately to clear the building and neutralize the rest of the assailants. The others started tying up our captives—the ones who still lived.
As my glow faded, I dropped my arms to my sides and opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Tyler’s worried expression.
My chest heaved, and my teeth gritted from exertion. I wanted so badly to fall into his arms, let him hold me and take charge of the situation as he always did. But I wasn’t done.