War Storm (Red Queen) - Victoria Aveyard Page 0,119

and falls as her breath turns to panting. Her wide, dark eyes dart back and forth, always returning to the factories marking the weapons sector. Nothing explodes there.

“The Scarlet Guard isn’t stupid enough to put bombs beneath a munitions depot,” I tell her, hoping to comfort her a little.

Then it explodes.

The resulting force knocks us all backward, sending us sprawling over broken glass and the dusty attic. Cameron scrambles up first, bleeding from a cut on the forehead. “Then that wasn’t the Guard,” she yelps, pulling me to my feet.

My ears ring, dulling all sound. I shake my head from side to side, trying to get my bearings. Cameron takes my wrists and I instantly jump, flinching out of her grasp. “No,” I snarl, unable to stand the feeling.

She doesn’t react and instead focuses on getting Kilorn up, putting one of his arms over her shoulder to hoist him. His lip is busted and one of his hands has a gash from the glass, but the rest of him seems whole.

“I think we might want to get our feet on the ground,” he says, focusing on the cracked ceiling above us.

“Agreed.” My voice sounds oddly strangled as we bolt for the door.

The stairs are little more than a tight spiral, reaching down and down and down. A chore to climb, and even worse to descend, each step a jolt through my knees. I pull my lightning to my fingertips, letting the purple sparks gather and spit, ready to run through anyone in our way.

Kilorn overtakes me easily, moving down the stairs two at a time. I hate it when he does that, and he knows it. The boy even has the spine to smirk back at me, winking.

In that moment, Cameron screams, seeing the Silver guard before we do.

He waves an arm, sending Kilorn sideways over the railing with the force of telekinetic ability. My vision slows as Kilorn topples, body sprawled in the air, and I feel like someone is digging a knife into my gut. The ringing in my ears threatens to split my head, rising to a shriek. All down the stairwell, lightbulbs pop and hiss with my fear, spreading darkness.

The guard drops before he can turn his wrath on us. He clutches at his throat, eyes rolling as he lands hard on his knee. Cameron curls her hand, fingers clawlike, as she smothers him with her ability. Slowing his heart, darkening his vision. Killing him.

The crack and thud of Kilorn hitting the railing below makes me sick. We sprint as fast as we can, directly into two other Silver guards working their way up to us. A shiver freezes the steps beneath our feet and my boots slide, almost taking me down. I slice him apart with a rocketing bolt, while his partner, a stoneskin, topples under Cameron’s wrath. We cut them apart, knives through paper.

I reach Kilorn first. He rolls to a stop two floors down, landing sprawled across several rows of steps. The first thing I see is his chest, rising and falling. Shallow, but moving. Breathing. He’s choking on blood. Red and crimson, scarlet, ruby. The color so bright I want to shut my eyes. He coughs violently, flecking both Cameron and me. The hot droplets pepper my face.

“Get him up—we have to get him up,” I mumble, scrambling over him. Cameron follows, deathly quiet. I want to scream.

He can’t speak but tries to rise on his own. I almost slap him. “Let us,” I bark, throwing his arm around me. “Cam, the other side.”

She’s already there, heaving. He’s an anchor, a deadweight.

Kilorn jolts and hacks, painting the steps with his own blood. I don’t bother trying to assess the damage. I just know I have to get him out, get him down, get him to any one of the healers all over the city. I need Davidson, I need someone. My chest tightens, but I refuse to feel the agony or the strain of him. My legs burn with every new step. Down, down, down, down.

“Mare—” Cameron sobs.

“STOP IT.”

He’s still warm, still breathing, still retching blood all over himself. That’s enough for me. Probably broken ribs, cracked bone, sharp and digging into his organs. Stomach, lungs, liver. Stay away from the heart, I beg. We don’t have time to survive a pierced heart.

I taste salt and realize I’m crying, washing my face of his blood with my tears.

The floors pass in a blur, sliding by. Kilorn sucks down a wet, rattling breath;