Scanning the abandoned airport just outside of Chicago, I spotted Uncle Jack kneeling to my right on the tarmac a good distance from the plane. Flashes of Ray grabbing me flew back faster than the speed of light.
I squirmed in Steven’s arms as my nerves teetered on the edge of destruction. “Put me down, please.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Your pulse is erratic, and your equilibrium is probably off.”
My heartwastrying to climb out of my chest, and I would probably collapse once I was on my feet. But it was crucial I speak to my uncles. Ray was the only one who could help, though I wasn’t holding out hope he would. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t try like hell to glean information out of him.
“Please,” I said. “I need to talk to Ray.”
My uncle’s words blared in my head. “You’ll never see your vampire lover again.” What had happened before Sam had been taken flooded my mind.
I rushed up to Sam just as the helicopter basket swung behind him. It was like the jaws of life were about to capture him.
“Run, Sam!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
But he didn’t. He stopped, turned, and raised his arms high above his head. Then he lowered one arm and closed his hand into a fist.
He was about to unleash his elemental powers. It was the same move he’d done to Roman that night on the naval base. But when Sam opened his fist, nothing happened. He quickly tried again. No fire. No wild weather. Nothing.
He looked at his hand a little too long.
I was about to bolt over to him when someone grabbed me from behind.
Ray laughed in my ear. “You’ll never see your vampire lover again.”
I screamed like a banshee, and Ray collapsed. I was ready to kick him in the throat when I noticed blood coming out of his ears, and that he wasn’t moving.
I sprinted toward Sam, only it was too late. A guy, dressed in full SWAT gear, was shooting at Sam from the helicopter while another propelled down and shot Sam several more times, hitting him in the neck, legs, arms, and vest.
“Noooooooooo!” I was about to run into the fray until another set of hands came around me.
“It’s too dangerous,” Steven said in my ear.
Jo came to a halt beside me and raised her arms, ready to use her elemental powers, but when she whipped her arms around, nothing happened. “My powers aren’t working.” She tried again. But failed. “They must have something stopping us,” Jo said.
Steven tried to use his powers, but he failed too.
Sam stumbled to his feet and roared. The men just kept shooting and shooting and shooting until he became a rag doll. Then one of the men in the helicopter aimed his gun at us while his partner loaded Sam in the basket.
I shrugged out of Steven’s hold. Screw this. I pulled out my gun and started shooting at the man on the ground. It took me three shots until he fell.
I rushed over to Sam, whose limp body was sprawled inside the basket. I reached in to drag him out when the helicopter lifted. If they were taking him, then they were taking me too.
I was about to hop in with Sam’s lifeless body, but fate had other plans.
The feeling of icy fingers crawled up my spine as Jo’s voice penetrated through the hell I was reliving. “I’m not sure Ray or the other one will make it.”
I jerked in Steven’s arms. “Ray? Is he dying? Why? How? I never touched him.” Even though I’d wanted to kick him in the throat.
She gave me a sad smile. “I’m not sure what’s going on with Ray. It could be a brain bleed or something else. But you did scream like a banshee.”
I sucked in air along with snowflakes. “But a scream can’t kill anyone. Can it?” Dr. Vieira’s words sung in my head.In our world, Layla, you’ll learn that some things don’t have an explanation, especially when magic is involved.
Jo shrugged. “Not sure.”
Whoa!Maybe I had banshees in my family.
Then she addressed her dad. “I tried to read Ray’s mind, but my powers seemed to have short-circuited when the helicopter flew in. Can you try, Dad?”
