Two of them just gape at me too, but the third rushes over to pry at Peri’s bindings.
“Thank you,” my mate says, sweet as anything, as if this prick wasn’t one of the people who took her captive in the first place.
Maybe someday I’ll be able to see as much good in other beings as she always can.
As I spin toward her, I realize our skirmish has an audience. A couple of news vans pulled up while I was distracted by my need to rescue my mate. The camerapeople are recording nervously from beside their vehicles.
One reporter backs up a step and hollers at me from across the distance. “Please, don’t hurt anyone else.”
I frown, but before I can answer, one of his colleagues takes a cautious step forward instead. “I don’t think—That car I saw you steal. Did you need to get here to help your friend? What have you done to the people who took her?”
I will my fangs to retract into my gums and smooth as much gruffness out of my voice as I can. She’s asking questions rather than making accusations. That seems like a good sign.
“They kidnapped my mate and tied her up,” I say. “For no reason! She was trying to help the city. I know a lot of you are scared, but…” I inhale deeply. “I used my powers to knock these people unconscious. They’re still alive. You can check them to make sure.Wecan treat humans fairly. I wish they’d do the same for us.”
To my surprise, an awed expression crosses the woman’s face. “They grabbed your… your mate, and you still saved them from the creature that was coming at them?”
I shrug. “More beings dead doesn’t help anyone. I do what I can.”
As those words leave my mouth, it occurs to me with a pang in my chest just how true they are… and just how much Icando when I keep control of myself.
Maybe being a monster isn’t so bad if it means I can accomplish as much as I did here today.
Peri dashes over and wraps her arms around my waist. “Raze saves people whenever he has the chance. And we’re going to keep doing that as long as you let us.”
19
Periwinkle
It takes a long time for my heartbeat to level out and my mind to stop its frantic scrambling. We’re well into the evacuee camp before I realize that Raze’s driving strategy is more “keep swerving to avoid whatever object you’re about to drive into” than “continue down the road.” He stares at the street ahead, looking a little frantic himself, his tawny knuckles paling as he jerks on the wheel again.
He drove like this all the way out into the wilderness to find me—because he was so worried about me it mattered more than how worried he was about crashing a car. I can’t help beaming at him even as I jolt against the seatbelt again.
I’d ask if we really need to drive, but he said that when he left my other men, they were still restrained. From the smacks of irritation and discomfort that keep hitting me, I’m guessing no one else has found them.
We need to free them as quickly as possible, no matter how much rubber we burn getting there.
With another faint squeal of the tires, Raze peers around him, his jaw tight. “I—I was going to give the car back, leave it where I found it. I don’t remember what tents it was near.”
I pat his arm. “We’ll park it and make an announcement, and the owner will find it. I’m sure they won’t mind when they hear what a noble use you had.” A wave of fondness rolls off me to soften his agitation. “You were amazing with the humans. You rescued me without hurting any of them.”
He manages to aim a quick smile at me alongside a waft of his own affection before he yanks his gaze back to the trash bin we need to dodge. “You showed me how.”
The joy of that knowledge stays with me until we come up on the looming, shadow-drenched city.
As Raze navigates around the now-abandoned factory buildings, my awareness of my other mates’ emotions thickens into an unpalatable slop. Acidic fear mingles with bitter frustration, like the most gag-worthy of cough syrups.
My pulse hiccups. “I’ve got to get to them,” I say to Raze, and dive out through the strip of darkness around the car door without waiting for him to park.
I dart through the shadows along a few more buildings before I reach the patch of thinned murk where I was casting my powers not long ago—and see the men trapped there.
Hail is lying on his back, a silver-and-iron net tangled all around him, his chest heaving with pained breaths. Mirage squirms within similar bindings, flinches, and goes still for a moment.
They’re both too lost in agony to notice my arrival, but Jonah perks up where he’s been lashed to a telephone pole with one of those glowy whips. Sweat has beaded on his forehead, but relief shines from his face. “You’re all right.”
The strain in his voice combined with all the distress emanating from my mates makes my hands clench into fists. I can’t do anything about the nets, since they’d burn my hands the moment I touch them, but I hustle over to Jonah to see if I can loosen the whip.
Why were the humans so cruel? We were brightening the darkness, not adding more. Isn’t that what they want?
