Wyatt walked his chair back with his feet and then spun in a circle. “I just hope they don’t bring home any freshies. It’s been blissfully quiet around here lately, and I don’t want them to spoil it.” He suddenly lost all color in his face, his gaze fixed on the hallway. “What areyoudoing here?”
Everyone looked at the empty doorway.
“Is there a freshy in here?” Gem shot up and hid behind Shepherd.
Wyatt stood, and the Slinky rolled to the floor. He canted his head. “Son of a ghost. It’s Christian.” He flicked his eyes downward. “What’s with the raccoon tail?”
CHAPTER16
When I turned away from Christian in the courtyard, I flashed back to the wall and scaled it. Blue’s falcon led me down the street before landing on a fire hydrant. I slowed down, my boots crunching loudly on the snow. I kept a normal walking pace as I neared an alleyway on my left. A dark figure cowered in the shadows, his body pressed against the nearest wall. Though he tried to control his panting, he couldn’t hide his frosty breath or buzzing energy.
I slowly turned on my heel to face him. “Come out and fight like a woman,” I taunted, still armed with stunners. I didn’t want to take them out just yet. Stunners were rare, and if I missed and this guy bolted, I’d lose my weapon. Instead, I held a defensive stance, balling up my fists.
The man emerged from the shadows, and a chill went up my spine when I looked into his malevolent brown eyes. Blue light flickered in their depths—a trait only seen in the older ones, especially when summoning their light. When a powerful wave of energy thumped against me, I took a step back. Usually when a Mage flared, it made my hair stand on end and snapped against my skin. This was more like a bully shoving me and daring me to make the first move. I’d never experienced anything like it.
“You are Charmer,” he said, his Chinese accent thick as he canted his head to the side.
Did he say Charmer?
I reached inside, feeling my light and that of the Mage I’d killed earlier. His powers would hang around for about a day. Usually that wasn’t enough time for me to figure out what the rare gifts were. Swell. Theonetime I need a badass gift, I get the gift of seduction. While people would be sexually drawn to me, it wasn’t going to win me any battles. Especially with the way this guy was looking at me as if daydreaming of the million ways to rip me apart.
He squared his shoulders, hands clasped. “I have walked this earth since before your ancestors. You will never catch me.”
When he flashed away, he knocked me down in the process. I scrambled to my feet and went after him. While he couldn’t run across the snow easily, some parts were flattened from pedestrians and cars. I followed him into an alley, where he hurriedly jumped onto a dumpster and reached for a fire escape. I climbed up after him and barely grabbed his foot before it slipped out of my grasp.
While the rungs on the ladder were slick, my fingerless gloves made the climb up the rusty contraption easy. He disappeared onto the roof, and I slowed my ascent, gripping each rung tightly in case he leaned over to kick me off. I climbed onto the roof, and to my surprise, he was still on the run.
I shot after him, the surface slippery under my feet. When he stepped off the ledge and jumped to the next building, I followed him without thinking. It wasn’t until the moment I was sailing through the air that I noticed the chasm beneath me. Fear clenched my heart for only a moment before I hit the other side and rolled. I pulled out the small black knife I’d bought at the store. It wasn’t a stunner, but I threw it at him anyhow.
When it struck his shoulder blade, he briefly looked back before swinging off the edge of the roof. I reached the ladder and saw him using his hands to slide down the rungs. This fire escape was for apartments, so when he hit a landing, he opened a window and jumped inside.
I dove in after him, stumbling over a mountain of stuffed animals that were piled on a bed and floor.
“Mommy!” a little girl shouted from the corner where she was brushing her doll’s hair.
I heard his footfalls and the shrill scream of a woman as I barreled down the hallway, turned right, and skidded out the open door. He flashed to a stairwell, and before I knew it, we were on the street again. Somehow I caught up and twisted the knife still lodged in his back. He flashed out of reach, turning in to an open doorway.
I stumbled in, eyes wide as the smell in the pizzeria hit me. The Mage leaped over the counter, knocking down a worker in the process. I launched myself up on the counter, swung my feet over, and stopped to steal a soft drink out of a worker’s hand. He smiled at me, succumbing to my unnatural charm as I gulped down the cola from the open container. One of us was going to run out of steam soon, so a little extra caffeine and sugar couldn’t hurt.
I sighed loudly. “Thirsty.”
He took the cup from my hand when I winked at him.
“Thanks, Tony,” I said, patting his nametag before jetting through the back kitchen.
I followed the direction of everyone’s stare as they cursed and yelled at the back door. Once outside, I looked right and spotted the Mage up ahead. As long as he stayed in the alley, his tracks would be easy to follow.
When he abruptly stopped and threw his arm out, a blade spiraled in my direction, right at my chest. The handle thumped against my sternum and then fell to my feet. Regardless, it still hurt.
I rubbed my chest and glared at him. “You’re the saddest ninja I’ve ever met.” I reached beneath my sweatshirt and pulled out my push daggers, gripping the T-shaped handles in my palms with the blades protruding between my fingers.
His eyes briefly darted around.
I stalked toward him. “Fight me! Or you can keep running until you’re too tired to fight. Doesn’t matter to me. I’ve got another Mage’s light burning inside my core, so I can do this all night.” That wasn’t exactly true, but hopefully the bluff would work.
When he turned and ran, I roared in frustration. My heart pounded against my rib cage, my lungs on fire as I flashed every safe distance to keep up. Before we reached an intersection, he dashed into a grocery store.
“Fuck,” I growled, putting my daggers back in their sheaths. The automatic doors slowed me to a walk. I slipped on the wet floor and clutched a potato chip display to catch my balance. “Damn boots.”
