Adriana drew them in, allowing them to cover her body and block out the bright light from her skin. She could feel their cool caresses as they wrapped themselves around her, twirling round her arms as if mirroring her Nocte brandings.
A smaller shadow drew a soft line across her cheek, coming to rest on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. It had been years since she’d felt this familiar shadow,hisshadow. She hadn’t sensed it since it had come to her when she’d burnt her house down.
Her breathing still came out in pants, but her heart began to slow down, and the pain in her body died down to a dull ache. She had not lost control in so long, and it would only be worse if Xander were to reach her.
“You’re okay,” Cass soothed, as she stroked her hair. “It’s going to be okay, we’re going to get out of here. I will not let him hurt you again.”
Adriana nodded, letting Cass help her to her feet. She quickly dashed to her room, packing her rucksack with a few things fromher drawers, herTales of Daemonium, and the necklace from Striga she kept locked away in her bedside table. Once she’d finished, she joined Cass and ran out the door, leaving their apartment, leaving their lives behind.
Adriana stood outside the train station whilst Cass went in to buy their tickets. She wanted to remain outside in the fresh air for as long as possible before she had to sit on a stuffy train for hours.
Cass had called her cousin in Scotland on their walk to the station, informing her of what had happened and what she had seen in her vision, before throwing both of their phones in a bin. Thankfully, Cass’ cousin had accepted their request to stay with her for a while, just until they worked out what to do next.
Adriana knew what they would have to do. They’d have to go on the run forever, but not the same way she had been running before. She’d been able to live her life staying under the Courts’ radar, but now they would have to be completely isolated from society, something Cass had rejected. Cass had chosen to leave her family to create a life that meant something to her. And now Adriana had ruined it.
She felt awful that Cass had been hauled into this mess, and so she planned to leave her at her cousin’s and sneak off in the night. She had no idea where she would go. It wasn’t as if she had anyone she could turn to; she had no family other than the Romillys. The only friend she had was Mitchell and there was no way she could ever go back to see him, not after attacking Nicolai in his club. She would be alone, forever.
She fidgeted with the sleeves of her long brown coat, pulling them down as much as possible to cover the dark markings, but her fingers were still visible. She made a mental note to ask Cass to get her some gloves before they got their train, only now realising she hadn’t packed any when they’d rushed out the flat earlier.
As she continued to tug at her sleeves, she noticed four men staring at her from across the road. She checked that her powers weren’t showing, making sure none of the shadows were following her like they had earlier. She could find no reason as to why they’d be looking at her.
They began to walk towards her, one of them pointing directly at her. She was sure she’d never met them before, but it was clear they seemed to know her.
As she turned to go inside the station to find Cass, she knocked into a tall figure standing in her way. He grabbed her arms and spun her round to face the four men that were now crowded around her.
The bald man that had been previously pointing at her stepped forward, looking her up and down. “That’s the one, that’s the slut I saw leave that perverted club. She’s the cross-breed filth they were after.”
Adriana took in their appearances, only just noticing the matching cream coloured trousers and shirts they wore with a logo on the right breast pocket. It was a tree on fire—the mark of the Liberators.
“I say we just kill her now,” the one standing to her right said. “Do it in public, make a statement.”
The bald man looked at him with annoyed disbelief, smacking him round the back of the head. “Are you fucking mad? Even our guys in the police couldn’t get us out of those charges, not yet anyway. Besides, this one’s special. The scum in that club are after her, which means the boss can use her.”
He reached out to touch Adriana’s hair, pushing a strand behind her ear. She twisted her face away from him before staring at him with as much fury as possible, her eyes shifting from their usual blue-grey to black.
“I would get your hands off me if I were you,” she snarled at him, her voice steady and calm.
They laughed at her, clearly believing she was no match for them, but the man holding her from behind tightened his grip around her arms.
“Is that a threat, little lady? Are you threatening me?”
“Merely a suggestion. I don’t need to resort to threats.”
The bald man pulled a knife from his back pocket, keeping it low between them and pressing the tip against her stomach. A few people walking past had noticed them; some of them shouted at them to leave her alone whilst others stood there and watched. She realised the majority of the ones who stayed silent were also dressed in the Liberators uniform.
Adriana knew that their numbers were growing, particularly in London, but there had to be at least twenty of them around her right now. She had only ever seen one or two at most in town, and they were often kicked out of places for wearing Lucas Rook’s logo. But this? This was an ambush.
“Tell me, if I leave my knife inside you, will your body heal around it?”
Adriana shut her eyes, clenching her jaw as she tried to remain calm. She could feel the man’s warm breath against her face and had to fight the urge to gag.
“No answer? Let's find out, shall we?”
He pulled his arm back, holding the knife tightly in his grip as he aimed to thrust it into her stomach.
Adriana broke free of the larger man’s hold, using her heightened strength and speed to tear his hands away from her, and she sent an elbow into his abdomen. She seized the baldman’s wrist, bending it at an unpleasant angle until he dropped the knife and fell to his knees. Before she could reach for the blade, she felt someone grab the back of her hair and pull on it painfully. It seemed the larger man behind her had recovered quicker than she’d anticipated.
Without thinking, she pressed her palm to his face and called upon her Elementai magic. He cried out as her fingers, ignited with small flames, burnt into his cheek. Adriana turned to watch him stagger back, clutching his face in pain and screaming obscenities at her between his whimpering cries.
