Kyle started to text again and Jack felt the oncoming firestorm, like a déjà vu, milliseconds before it happened. Zoe. Holy shit, the place was going to detonate.
Jack enlarged the vortex still spinning in his hand, added shielding, and stepped into it.
In the blink of an eye, Jack was knocked flat against the far wall and the bar was engulfed in flames. The explosion left him stunned, partially deaf, and smelling of liquor and sulfur. When the smoke thinned a bit, he saw Zoe below, curled up in a little ball, hands over her head, face down. Beside her lay a blackened corpse, the flesh charred and still sizzling.
Jack’s heart stopped.
He dropped down into the supply room and squatted next to her. Before he could find a pulse, she turned and put her face into his hand. She was alive. He held her close until he could feel her heartbeat against his.
“Zoe.” He could barely speak his throat was so tight.
All signs indicated that a tornado laced with fire had blasted outward from her. Splinters of charred wood pierced through chairs and into the walls behind. Shards of colorful glass and human flesh were strewn everywhere in a horrifying mosaic. Large pieces of bone and skin fell off the wall with a splat and sizzle. Thank God he’d felt the storm coming.
Everything was on fire. He stood, grabbed her into his vortex, and ran like a madman out of the building, just as the building hit the flashpoint.
He put her down on the pavement, dropped the magic, and felt all over her body for injuries.
Ghostly pale, she just stared into the inferno, eyes vacant. Her body began to convulse. He held her tight until she pushed him away and buckled over. She retched onto the pavement. When she was finished, he pulled her back against him. She went limp, almost lifeless in his arms.
“What happened, Zoe?” He pushed her sweat-soaked hair off her forehead.
“When you left, I was in the kitchen.” She stared down at her hands, brows furrowed as if trying to remember. “I heard a noise.” She looked up at him and blinked. “It was Stan. I knew something was wrong. I tried to run, but he…he grabbed me….covered my mouth with something…then everything went black.”
Un-fucking-believable.He was going to kill the bastard, if he wasn’t dead already.
“When I woke up, finger-gun-man was there…he…he tried–” She squeezed her eyes shut and her lower lip trembled. “I panicked.”
“It’s over now.” He rubbed at the goosebumps on her arms. Her skin was ice cold.
An old-fashioned fire whistle began honking every few seconds in the distance. Damn it. He had a lot to do before the firefighters and police showed up.
Zoe moaned from her seat on the curb and held her stomach.
An out of breath Josh sprinted to their spot on the pavement. “Thank God you got out in time. Either of you hurt?”
Jack shook his head. “Any injuries among our men?”
“Not sure. We’re still counting heads. What the fuck happened in there?”
Jack raised his eyebrows and flashed his gaze towards his mate. Josh got his meaning and flinched.
“She could’ve killed us all.”
Jack mentally agreed. Zoe was very powerful and very unskilled. A bad combination. He grimaced as a vision of fried body parts flashed across his brain.
“I’m sorry.” Zoe shivered and let out a small whimper. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
“We’ll fix it.” Jack pulled her against his chest and gave Josh a hard look when he started to say something. They needed to get the situation under control. The last thing he wanted was for this to be leaked to the global court. He wouldn’t see Zoe stand trial for something she had no control over.
Jack’s men were scattered around the building, trying to help the injured, but most of those that could, were running away, disappearing into the side streets.
“I need to take care of a few things.” Jack squeezed Zoe’s hand, then stood as his brother Jase approached. A few of Kyle’s gang wandered about in a daze, but they weren’t the one man he was interested in. “Any sign of Stan?”
“Dead.” Jase glanced at Zoe, his brows drawn tightly down. “He was downstairs.”
Zoe shuddered and buried her face in her arms. He ached to comfort her, but his clan needed their leader.
“Anyone hurt from our men?”
