“Wouldn’t it be bad if they just set the city on fire?” I murmur and peer up at the sky that is dove-grey. The clouds are churning.
Jarek tugs on a lock of my hair and leans in close. “No more talking for you, creepy omega.”
I splutter a laugh.
He drops an arm over my shoulders. I suck in air and stay perfectly still, watching him out of the corner of my eye. Touch is something rare in my life. In fact, since my mother died, few people have touched me and never in such a casual way.
Then again, I’ve never had an all-consuming desire to lick an alpha the way I do about this one.
“You are just a cute little bundle of happy thoughts, aren’t you? But let’s not jinx ourselves. I do not want to go out in flames.”
I smile back, despite every thought in my head trying to stop me. I can’t help it; he’s contagious.
“Are you all right, Keres? You don’t look so good.”
I don’t feel so good, but I give him a small smile and nod. “I’m fine, just shook up from all this.”
Mordecai looks around and scowls. “Let’s go that way.”
Jarek leans in close. “He’s got a very focused mind. Straight and pure. It will be fun to corrupt him.”
“You can’t,” Mordecai says easily. “I have a purpose and a mission.”
“And nothing is more important than the mission,” Jarek and Mordecai say at the same time.
Jarek bursts into peels of delighted laughter and bounces away when Mordecai steps towards him, his expression furious. I exhale, relieved to have him off me so I can go back to pretending he doesn’t affect me at all.
“This way,” Cadel says.
He’s standing in hip-tall grass, and when I get close, he turns his head so I can just see the side of his face. I freeze behind him, staring as he looks back at me.
I’ve seen him before. I’ve lived this moment before.
My head explodes with pain, and I whimper and put a hand up, cradling my cheek. Cadel turns back, his eyes running over me.
What is wrong? The pain eases as quickly as it appears.
A single boom echoes through the city, birds explode into the sky, and the world gets quiet.
I turn in a circle. A pit opens up in my stomach.
BOOM.
I shudder and take a step backwards.
BOOM.
Cadel reaches out and snags my wrist. He looks into my eyes. His face is pale; his dark eyes flash red.
Red eyes?
“Run.”
I don’t have time to think about anything else. We just explode into movement. The sound of drumbeats gets closer together and louder. As if they are all around us.
Every step sends agony through my skull. My heart beats too loud, and my energy fails far too soon. I’m running on sheer willpower within minutes.
We haven’t gone far when Mordecai jumps up into a building. Disappearing into its depths. It’s a tall skeletal building with very little floor left, just a metal frame that is still defying gravity.
