Fuck this. I’d spent too much time on the floor already. Lightheaded, I staggered to my feet, my muscles feeling as if I’d just ran five miles.
My stay in the prison had me ready to unleash my whirlwind of trauma onto the world. I wanted out. Away from it all.
I can just run away.
No, I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave Peri, Slate, or the princess. Too many people needed me to keep it together. I was the lynchpin in the insurgency’s plan. I couldn’t fuck it up.
I threw my black leather jacket on, strapping down every part of my body that I could with weapons. Snatching my helmet from the wardrobe, I stormed out of my room.
I couldn’t breathe, but I wouldn’t succumb to my panic. Nobody saw me falter—not even Peri. I needed to be free, even if it was only temporary.
I rushed out of the suite, ignoring my sister’s protests to talk. The front door slammed behind me, and the itching beneath my skin wouldn’t relent. I wrapped my arms around my torso, as if I could physically hold myself together.
“Fuck!” I shouted into the elevator, the sound waves reverberating in the metal box. I shoved my fingers through my hair, punching the wall as I rasped, my breaths short and ragged.
Forest and Grim needed to die. The world would be a much better place without them in it. But that seemed like a pipedream at this point. I was powerful, but I was still a kid. I didn’tunderstand why I had to be the one with this responsibility, but I’d do what it took.
My heart thrashed, but once the elevator rocked to a stop, I bolted from the metal trap.
Ignoring every Kinetic in the lobby who stared at me as if I was their god, I shoved through the rotating glass doors of the hotel until I was on the streets of Atlanta. The late afternoon sun stabbed my eyes while the freezing wind bit my skin which then stabbed into the bone.
Cutting through several blocks, I found the parking garage and made a beeline for my bike.
Fuck, I’d missed it. It had only been three days, but that bike was my freedom.
I approached my Ducati while Slate sat propped on the bike beside mine, arms crossed over his chest. I could always count on him to be there. He wasn’t even the legal age to drive yet, but he’d be at my side regardless.
Once I stood before him, he faced me. “Where have you been?”
I shrugged, trying to skirt around my absence as usual. “You know how it goes. Lessons and shit.”
Slate’s nostrils flared as he leveled me with a stare that said he didn’t buy my bullshit. “Come on. Let’s go.”
I nodded. We couldn’t leave this infested horror show fast enough. “Bet.”
Pulling the helmet over my head, I straddled the seat of my bike and shoved the key into the ignition right before Slate did the same beside me. I revved the throttle and looked at my cousin through the tinted shield of my helmet.
Slate nodded once before revving his engine, and I let go, allowing my bike to lurch forward. The beast inside wanted out. It wanted to take and take. It wanted danger.
I revved it, causing it to launch from the parking garage like a bullet with Slate on my tail. I watched for oncoming carsand swerved onto the Atlanta streets. The bike’s engine roared as I twisted the throttle. The G-forces pushed me forward as I allowed my mind to quiet its onslaught. I leaned into the wind, acknowledging Slate pulling to level up beside me.
I found his helmeted face and dipped my head, to which he returned. Simultaneously, we surged forward, taking up both lanes as we rushed toward the looming red light ahead. My heart raced, adrenaline pumping for all the right reasons. I needed this. I was in control of this danger. No one else.Imade this choice.
I scanned left and right for any oncoming cars coming at the intersection, as did Slate. Cars sped toward us, but we had time. We bolted forward, accelerating at a dangerous speed.
The pressure from the air forcing itself into my chest bone was a therapy that I didn’t believe I could find anywhere. This was being alive.
A smile tugged upward as I pushed harder. Somehow, my cousin knew how to drive. And good, too.
I needed more—a bigger thrill.
Anything to rid Grim’s oily voice from my head. I needed to cleanse it all.
We zipped through the red light just as an incoming car from the right barreled toward me. My heart skipped, and I kicked it harder. Slate kept up and took the lead.
More.
I pushed in front of him, nosing ahead just as he pulled forward. Keeping my senses open to the cars coming ahead, I allowed my magic to replenish from the world around me, building my Kinetic power to abnormally high levels. I didn’t care. Overabundance was the cure. I needed it.
