No longer able to sense what made me come down here, I dash to the vehicle where I’d left Ellison and Lex, only to find Lex lying unconscious and no sign of Ellison anywhere.
Why the fuck did I leave him? Why did I leave him?
I grab Lex while I scan my surroundings, looking for whoever it was, but I can’t see them or Ellison anywhere. When I look up, I see a note stuck to the back door of the vehicle. I have to question if the driver is in the same state as Lex, but for now, my attention is on that note.
913 N. River Road
Come alone
I tear it off the door and hoist Lex into the back of the vehicle. “Hey, wake up.”
Lex groans as I shake him awake. “There’s a man… he was so fucking fast… Where’s Ellison?”
I press a hand against his forehead, glad he’s okay. Then I rush out into the street where a reporter is getting out of his car. I slam him against it, dig his keys out of his pocket, and get inside before he can even cry about me stealing his car. I use the vehicle’s GPS to tell me where to go as I realize that it was never Ellison this person wanted.
It was me.
Iput Ellison in danger. I was the reason he was attacked and wounded so severely… why he almostdied.
Anxiety eats at me while I push the car to its limit. Why didn’t Ellison send one of his illusions to me? Is he in a state that he can’t?
Have I ever felt like this? Have I ever feared for the life of another like I am now? I was raised knowing that relationships would be the end of me; it’s why I was never allowed any. It was why they were forbidden in our group. Because the moment you love someone is the moment you lose focus.
I should sneak in, try to assassinate them before they even know I’m there, but if Ellison is in their hands… how could I? How could I risk his life just to kill them? Just to protect my own?
“You’ve fucked up again. Do you never learn? You’ve looked into the eyes of your dead companions and still, you have learned nothing. Your skills drove you to the top, but your mind drove us to death because you are fucking weak.”
“Shut up,” I snap.
“He’s going to die just like everyone else in your life.”
“Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP.”
Suddenly the voice changes from my elder to her.“He’s going to die like I did. All because of you.”
“Get out of my head. All of you. Get out of my head,” I beg while the car goes as fast as it can. I nearly miss my turn as I fight off the voices that try to consume me.
The drive isn’t far—only ten minutes—but it feels like the longest ten minutes of my life. At the speed I drive, it’s a wonder I don’t beat them there. I reach for my gun and sling my rifle over my shoulder before I hurry toward the building, only for my phone to beep. I pull it out and see that it’s a text from Ellison’s phone.
Ellison: Leave your guns in the vehicle and come in through the front door or I’ll shoot him in the head. My power lets me sense when you turn invisible. Don’t try it.
“You were raised to lack emotions. Giving in to this person’s demands would prove your weakness. Walk in and shoot him in the head. Casualties are a given in this line of work. You shouldn’t even blink at it.”
Risking my own life for Ellison’s goes against everything I was taught. It doesn’t matter that Ellison is in this position because of me. It doesn’t matter that Ellison is innocent. All that matters is that I kill the person who dares try to control me.
But I know that I would walk right in front of a bullet without hesitation to keep those I care about safe.
And isn’t that why I’m the only one left of my “family”?
I drop my rifle inside the car along with my handgun.
I walk toward the door of a large building and pull it open, completely vulnerable.
“Keep your hands up or I’ll shoot him in the head,” a male voice calls out.
Hands above my head, I continue down the hallway. “How will you guarantee to me that you’ll let him go?”
“I can guarantee that I’ll kill him if you don’t listen,” he says.
