A surge of victory hits me as Sophia scrambles back on her hands, shouting in pain as the bricks roll over her. She tries to deflect, but Natalie is relentless, sending an endless torrent of brick and stone at Sophia while she’s down.
“You think because you stole magic, you understand it?” Natalie’s voice carries over the chaos. “Magic isn’t just power—it’s sacrifice. It’s protection.” She sends a precise attack, burying Sophia under more rubble. “It’s everything you’ll never understand.”
Awe ripples through me—and like before, a twinge of fear as a different side of Natalie breaks through. This is the part of her I’ll never fully grasp, the magic flowing through her veins that I can sense but never have. In moments like this, the gap between us feels enormous… And yet, somehow, it was my name on Sophia’s lips that unleashed this storm.
Her chest heaves and sweat beads on her face as she lifts her arm for another blow—but the last train car rumbles past, giving us an audience again.
Under the gazes of at least thirty people on the other side of the railway crossing, Natalie hesitates, her arm still raised. Her face twists in frustration as the desire to stop Sophia butts up against her duty to keep magic hidden.
A car engine revs. Behind the crowd, a silver Toyota FJ Cruiser turns off the road and motors down the concrete steps toward the pier like an advertisement for a four-wheel drive vehicle. The crowd splits in a panic, shouting and grabbing each other.
My stomach drops.Oaklyn.
“Natalie, look out!” I scream.
The car swerves onto the pedestrian path, tires squealing as it barrels toward Natalie. She spins, but there’s not enough time to raise a shield. She dives aside, rolling over the broken beach while the car misses her by inches.
I gasp, my legs weak. The image of what could have happened flashes before my eyes, and I shake it away, forcing my feet to move.
Sophia blasts free from the rubble and limps to the car. As she whips open the passenger door, the deep bark of a German Shepherd with a grudge fills the air, and I stop dead, ready to catapult myself into the nearest dumpster.
But Sophia pushes Wyatt back and climbs in. I catch a glimpse of her face—no longer sneering and confident, but pale with fear. It’s the look of someone who just realized they’re not the most dangerous person in the fight.
The engine revs, rocks spitting out from under the tires as Oaklyn drives away.
Natalie raises her hands.
“Don’t,” I say, glancing at the crowd.
She stands frozen, trembling as she watches them escape. For a moment, it looks like she might run after the car and unleash another attack—her body is as tense as a drawn bow. But then her gaze finds mine, and she softens, the purple fire in her irises dimming.
They leave us with shattered bricks, twisted metal, splintered wood, and a lot of explaining to do.
Not to mention a missing chimera.
“Fuck,” I say under my breath, loosening my grip on the net. At least she didn’t get it from us.
Natalie growls in frustration and strides over. “You—okay?” she asks between ragged breaths, scanning me for injuries. The purple in her eyes is gone, replaced by concern so intense it makes my chest ache.
“Fine. But the chimera got away.” Another step closer to prison.
“The least of our worries.” Natalie pulls me into her strong arms, trembling. “Good job keeping the net safe.”
It hardly feels like a victory worth celebrating. Our first attempt is over, and we failed. Plus, now that Sophia knows we have the net, how long will we be able to protect it?
“Hey,” Natalie says softly, pulling back to meet my eyes. Her brow is pinched, her gaze tender beneath all the blood and dirt streaking her face. “This was only our first try. We’ll be okay.”
I blink, but it’s too late to hide the way my eyes are stinging and wet. Every one of her cuts and bruises is agony to see.
Before I can put on a brave face, she cups my cheek and kisses me. It’s unhurried and desperate, stealing my breath. Her lips are soft and salty. For a moment, the world falls away—no chimeras, no Madsens, no looming prison sentence. Just Natalie, solid and real in my arms, her heart beating strong against mine.
When we break apart, she takes my hand, our damp and gritty fingers interlacing. “We need to get out of here before someoneasks why Animal Control caused thousands in property damage. I’ll have Sky come by to fix all this.”
Leaving the beach in shambles, I follow her, the warmth of her palm a small comfort as disappointment sits heavy in my gut. But really, did I ever have a chance of catching the thing, even if Sophia hadn’t interfered? Aside from the chimera’s ability to shift into a bug the second I threw the net at it, I was getting in my own way. Hesitating.
Not to mention hearing voices.
I need to figure out what’s going on…and what this might mean for our plan to capture magic.
