“You two shouldn’t be here,” an officer said as he crossed to them, but Felix didn’t even spare the man a glance.
You two. Marlow must have run.
“They won’t be able to hold me,” Felix warned, venomous eyes fixed on August. “Iwillcome after you.”
August took another step back, and let the words spill out. “He used illegal magic.”
That sent the officer into action. He called the others, and in a heartbeat, all five of them were there, rifles aimed.
“On the ground, hands out front.”
Felix’s smile was slow and feral, and it made August’s blood turn cold.
The officer was talking. Wanting to know what kind of magic. They needed to know what they were facing. How to restrain him. Wielder cuffs weren’t always enough.
They wouldn’t be enough.
When August answered the question, offering only the magic Felix had used, the officers all took a nervous step back.
Gods, what if Felix was right? What if they couldn’t hold him?
He couldn’t break the hold Felix’s steady eyes had on him. Dark blue, like the sky at the first sign of dawn. Sharp and dangerous.
The officer said something else, but August wasn’t paying attention. The only thing he caught was his title. They used his title. They recognized him. They were going to take him home. He couldn’t go home.
He needed to disappear.
Run.
There was a cottage in the forest near Bedwyck that had been in his mother’s family for generations. His father told him once that she hated it. She’d never think to look there. He could hide. From her. From his exposed secret. From Felix.
But he had to find Lottie first. He had to tell her. The Watch could help him do that. Then he’d go.
“Alright,” said Felix. “My turn to speak.” The smile vanished, and his blue eyes turned gold. He leveled his attention on the first officer. “Shoot yourself.”
The words vibrated the air, and the man didn’t even hesitate. He pressed the rifle barrel beneath his chin and pulled the trigger. The deafeningbangcut down the quiet street as his head kicked violently back, and he fell.
A strangled sound ripped from August’s throat.
I will come after you
He needed to get away from here.
With trembling hands, he tried to call his power, tried to force it forward. It didn’t respond.
Fear locked him in place, the horror of the officer’s shattered skull rising bile in his throat.
Marlow appeared out of nowhere, grabbing an officer by the shoulder and pressing a hand to his chest. The rings in her eyes lit up red, and the man writhed, body contorting unnaturally until he dropped with a heavy thud.
Felix cut his gaze to another—a man with a muscular build and a shiny head. “Kill the others.”
The man’s expression dropped. He turned to a slender female officer, clamped his hands on either side of her head, and swiftly snapped her neck. When he turned to the last, the terrified officer bolted down the street. The bulky man followed.
The gold faded, and Felix snatched a rifle from the woman’s corpse. He sighed heavily, as if the entire ordeal were nothing more than a frustrating inconvenience, then leveled the weapon at August.
Dread sank in his stomach, heavy as a stone in a still pond. He lifted his hands defensively. “Felix, don’t!”
A flicker of surprise crossed Felix’s face, and the gun lowered slightly. He narrowed his eyes, gaze locked onto the injured hand.
