A high-pitched, piercing sound echoes in the night outside the window. Gunfire rings through the air. Where is the white-haired man? I’m not sure why I care so much about him, but my instincts shout at me to find him. Protect him. He’s important… important for someone I care about.
Why can’t I remember who it is? I pick up the Glock to check how many bullets the man left me. It’s full. Gingerly I place weight on my feet, testing the pain. It’s tolerable, and I think I can make it out of here to look for the white-haired man.
With slow steps, I pad across the bedroom floor and crack open the door. Holding the gun in front of me, I kick open the door, ready to shoot anyone in the next room. Taking inventory of the small, one-bedroom apartment, I discover that I’m the only one here.
More gunfire and loud explosions rattle the windows. Men shout outside. Hobbling across the room, I press my ear against the door.
“Kill whoever comes to get him. Leave no survivors. I don’t care if they wield magic.” The sound of heavy footfall fades. My heart hammers against my chest. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself.
A sharp pain shoots through my eyes.Magic wielders. The pain intensifies, forcing me to my knees. A flurry of images rush to the surface of my mind. Faceless men punch me, stab me, cut me. Shouting words that I can’t understand, I curl into myself,hugging my knees. I pray for the pain, the whirlwind of images, to stop.
Toby… Where is my brother, Toby? Please make this stop. Ringing in my ears overwhelms my senses. I can’t tell if the room is spinning or if it’s me spinning out of control. I press my hands to my head and focus on the memories of my brother. Maybe it’s just an illusion. He stands in the middle of the chaos swirling in my brain. He’s dressed just as I always remembered him, in navy-blue slacks and a long-sleeved button-down shirt, but his face…
What the hell happened to him? Everything stops. The flurry of images fall away. The room rights itself. The pain vanishes, and the ringing in my ears subsides.
Tyler, get up. You can do this! Get up, and save him. Save Anders and save yourself. These men with the suits are not your allies. They’re our enemies.
I shake my head. No. No! They saved me. They saved me from the magic wielders. No!
Tyler! Listen to me. I don’t have much time! You need to trust me. Find him. Find the guards. Find J?—
A thick cloud of inky black and gray shadows surrounds Toby. I reach for the gun on the floor and lift it, pointing it in every direction. The room stills, and there are no signs of Toby or the shadows that took him.
“We should just kill the old bastard,” a voice says beyond the door.
“We have orders to keep him alive,” another replies.
“Okay, but hear me out. If we kill the infamous Anders, we would be heroes, man.”
“Yeah, some heroes. He’s practically dead as it is.”
Is Anders the white-haired man? I use the doorknob to pull myself up onto unsteady legs. Slowly, I crack the door. Two men stand in the hallway, ignoring the chaos outside the building.
“Think about it?—”
Ripping open the door, I shoot one of the men dead center in the head. The other man reaches for his gun, and I shoot him in the chest twice before he has a chance to reach for his gun.
I lean against the wall for stability. Footsteps hurry up the stairs. I swing my arm around and shoot the man in the head before the rest of his body has a chance to show itself. Pushing myself off the wall, I reach down to grab the gun from one of the fallen men. Pulling the clip from the Glock, I check to see that I have another full clip. Tucking the gun into the waistband of my pants, I make my way to the apartment next door.
“I’m so sorry, Anders. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I was trying to protect Marty. I’m so sorry,” a woman cries from behind a door down the hall. I get closer, and her cries grow louder and louder. Rage starts to build under my skin. Her voice makes me want to kill her.Traitor.
I kick the door open. The man with the white hair slumps over sideways on the couch in the living area. The woman spins around, eyes wide in shock. “Shadow!” she gasps.
I pull the trigger, shooting her between the eyes. Satisfaction warms my chest as I watch the blood pool beneath her head on the floor.
Shifting my attention back to Anders, I can see the rise and fall of his chest. He’s still breathing. Relief loosens my muscles. A cacophony of gunshots and shouting continues to fill the night air. I gingerly walk over to the window.
In the streets, men shoot guns, and others shoot fireballs from their hands. Lightning bolts flash down from the sky. One man throws ice shards, impaling his opponent in the chest.
What the hell?Magic wielders, the enemies.The ones who are here to kill me. I shake my head, trying to stifle the invasive thoughts in my head. Toby said the men in the suits are myenemies. I look over my shoulder to the man slumped over on the couch.
A man in tactical gear flies past my window, holding a man I recognized in the warehouse. He flies up, past the tallest building, and drops the man to his death. Wolves run into the streets and attack each other.
A tiny female soars through the air with two large crows the size of small cars on either side. Bolts of lightning leave her hands, striking down two wolves on the street. A man sitting on the back of one of the crows throw an energy ball on a pack of wolves of varying sizes and color, incinerating them before my eyes.
The girl in the air wielding lightning magic captures my full attention. A flash of her with long, blond hair flitters in my mind.
A piercing noise rings in my ears. I grasp my head, willing the pain to stop. When it doesn’t, I fall to my knees and scream.
