23
“All right,” I say, voice coming out shaky. I rest my hand on the door. “In one minute, grab Trent and keep his hands behind his back. You might have to gag him or something too. I’m not sure what kind of magic tricks he’ll be able to pull before we…we…end him.”
Hasan taps his hand against the door in response. I roll my neck, close my eyes, and start counting. Thirty seconds later, I find the little latch on the door and muster up all the strength I have. My fingers spark with magic, and my heart starts to race.
“What are you doing?” Trent asks, and I can hear the fear in his voice. “I command you to stop!”
I push the latch down and shove my shoulder against the door. It opens easily and I stumble into the living room. Thomas has Trent’s arms pulled behind his back and Gilbert has a dagger to his throat.
“They’re not under your command,” I say, holding my right hand out in front of me. Fire rises from my fingertips. “They never were.”
“No!” Trent yells, thrashing against Tom. “You…you’re dead. This…this isn’t possible!”
“You really should have listened to me.” The flames rise higher. I bend my fingers in a bit and the fire bends with them, forming a fireball. “I told you how this was going to go down, and it wasn’t in your favor.”
Trent brings his head back, trying to hit Tom in the face. Gil brings his free hand up and hits Trent hard on his temple. Trent’s body goes slack, but Thomas doesn’t loosen his hold.
“Want me to throw him off the building?” Tom asks.
“As much as I’d love to watch him go flying down, we might need him.” I look at Jacques. “Did you see him do any sort of magic or have any sort of protective charms around?”
Jacques nods. “By the door.” I start to rush forward, but Jacques stops me. “No, Ace. Those are power stones. They’ll absorb your powers, and while it’s a temporary hinderance, you can’t spare any of your power right now.”
I nod and fall into step behind him, holding the fireball in my hand in case someone else comes through the door. There are two large gray stones on either side of the door. Magical electricity sparks between them.
“He booby-trapped the place?” I ask.
“Yes, and I don’t think this is the only one.” Jacques uses his foot to push one of the stones out of place, not reaching down to pick it up until the magical connection is cut. He looks up. “It’s definitely not.”
“Shit.” There’s a security camera in the corner above the door. I fling my hand forward, sending the fireball into the camera. “Well, they can’t see us now.”
“They might have before.”
“Rachel said there was only one guard, and I think he’s busy looking for me. Dammit, he’ll be checking the cameras.”
As soon as the words leave my lips, someone pounds on the door. “Move away from the door,” a deep male voice calls. I whirl around, looking for more cameras.
“There!” Jacques points across the room. I throw another fireball and miss. It hits the wall, sizzles, and burns out. I’m running out of fire power and I’m afraid every fireball I throw will be my last.
“Come on,” I mumble to myself, and hold out my hand, trying to conjure another fire. Jac takes my hand and pulls me down just in time. Bullets pepper the door, and bits of drywall rain down on us.
Jacques tries to cover me, and together, we crawl away from the door. Hasan dives forward and knocks over a large wooden table. I scramble to get behind it, reaching for Jac. My eyes are wide and if my heart beat any faster it would beat right out of my chest.
I’ve fought vampires and ghouls. I’ve been kidnapped and tortured. And yet being helpless on the floor while someone shoots at me is one of the most terrifying things I’ve experienced. The gunfire ceases and the guard kicks the door.
“The police will be here soon,” I tell the guys, stealing a glance at the door. We need to get farther away from it. “They’ll storm the place. We only have a few minutes to get Trent and the kids out of here.”
“I’ll throw him out the window,” Thomas says, hefting Trent’s body up in his arms.
“No,” I say, quickly shaking my head back and forth. “There’s got to be a lot of eyes on this place right now after all the gunshots. And we need him alive.”
“Okay,” Gil says.
I let out a small breath and nod, turning my gaze up to Hasan. “I need to get to those kids.”
“Go. We can handle one guard.”
“He has a gun,” I remind him as the door is kicked again. The wood starts to crack along the frame. “And don’t let Trent go. He knows magic and has charms and curses all over this place.”
