ChapterSixteen
AMARA
Uncovering my eyes, Raiden brushes his knuckles gently down my cheek. “You three go inside, I’ll settle the bill and join you in a moment.” Taking my bag, he turns back to the man behind the counter, pulling out his credit card.
Kodi opens the door to the adjoining room first, and after a few seconds, Stone places his hand on the small of my back, ushering me through behind him. I’ll give them credit; they’re subtle. To anyone else, the procession appears casual, but to me? It’s glaringly obvious Kodiak is the first line of defense, ensuring the room is clear, and Stone is acting as a shield to any threats behind us we won’t see until it’s too late.
Constantly protecting the weak, pathetic excuse of a dragon. Carina’s out there defending an entire city, and I can’t even take a piss alone without the guys getting twitchy.
"What is this place?"
Shrugging off his backpack, Stone sets it against the wall. “Wreck it room.”
A series of bright, harsh lights illuminate the massive room, reminiscent of a warehouse. Several empty cement tables are scattered throughout, along with several junker cars. Against the back wall, shelves upon shelves of vases, computers, glasses, and countless other items are lined up. Based on the set up, I assume you pay for what you take off the display to break. On one of the cement slabs is an assortment of weapons; baseball bats, paintball guns, axes, etcetera. There aren’t any windows, but the space is open enough that it doesn’t send my heart into overdrive.
Raiden closes the door behind us and announces, “We have the place to ourselves for the rest of the afternoon.” With a jerk of his head, Kodi helps him grab one of the heavy tables and push it in front of the door, barricading the only entrance. Or exit, depending on how you want to look at things.
“I haven’t been on many dates, but I’m pretty sure this is a red flag.” Unstrapping my armor beneath my shirt, I toss it on top of our bags, sighing in relief at the cool air on my sweat-slicked skin.
Kodi shoots me a wink over his shoulder, giving the table a final shive to wedge it in place. “What can I say, pretty girl? The things we want to do to you are best done in private.”
Shaking my head with a small smile, I glance over at Stone, raising an eyebrow in silent question when I find him staring at me intently. Without breaking eye contact, Stone calls over to Raiden, “Speaking of private, I hope you offered our friend an incentive to take the rest of the day off.”
Raiden scoffs, spinning a ring of keys around his finger. “I may not have much experience dating, but give mesomecredit, here. The only reason I had us bar the door is so we can all enjoy ourselves without worrying about watching our backs.”
“Perfect.” Stone’s face transforms with such a genuine smile, my heart actually skips a beat. “A little help, Amara?”
“With…?”
He gestures to one of the security cameras mounted above our heads. “Hard to really let go if it feels like someone’s watching. Care to do the honors?”
“Sure, but I hope Raiden wasn’t planning on getting his security deposit back.”
“Don’t worry about it, love. No need for precision this time, either,” Raiden assures. “Go ahead and fry the entire system.”
Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and concentrate, because Raiden’s wrong. Maybe it’s not as precise as disarming a security system, but if I’m not careful, I’ll blow all the lights right alongside the cameras. Electricity hums above my head, and I follow its path across the ceiling, mentally mapping out the lines. Latching onto the circuit the cameras run on, I release a surge of energy.
At the first pop, I crack open an eyelid, watching the lights dim as a series of small explosions ring the room, every camera cracking and smoking. “That’s my girl.” Raiden winks and, with a small smile, pulls the smoke into himself before it can set off the sprinkler system.
Kodi saunters over, spinning a metal bat in his hand and offering it my way. “Ladies first.”
Hesitantly taking it, I glance around, wondering where to start. To the guys’ credit, they don’t make it awkward by staring, waiting for me to do something impressive. They each drift off to pull things from the back wall and set up their own areas, leaving me to my own devices.
At the first crash, I nearly jump out of my skin. Kodi lifts a paintball gun and lines up his next shot, pelting a line of vases with unerring accuracy. Stone finishes setting up a carefully balanced tower of drinking glasses, but doesn’t get a chance to do anything with them before a ball of smoke hits it dead center and sends them all crashing to the ground.
Stone scowls, shooting a glare at Raiden. “Why did I miss you, again?”
Raiden smirks unrepentantly, keeping him distracted as a tendril of smoke slithers along the ground. “Oh, it was a perfect shot and you know damn well you’d have taken it, too.” Like a snake striking, the tendril snaps around Stone’s ankle and yanks him off his feet. “And that one.”
Catching himself on the table, Stone regains his balance. A split-second later his wings are out, and he launches at Raiden. Between the taunts and curses, the two of them are thoroughly occupied chasing each other around the warehouse, throwing shit at one another and laughing. More at ease since they’re not watching my every move, I jump up on the hood of one of the rusted out sedans, testing the weight of the bat in my hand.
Staring down at my faint reflection in the glass, I take in the resigned slump of my shoulders, the lackluster look in my eyes, and I… hate it. Absolutely hate seeing myself like this, like I’ve accepted the inevitable and am making my peace with whatever time I have left. Too much of our plan hinges on other people, and if life’s proven anything, it’s that the only one I can count on is myself.
The memory of Stone’s adamant declaration whispers through my mind.‘Believe in us, Amara, even when the rest of the world doesn’t. Believe that everything will work out in the end, because we’re too damn stubborn to give up.’
“If they want to kill me, I’m at least going to make them work for it.”
Tightening my grip, I swing, fracturing my image in the windshield. The glass gains spiderweb cracks from the impact, but it doesn’t even shatter. Hell, you could probably get away still driving it, and it only serves to piss me off more. When the familiar flip in my stomach comes, instead of shrinking away from the anxious feeling, trying to breathe through the nausea and regain control of the situation, I surrender to it.
