ChapterSeventeen
STONE
“Kodi!” I don’t listen for a response. Either he heard me over the crowd, or he didn’t.
I take the brunt of the impact as Amara and I crash into the street. A sickeningly sharp pain lances through my head as I crack my skull against the pavement, bile rising in my throat as my vision flashes black for a few seconds, returning in blurry spots. It only gets worse as I’m suddenly wrenched to the side and rolled onto my stomach, a heavy weight pinning my legs to the ground.
My healing kicks in, knitting the fractured bone back together. A few moments later my ears pop, horns blaring and muffled screams slamming me back to reality. My vision is beginning to clear, but it’s still far too dark, and panic sends my heart into overdrive. I reach for Amara, but my hand only scrapes against bloody pavement, and I shove myself up, only to smack the back of my head against something and flop back onto the ground.
“Amara?!”
“Here,” she pants breathlessly behind me.
Disoriented, I probe the side of my head, my fingers sticky with blood, but the wound mostly closed. Every second that passes chases away a little more of the brain fog, and I’m finally able to think clearly again, only a splitting headache remaining. Slowly, our position registers, everything clicking into place. We’re stretched out on our stomachs beneath a large delivery truck, Amara lying on top of my legs.
“Are you hurt?”
“Couple of scrapes, nothing bad. I’m not the one who busted their head open.”
Gradually, the remnants of my headache fades until I feel good as new. Frowning, I replay the last few minutes. “You dragged me out of the way and pinned me down so we’d go under the truck instead of it running over my legs?”
“Gotta love adrenaline,” she says, resting her head on the back of my thighs with a shaky exhale. “Would’ve been easier without these stupid backpacks.”
“Why didn’t you get out of the street?” I demand, clenching my fist. “You know how quickly I heal. A couple of broken legs aren’t a big deal, but you getting hit by a godsdamned truck would be.”
“It’s pronounced, ‘thank you.’” She scoffs. “You might have super healing, but you still feel pain like the rest of us, genius.” She dials back her anger a notch and sighs. “I’m not going to leave you to get fuckingrun overto save myself any more than you’d abandon me.”
My chest tightens. “You’re too good for me,mo stór,but I’m going to be selfish and keep you anyway.”
“Good, we’re finally on the same page,” she says, gently squeezing my leg.
“Slip off your backpack, and as soon as the truck moves, we’ll roll out from under it. I’d go now, but it’s been idling long enough that I don’t want you near the wheels when it should be taking off any second now.”
“We’re good to go whenever you’re ready.” She taps my side and points to draw my attention to the piles of metal littering the ground beyond the tires. “Kodi ripped out the engines of all of the cars in the vicinity as soon as we went under to bring traffic to a standstill. It’s only been a few minutes, but since they haven’t pulled us out, I’m guessing they decided we were safer with a shield and out of sight until they figured out what set off the crowd.”
Backpack catching on the undercarriage, I jerk it free with an annoyed grunt and finish army crawling out from beneath the truck. The crowd on the sidewalk has thinned out a bit, but the street is overflowing with confused drivers staring down at their cars, and several accidents farther back. The truck bounces as Kodiak jumps down from his position on top of it. His jaw clenches as he gets a good look at me; white hair doesn’t really hide blood stains well.
“It looks worse than it is, I promise. Head wounds bleed a lot, you know that.”
“I tried,” he whispers, gaze flicking away from me, but not before I catch the flash of self-loathing in their depths. “I heard you call my name, but by the time I spotted you two, I was too late to stop it.”
Clapping his shoulder, I give him a shake until he finally looks at me. “There’s not a single thing to apologize for. You did well, making sure nobody would crash into the truck, and that it was clear in case we tried to roll out from under it. We’re both fine.”
Amara’s faint, “As touching as this all is, can I come out now? I’m getting claustrophobic.”
In an instant, Kodi is crouched down and helping pull her out. “Are you okay?”
“I’d be better if I knew what the hell was going on,” she grumbles, scanning the block. “Where’s Raiden?”
He holds her out in front of him, searching for injuries. “Hunting. A group of shifters went rogue and attacked some humans. No clue if they shifted in front of them or if the news will write this off as animals loose from the zoo, but we’ve got at least two dead, and a fuck ton of car accidents just from what we could see.”
She nods, but there’s a tightness around her eyes. “Stone and I are good now, so you should go help him.”
Kissing the scrape on her elbow, he says, “Raiden can handle himself, firefly.”
“I know,” she confidently declares. “But the more damage they do, the harder it’s going to be for us in the long run. And he’s going to be limited in how he deals with them with so many people around.”
He hesitates for several heartbeats before giving a sharp nod. “You’re right. You two head back to the hotel and we’ll meet you there when we’re done.” He palms both of her cheeks, staring intently into her eyes. “Stay safe.”
