“Make them regret it.” Rising up on her toes, she kisses him hard and fast.
Sending me a loaded look filled with warning to protect her, he takes off running to catch up with Raiden. We pick up their discarded backpacks and make our way back to the hotel, but the farther we go, the thicker the crowd gets. Traffic is at a standstill, several car pile-ups everywhere, and the sidewalks crowded with bystanders gawking at the damage. It gets bad enough that we give up trying to get through, not wanting to risk being caught in the masses in case something sets them off again.
We got lucky once, and even that was a shocking change of pace. I’m not going to hold my breath that we’ll walk away unscathed a second time.
Fighting through the crowd, we veer to the right at the next street, following it for two blocks until the only people on the sidewalks are those walking from one building to the next at a leisurely pace, sipping coffees while on their phones. This section of downtown is primarily office buildings, the two hour parking signs everywhere forcing people into using parking garages or walking. It makes navigating on foot ten times easier, and some of the tension dissipates from my shoulders as we start a path to the hotel parallel to the old one, just a few blocks over.
“It’s actually pretty nice,” Amara says, looking around in surprise. “Nearly every city I’ve been in has either been so crowded you were practically invisible, or a small town.”
While she soaks in all of the gorgeous architecture and relaxed atmosphere, I discreetly slip my camera out and take a few pictures, really hoping they capture that wistful look in her eyes. Originally, I’d planned to give this to her as soon as I bought it, hoping it would spark a love of sightseeing that would encourage her to stretch out our trip home. But somewhere along the way it’s become almost an obsession of mine, capturing the moments Amara doesn’t realize anyone’s watching.
She’s always gorgeous, but when she lets her guard down, she’s simply breathtaking.
“You’re right.” With a soft smile, I tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “The view is lovely.”
Rounding the corner as we turn left, we stumble to a stop. I tighten my grip on her hand, tugging her behind me as one of the men spots us, immediately training his gun on us and nudging one of the others.
Four masked men are in a standoff against a police officer, holding a knife to a woman’s throat that they’re using as a hostage. The cop keeps his gun trained on them while trying to catch his breath, not a squad car or backup in sight. As I take in the duffle bags slung across the men’s shoulders and the building behind them, the pieces click into place.
All of those car accidents and humans that were attacked were a diversion to occupy the police so their pack could rob a fucking a bank.
Almost in slow motion, we watch in horror as one of the men beside the hostage gets sick of the delay and extends his claws, burying them deep in the woman’s stomach and guts her.
“Fuck!” the man holding a knife to her throat curses. As the cop raises his gun, the man shoves the woman into him, forcing the officer to jerk his gun to the side.
While the cop catches the woman, the four of them shift into a variety of jungle cats and take off like bats out of hell, not sparing a single glance back. The officer fires several shots after them, but they quickly make it to the end of the block and dart out of sight. Turning his attention fully to the woman, he eases her onto the ground, barking into the radio strapped to his shoulder before putting pressure on her stomach.
It all happened so fast, and I try to tell myself that even if I’d shifted and intervened, I couldn’t have stopped them from hurting her. That they were too far away to get to her in time. But… I know deep down that it’s not true. Icouldhave saved her, but it would have meant leaving Amara alone. Vulnerable. A bullet could have slipped past when I rushed the four of them, and we don’t know if there are any other threats nearby, so I couldn’t risk leaving her side.
This is why I hate making decisions. When I do, people die.
“Stone.” Amara’s voice is barely more than a whisper as she steps out from behind me, clutching my hand in a death grip.
She doesn’t have to say it. From how pale she is, it’s obvious where her mind went; right back to the night that put her in my path at the hospital.
“We’re supposed to go straight back to the hotel where you’re safe.” My argument is weak, no force behind it. I can’t take my eyes off of the policeman trying to stop the bleeding.
“And we will,” she says, tugging me forward. “Worst case scenario you can’t do anything, but you’re never going to forgive yourself if you don’t try.”
She takes the decision out of my hands, and it snaps me out of my paralyzed state. Keeping her hand clutched tightly in mine, I pick up the pace, running the rest of the way. As I shrug off my backpack and drop the other in my hand beside it, I flip that switch in my brain that lets me turn off my emotions to treat people.
The switch became faulty once I met Amara, though, and it’s impossible to ignore the agonized panic wafting off of the two humans, the taste acrid on my tongue.
Whipping off my shirt, I nudge the cop out of the way to press it to the girl’s stomach. “How long until the ambulance can get here?”
He shakes his head slightly, already resigned to how this is going to pan out. “Fifteen minutes at least, and that’s being optimistic. Major pile ups all over the city have turned the roads into a shitshow; I had to run three blocks to respond to the silent alarm, and I couldn’t find anyone free to back me up.”
I release a flurry of curses under my breath, pressing harder against her ravaged stomach to staunch the bleeding. Shoulder-length silver hair is fanned out around a face that can’t be more than early twenties, the woman’s eyes closed and breathing shallow.
Beside me, the officer huffs. “Thank god for body cams, or none of the boys would believe this one. Hell, they’restillnot going to believe it. What the fuck were those things?”
We wanted a chance to change things, to show people that while we’re dangerous, the pros outweigh the cons, but not like this.
Staring down at the woman’s face, my stomach churns as my old friend’s face flickers over hers.‘You were meant to save people, Stone. I’m just not one of them.’
I slam my eyelids closed, desperately sucking down ragged gasps of air.
Aurelia’s gone. I couldn’t save her, but she made sure I had the chance to save others.With a shaky exhale, I pull myself together.
