Page 133 of Ravage
Some of the knives start to turn to aim back at Jackson. They all quiver in the air between them in an invisible battle of wills.
Something crashes into Kellan and knocks him off balance. Again from the other side. And again. Then the girl appears in front of him. “Come on, big guy. Let’s see if you can even land a punch.”
Kellan reaches for her. I gasp as the third person with Joe disappears and reappears between us. He drives a blade through Kellan’s back.
“No!”
He coughs out blood, and I lunge for the guy. He vanishes with his blade. I touch Kell’s back and only exhale after his body stitches itself back together.
“Get back, beautiful. They’re focused on me and I want to keep it that way,” he grunts out. “Just focus on your target.”
I wish he didn’t have to get hurt for his armor to activate, but at least at this rate, he’ll be impervious to any of their attacks soon. “Don’t die, Kellan,” I murmur to him.
“I knew you cared.” Grinning, Kell takes off down another aisle. Speed Girl laughs and runs after him.
Her partner stares at me. I shift my stance to prepare for him to attack, and he frowns. He doesn’t seem to be having fun like the girl is. More like he’s resigned to this task.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“You know that we do.” Then he disappears.
I tense, looking around me for him to appear out of nowhere again. Kellan shouts in pain, and I spin in that direction. Why did he go to Kellan and not me?
“That’s better. Now you and I can go discuss our next steps.” Joe straightens his tie and then turns to walk away. “Come on then, dear. We can speak in my office and out of their way.”
“Yeah right,” I mutter, raising my gun. I pull the trigger. It pauses halfway there, and I let out a frustrated growl. Jackson and his opponent, who are throwing and dodging knives between each other around the room, are stopped again.
Jack’s hand is out and aimed at me, and I notice then some of his knives were on their way to me while I was distracted by the stopped bullet. The metal guy smirks and flicks his fingers. Jackson grunts, and then the knives aimed at me drop to the ground.
Joe turns the corner out of sight.
I start after him when my gun is ripped from my hands. My stash of knives and daggers from my boots up to my shirt fly out and then they’re all pointing at me.
“Not so fast,” the other guy crows.
Jackson slams his fist into his face and the metal clatters to the ground. “Go!” His gravelly voice urges as he strikes the guy again and again.
I run after Joe, praying Jackson will be okay.
I race down the next corridor. There are no windows and no lights, so it’s dark and quiet. Even the fighting in the last room is distant and muted. “Joe?” I call out. He wouldn’t have left already, right? If I lose him here, the chance of finding him again so easily is slim to none. “Joe!” I yell out again.
I’m sure if he hears me, he’ll stop so he can have that chat he wanted.
The skin on the back of my neck prickles, and I begin to turn when something large slams into the side of my head and I’m knocked to the ground. My vision goes black until I hit the ground. I groan as pain ravages my head.
Fuck me. Is he trying to kill me?
Joe chuckles and grabs my wrist. Something cold closes around it and clicks shut.
Even though my gift wasn’t active, I can feel it.
The void in my gut where it used to be. Like the heat from my body has been sucked away and I’m only a cold shell.
“W-what…” I struggle to form the words through the pounding in my head.
He flips me onto my back and straddles me. I jerk under him, but he grabs my head and slams it against the ground until I’m seeing stars. If he knocks me out, it’s all over.
I claw my way out of the darkness and cling to my surroundings to keep me here. The unforgiving concrete beneath me. The chill of my body from losing my gift. The distant sounds of fighting still ongoing. Joe’s heavy breathing above me. His clammy hands wrapped around my throat.
