Page 56 of Ravage
Turn objects to ash. Take down buildings. Break a person apart from the inside out.
Yeah.
No big deal. Definitely not villain-esque.
“I’d rather not talk about it. It’s the reason I’m running from those guys that came looking for me, so it’d be better if you didn’t know.”
“Well, those guys shouldn’t be coming back here. If anyone else comes in, I can talk to them too.”
“What exactly did you say?” I pause and quickly add, “Wait. Is it something you can turn off and on? If you say it to me, will it affect me?”
Portia giggles and shakes her head, sending her long brown locks swaying back over her shoulders. “I can turn it on when I want to use it. I just told them you weren’t here. And to leave and never come back.”
I chew on my lip. This means I’ll be safe from them, but they could send others. That’s not what worries me, though. What if they, or others, while talking to those guys, realize that Portia used a gift on them? “Do they remember that you said something when you use your gift on them? Would they be able to figure out what happened?”
“Well…” She tangles her fingers. “Not usually. Definitely not non-gifted. But it has happened before with others like us. I’m not sure if it’s based on their gift’s strength or if something else breaks them free of it.”
“Breaks them free?”
“My command wears off once they realize it for what it is. So, if they figure out what I did, it stops working.”
Shit on a stick.
If that happens, they won’t come back for me next time.
They’ll come for Portia too. They would love to have a gift like hers at their disposal.
Any other time I’ve been found by Gifted Enterprise, I’ve split. It isn’t worth the risk of being captured or killed by them. This is a big world, and there are plenty of other places I can be. I don’t have roots anywhere, so the world is my oyster and all that shit.
But now? I can’t leave Portia. Not when I’m the reason she could be captured and taken in by the people who messed me up. She may not be as innocent as she appears, but there’s still something pure and good about her that I can’t let them tarnish.
If only Elias wasn’t gone.
Though, I guess that’s not my only reason for wanting to stay. Even though I haven’t been here long, this place has felt more like a home than anywhere else has so far. I’m starting to make friends, I have a good place to stay and a way to make money, and I’ve made more progress here than anywhere else.
I sigh and rub my temples over the headache beginning to build. I need sleep. And I need a plan to keep us both safe.
I don’t like the answer that comes because I’m not used to depending on others, but this is about more than just me now.
It’s time to visit that friend of Elias’s. And until then…
“All right. You can’t go back to your apartment. There’s too big of a risk that when they find out what you did, they’ll come here and follow you home when no one else is around.” I move through the room, opening drawers and cabinets in my hunt.
She rolls her eyes at me, and I try to contain my annoyance. “I can take care of myself. I’ll be fine.”
She doesn’t know, I reason with myself with my teeth clenched. She has no idea who Gifted Enterprise is and what they would do to her. How they would break her into pieces just so they could remold her into something of their own creation.
“Not with them. Trust me, Portia. I’ve been their prisoner before. You can’t let them take you. I can’t let that happen. Please, just…just humor me with this. I won’t be able to sleep again if you don’t.” I don’t even care if I’m being dramatic. Elias would kill me if anything happened to her.
I would lose my mind if I let anything happen to her too.
Portia keeps watching me tear the office apart. “What are you looking for?”
I slam another desk drawer closed. “Keys to the apartments in case there’s an open one you can stay in.”
She moves to a short, wooden cabinet behind the desk, opens a door, and then enters a combination into a safe. It clicks open on the first try. Portia holds up a key card and grins. “He’s too predictable sometimes.”
I have a feeling that’s not inclusive of just anyone.
