Page 144 of Remnants
Reid’s jaw tenses, the only indication of pain, before his eyes widen. And then, nothing. His surprised expression doesn’t clear. His body rigidly holds its position even as Dane struggles in his grip.
The woman laughs behind the back of her hand, then wraps her arm around Dane. “Looks like I caught two for one.”
I drop to my knees, slapping my hand down, and snarl, “Hands off!” My gift shoots into the ground. It cracks and splinters in a jagged line toward her.
She dodges to the side, then shrieks when it follows her.
Gunfire pops like fireworks behind us.
I whip my head to look over my shoulder. Countless bullets slow their trajectory toward Aiden, Jack, and Kell. Six…eight—no, ten goons are spread out behind us as if they’d been waiting, their guns aimed at the guys.
Jackson tosses his hand at them, and the bullets fly back to the group.
Charles laughs. “I knew you wouldn’t be far behind. I’m glad you’ve joined us. We can end this little game of back and forth once and for all.”
“Split them up! And don’t waste your bullets on those two!” one of the goons orders, jabbing a finger at Jack and Kellan.
The GE president looks to the woman with sharp nails. “Bring Dane and my son inside until this business is finished.”
Kellan lets out a roar, running to the other side in seconds and distracting them long enough that he barrels into Dane, grabbing him, and then jumping onto the collapsed cliff. He works his way down the rockslide, adding distance between us until we can get Reid back.
“After them!” the agent who spoke up last time demands. Four of the goons race to follow, but Aiden and Jackson stop two of them.
Charles takes a call, turning sideways to focus on it even as fighting breaks out. The nail lady and another agent grab Reid, dragging him toward the beach house.
“Jack! Get Reid.” Aiden slashes his arm in a diagonal, and his whip sword catches in a viscous substance.
“Go after the other two,” the guy fighting Aiden tells the rest, and they run toward the rockslide.
“Hey!” I shout, pressing both hands to the sand and releasing my gift at them. One of them jumps in front of the others and stomps a boot to the ground. The earth caves in a perfect circle, taking my gift with it. They’re after Kellan and Dane before I can send another attack.
Dane!
I shove back to my feet and leap over the hole.
“Raegan!”
I hear Aiden calling for me, but I can’t let them get away to goafter Dane. Seeing the guy who’d disrupted my gift the last time, I run and jump at him. He’ll ruin any chance I have at getting the others from a distance, so he’s the first to go.
He dodges to the side, but I’m used to chasing Kellan around a training room and pivoting as soon as I land to try again. The agent stamps his boot again. The ground quakes, then breaks inward to form another hole.
Right where I’m about to land.
I fall through the gap, and my chest and head hit the rocky terrain. Pain rings in my ears as I gasp for breath. I claw at the rough sand, my fingers sliding and offering me nothing to help me pull myself out of this pit. Screams fill the air, and I jerk my head up, wincing at the resounding throb when I do it.
Aiden’s fighting the others back in front of me. I use the time he’s given me to army crawl my way out with an exhausting heave of energy. Aiden slashes across the group once more, then spins to me. He brushes hair from my temple, inspecting something there with lips turned down. “Don’t leave my side again.”
“I’m fine. We can’t let them get Dane.”
He picks a clump of—is it wax?—off his sword and tosses it. “You can take the three on the left, and I’ll get the three on the right. Let’s push them in the other direction to add some distance. But if they try to go around us to get down there, don’t chase after them without me. We’ll go together.”
Nodding, I fill my body with my gift. “Got it.” I take off to the three I’ve been tasked with, using my gift in the ground to chase and herd them away from the sunken cliff as Aiden instructed. I keepmy attention on the guy who can deflect my ground-based attacks, jumping over or dodging his pits and sending a new burst of my gift at them, forcing him to run as well when he can’t keep up.
He turns down the headland, the long and narrow stretch of land that cuts into the sea. Is he trying to corner himself? The goon stamps his foot, then jumps into his own pit.
What the—
I’m kicked forward, and I stumble toward the pit as someone screams behind me. My balance and the ocean breeze fuck with me, not helping in the least as I drop to my knees at the edge, my upper half still falling. I grab the edge of the hole, digging my nails into the unforgiving earth and gritting my teeth. Whoever was behind me is still screaming. That’s what they get for touching me while my gift is active.
