Page 125 of Resolve
Throwing my hand out, I counter whatever’s flying toward me with a cushion of air. A large stone. It bounces back, then pushes against my barrier again.
Not thrown, then. Controlled.
Someone gifted.
A man in shorts and a floral vacation shirt and bare feet stomps on the ground below me. Rocks fly from the ground in various-sized chunks, then zip into the sky.
At me.
A swift flip and kick knocks the first stone back to the ground, and then I draw a massive gust of wind behind the flying stones to shoot them past me. I drop to the sand in a crouch. Straightening, I cock my head to regard the man who looks more like a tourist than a fighter.
We knew they would still have strong agents left. Royce and Thorne weren’t the only ones. Was this one sent to guard the machine, or was he purposefully placed here by Charles to make sure our visit was an extended one?
A smirk creeps onto my lips. I can’t help it. The idea of facing someone who might be a challenge is exciting. It gets my cold blood pumping and makes me itch to fight.
But this isn’t a battle for who’s the strongest.
Raegan’s waiting.
I start plucking knives from my hoodie. They fall and then rise around me, hovering like obedient birds of death. “Let’s make this quick,” I casually remark.
The man swings his hand down. “I’m here to make sure you stay.”
The air ripples behind me, warning me of the incoming pile of rocks.
And also... a new arrival.
Thrusting wind around him, I lift and throw him toward the water. As soon as he loses focus, the rocks behind me drop where they are. I send my knives at him where he’s fallen. He touches thesand and walls of stone erect around him in a protective formation. My knives clink and clatter against the rock to the sand.
Kellan races to the walls with a roar, his fist raised and his body already covered in scales. The horns are a new addition, as are the size of his feet and hands. Raegan mentioned his updated transformation, but this is the first time I’m seeing it.
He punches the wall, and it shatters. Another wall is there to take its place. He swings another fist at it. Breaks it. Again and again, the agent nearly trips backward to keep putting walls between them until Kellan picks up speed and snatches him before he can get the next slab between them. Kell throws him further inland. Giant leathery wings and a thick tail spring from his back as he turns, then launches himself at the guy.
The agent grits his teeth with his arms crossed in front of his face, angled stone spiking from the ground to protect him. He’s on the defensive from Kell. My wind and knives don’t have much effect on his stone. But Kellan easily breaks through it as if it’s made of glass.
While he’s keeping the man occupied, I retrieve my knives and then follow after them at a leisurely pace. Kellan doesn’t need my help, but I’ll be here to slice the man’s throat if there’s an opening.
Kell smashes the rock and grips the guy by his hair, then jumps into the air. Once they’re at least twenty feet up, he chucks the agent at the ground. The second he touches dirt, though, it caves to his will and curves to cushion the impact.
I send some knives at him just in case they can slip through, but he puts a dome of rock around himself.
Kellan flies at the dome, knocking a hole through it. Rocks fly out of it. He bats them aside, then shoves through the opening, and the rest of the dome collapses, revealing what he’d done in that instant.
It takes a lot to surprise me.
Kellan shredding the man with his elongated, sharp claws is not what I expected.
But I have no complaints.
In and out.
Chapter forty
Raegan
Charlesisonanisland that’s a ferry ride away from the coast. The entire island is a town. There are no cars, one main road, and a grid of houses. The town hall is at its center.
The town mayor is Charles Whitman.
