Page 6 of Resolve
His hand meets my arm halfway.
And the world tilts.
We land in the center of the Guild Hall at the Tower, still riddled with zombies and destruction from the fight. The off-balance I ordinarily feel from his teleportation isn’t here this time with my gift active.
Dane wobbles on his feet beside me, and Reid...
Fury electrifies my blood as I realize what’s happened. At where we are and wheresheis. I lift Reid by the throat, my grip twitching with the desire to squeeze tight enough to make his eyes pop. “What have you done?!” I roar. “Bring me back!”
“Reid!” Tinsley beats my side and pulls on my arm, but I don’t budge. “Let him go! Whatever it was, he washelping you! Put him down. Right! Now!” She emphasizes her words with punches that I hardly register.
Reid’s face is pinched, his fingers digging into mine as if trying to help support himself more than trying to break free. He’s smart enough to know he’s not getting down unless I decide it. “...J-Jack...”
“Rae was fighting the president alone. We have to go back!” Dane argues, panicked. He, too, grabs Reid’s arm. “Now!”
Reid gives the barest shake of his head, and my grip tightens involuntarily, making him choke.
“Stop! Stop it! You’re going to kill him!” Tinsley screams, pounding at my scales. She disappears, then slams into me with enough force that I slide a few feet across the floor.
Cibrina and Evie run over.
“What’s going on?” Cibrina asks, sounding breathless. “Kellan? What are you doing to Reid?”
Reid vanishes before I can answer.
“NOOO!” I whip my head around to see where he teleported to. “Reid!”
Dane’s face pales. “Fuck! Where did he go? She needs us, Kell, and we’renot there.”
“I have him,” Evie says, lifting her hand to show a miniature Reid in her grasp. “What happened?”
“Reid!” Tinsley reaches for him, but Evie pulls her hand in.
“I didn’t free him. I’m just trying to get answers without Kellan killing him first.”
“Make him big again,” I demand. “He can’t teleport us in that size, and Raegan’s fighting with Charles. We need to go back.”
“We’ll go with you,” Silas chimes in from behind us, Fabian and Gabe standing with him.
A tiny voice chirps from Evie’s hand. She releases Reid, and he drops to the ground back to his regular size. “If you have a problem with this plan, take it up with Jackson,” he remarks, accepting Tinsley against his chest and holding her there.
Dane steps toward him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He’s the one who told me to bring you here.”
“You didn’t see what was happening with Raegan—” Dane starts,but Reid cuts him off.
“Don’t assume it was easy for me to leave her there, either. But I trust Jackson will keep her safe. It’s Aiden you should be worried about.”
Aiden?
Reid jerks to the side, staring at something in the room. “Someone’s coming. Grab him and get down!” he shouts at me, indicating at Dane.
I do it, and then we teleport again. It’s not far. We reappear behind the bar in the same room seconds before a deafening silence overtakes the Hall. Followed by the crunch of broken glass.
Crawling to the end of the bar, Reid hisses at me to stay hidden over Tinsley’s head, who is still tucked against him. I peek around the edge, and my blood chills, dread hardening my gut.
Charles.
