The Child Thief
Page 34
Turning over as much as I could and staring down, I found myself gazing at some kind of metal pincer device. Large enough to envelop my midriff. And it had snapped closed around me. Fear poured through my veins; I’d never even seen one of these things before.
I let out a cry of alarm as I tried, and failed, to pull it apart. My angle was all wrong. I couldn’t get the leverage I needed, even with the strength my suit afforded me. I couldn’t even reach for a weapon, either, because the thing had covered my belt.
I twisted back around to face the direction of the field, and rose to my feet, intent on getting away—but an invisible force yanked me backward. I snapped my gaze down to the pincers in horror, realizing that they were the force. Like some kind of powerful magnet, yearning to return to its counterpart. Yearning to return me to their counterpart.
“No!” I gasped, calling on every ounce of willpower I had and straining against the pincers. But my attempts only seemed to trigger an increase in their strength, and I tripped again from fighting the heavy pull.
And then it was too late. Two deep shouts alerted me to enforcers approaching, and I heard a flurry of footsteps picking up their pace. I continued to struggle. The fight in me hadn’t left. But when I shot a glance over my shoulder and saw the outlines of two men through the smog, I knew it was hopeless. At their speed, combined with the pincers pulling me, they’d be upon me in five, four—
Gunfire erupted, and I snapped my eyes shut reflexively against the bullets hitting, and possibly piercing, my suit, from how close they were now. But then I realized the noise had come from the opposite direction, and I dared to open my eyes again to see the hulking form of Jace leaning against the hood of a car and opening full bloody fire.
The surprise was enough to force the men backward and send them scrambling for shelter, giving Jace the few seconds he needed to leap over the car and race toward me. Shoving his gun into his belt, he grabbed both sides of the pincers and pulled at them with all the strength his suit could muster. They creaked against the tension, and then snapped back with a sudden clang.
And then I was free of them, and Jace was gripping my hand and tugging me forward, back into the race for our lives.
“Thank you,” I managed, trying to ignore the painful protest of my limbs and head as I forced my body back to full speed.
“Wait till we’re out of here,” he breathed.
And I knew he was right. I didn’t know what had happened to the rest of our ground team, or Marco, Julia, and Alexy. The gunfire had scattered us, and I couldn’t make out the aircraft in the sky. Fear constricted my chest at the thought of any of them being captured—or worse—and I prayed that they were all somehow okay. Most of all, I prayed Nelson was okay. Because if she wasn’t…
The implications of everything that had happened in the past quarter hour finally crashed down on me.
The woman was still my only hope of cracking the archives, in spite of all the people I’d come across in the portal over the past few weeks. None of them had even gotten close compared to her.
And if she’d been captured, and they found her hard drives…
We’d be back to square one. No, worse than square one. Because if they found the drives, they’d be able to address every vulnerability she’d ever flagged, every note she’d ever made, and use it to make their security even tighter.
Which would basically make getting Hope back an impossibility.
The realization made my knees buckle, and I would have tripped again were it not for Jace’s hand shooting to my arm and yanking me back upright.
“Focus, Robin,” he said, his voice firm, and yet not sharp, giving me the uncanny impression that he somehow sensed what my emotional state must be.
And I knew he was right, and I nodded, instantly contrite. It was hard to focus, to swallow back the fear and worry, but I had to.
Because we still had to get ourselves out of here alive.
Ready for the next part of Robin’s story?
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking a chance on The Child Thief. I hope you enjoyed it!
If you did find it entertaining, I would be very grateful if you could leave a review on Amazon—even if it’s just a sentence or two. Every review makes a difference and helps other readers discover the book. :)
As for Book 2 of the series, it’s called Deep Shadows, and you’ll be glad to know that you don’t have long to wait for it! It releases July 15th, 2018.
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Bella x
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Read More by Bella Forrest
THE CHILD THIEF
The Child Thief (Book 1)
Deep Shadows (Book 2)
THE GENDER GAME
(Action-adventure/dystopian. Completed series.)
The Gender Game (Book 1)
The Gender Secret (Book 2)
The Gender Lie (Book 3)
The Gender War (Book 4)
The Gender Fall (Book 5)
The Gender Plan (Book 6)
The Gender End (Book 7)
THE GIRL WHO DARED TO THINK
(Action-adventure/dystopian. Completed series.)
The Girl Who Dared to Think (Book 1)
The Girl Who Dared to Stand (Book 2)
The Girl Who Dared to Descend (Book 3)
The Girl Who Dared to Rise (Book 4)
The Girl Who Dared to Lead (Book 5)
The Girl Who Dared to Endure (Book 6)
The Girl Who Dared to Fight (Book 7)
HOTBLOODS
(Supernatural romance)
Hotbloods (Book 1)
Coldbloods (Book 2)
Renegades (Book 3)
Venturers (Book 4)
Traitors (Book 5)
Allies (Book 6)
Invaders (Book 7)
A SHADE OF VAMPIRE SERIES
(Supernatural romance)
Series 1: Derek & Sofia’s story
A Shade of Vampire (Book 1)
A Shade of Blood (Book 2)
A Castle of Sand (Book 3)
A Shadow of Light (Book 4)
A Blaze of Sun (Book 5)
A Gate of Night (Book 6)
A Break of Day (Book 7)
Series 2: Rose & Caleb’s story
A Shade of Novak (Book 8)
A Bond of Blood (Book 9)
A Spell of Time (Book 10)
A Chase of Prey (Book 11)
A Shade of Doubt (Book 12)
A Turn of Tides (Book 13)
A Dawn of Strength (Book 14)
A Fall of Secrets (Book 15)
An End of Night (Book 16)
Series 3: The Shade continues with a new hero…
A Wind of Change (Book 17)
A Trail of Echoes (Book 18)
A Soldier of Shadows (Book 19)
A Hero of Realms (Book 20)
A Vial of Life (Book 21)
A Fork of Paths (Book 22)
A Flight of Souls (Book 23)
A Bridge of Stars (Book 24)
Series 4: A Clan of Novaks
A Clan of Novaks (Book 25)
A World of New (Book 26)
A Web of Lies (Book 27)
A Touch of Truth (Book 28)
An Hour of Need (Book 29)
A Game of Risk (Book 30)
A Twist of Fates (Book 31)
A Day of Glory (Book 32)
Series 5: A Dawn of G
uardians
A Dawn of Guardians (Book 33)
A Sword of Chance (Book 34)
A Race of Trials (Book 35)
A King of Shadow (Book 36)
An Empire of Stones (Book 37)
A Power of Old (Book 38)
A Rip of Realms (Book 39)
A Throne of Fire (Book 40)
A Tide of War (Book 41)
Series 6: A Gift of Three
A Gift of Three (Book 42)
A House of Mysteries (Book 43)
A Tangle of Hearts (Book 44)
A Meet of Tribes (Book 45)
A Ride of Peril (Book 46)
A Passage of Threats (Book 47)
A Tip of Balance (Book 48)
A Shield of Glass (Book 49)
A Clash of Storms (Book 50)
Series 7: A Call of Vampires
A Call of Vampires (Book 51)
A Valley of Darkness (Book 52)
A Hunt of Fiends (Book 53)
A Den of Tricks (Book 54)
A City of Lies (Book 55)
A League of Exiles (Book 56)
A Charge of Allies (Book 57)
A Snare of Vengeance (Book 58)
A Battle of Souls (Book 59)
Season 8: A Voyage of Founders
A Voyage of Founders (Book 60)
A Land of Perfects (Book 61)
A SHADE OF DRAGON TRILOGY
A Shade of Dragon 1
A Shade of Dragon 2
A Shade of Dragon 3
A SHADE OF KIEV TRILOGY
A Shade of Kiev 1
A Shade of Kiev 2
A Shade of Kiev 3
THE SECRET OF SPELLSHADOW MANOR
(Supernatural/Magic YA. Completed series)
The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Book 1)
The Breaker (Book 2)
The Chain (Book 3)
The Keep (Book 4)
The Test (Book 5)
The Spell (Book 6)
BEAUTIFUL MONSTER DUOLOGY
(Supernatural romance)
Beautiful Monster 1
Beautiful Monster 2
DETECTIVE ERIN BOND
(Adult thriller/mystery)
Lights, Camera, GONE
Write, Edit, KILL
For an updated list of Bella’s books, please visit her website: www.bellaforrest.net
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