by Ashley Maker
“You wouldn’t—”
I squeak when he bursts into blurred motion, grabbing me around the waist and hauling me toward the opening, my feet dragging across the floor.
“I’ll jump. Just let me do it on my own,” I hiss, grabbing onto the windowsill for dear life.
He releases his hold on me. “You have ten seconds.”
I glare at him and shove the leather case of knives at his chest. Through clenched teeth, I growl, “I hate you so much right now.”
“Stop talking and jump,” he retorts, grabbing the knives and motioning at the window again.
Another wave of heat flushes from head to toe, making my ears feel too hot. I sweep loose hair over my shoulder and lean my upper body through the window. My stomach churns as I eye the distance to the ground.
It’s not that far. Don’t look down.
Holding my breath, I crawl onto the windowsill. Easing through the opening, I sit on the edge, leaning forward too far with my legs dangling and hands clamped behind me. The backs of my shoes rub against the exterior rock wall, but the rocks are too smooth to climb down. I really am going to have to jump.
“Time’s up,” Kade whispers, placing a hand on my lower back.
I shoot a death look over my shoulder. No way am I going to let him push me.
Letting go, I fling myself off the windowsill. Adrenaline charges through my veins as the ground rushes up to meet me. Shock radiates through my ankles and knees upon landing. I stumble forward before losing my balance and hitting the ground hard, yelping with the impact.
A second later, Kade lands beside me. He doesn’t fall. No, of course not. Instead, he makes it look easy, then stares down at me with concern in his eyes.
I groan and sit up, stretching both arms and legs, checking for any injuries. Other than a twinge in my shoulder where I hit the hardest, everything seems fine. I open my mouth to rip into Kade about what I think of his stupid stunt when two brilliant balls of red light jet into the night sky, hovering for a split second before falling out of sight.
“What was that?” I whisper, body still buzzing with adrenaline from the jump.
“A flare gun.” Kade stares at the spot of forest where the lights disappeared.
I stiffen at the dread in his voice and suddenly feel too vulnerable on the ground. Rolling my battered shoulder, I climb to my feet, relieved my ankles and knees are working properly.
The relief is cut short by another red light blazing through the darkness, closer to the edge of the forest than the one before.
Kade curses and thrusts the case of knives back into my hands.
I clutch the case to my chest. “What’s going on?”
“They’re here. We don’t have much time.” The urgency in his voice makes my pulse quicken, but that isn’t what fills my stomach with dread. For the first time since I’ve met him, Kade’s voice holds a hint of fear.
Tiny, but there.
And that terrifies me.
39
A group of at least twenty guards dressed all in black with rifles slung across their shoulders stand outside the headmaster’s cabin.
One of them points his rifle at us. “Identify yourself.”
“You know me, Wilson,” Kade calls back, relief seeping from his voice. “And I’m with a Seer, so you can put your toy away.”
“Already rescuing Seers, eh? Always the overachiever,” Wilson says, lowering the gun.
The guard appears to be in his mid-twenties. He’s dressed head to toe in black, with a tactical-looking vest strapped to his chest that has all kinds of knives and pockets attached to it. His eyes sparkle as he smiles at me. All of the guards stare at our approach. Only Wilson steps forward to meet us.
Kade clasps Wilson’s gloved hand. “Do you know what’s going on out there?”
Wilson shakes his head. “Not yet. Two guards aren’t responding—we’re guessing they’re the ones who sent up the distress flares. Scouts have been sent to check it out. If there are any more flares, we’ll know it’s an attack. The rest of the perimeter appears secure.”
“You made me jump out of a second-floor window for two guards who aren’t responding?” I ask Kade dryly.
Wilson laughs and claps Kade on the back. “What’d I say? Overachiever.”
Kade frowns, but his reply is cut off by Mathias opening the cabin door. He strolls out onto the porch and surveys us, his eyes pausing and narrowing on me. Tarry, Laila, and Pam walk out behind him. All of them, even Tarry, hold sleek hand guns.
I gape at the black and silver gun in Tarry’s grip, sure I’m imagining it, but no matter how many times I blink, it’s still there. My gaze meets Tarry’s for a split second, before Mathias speaks, bringing my attention back to him.
“Good,” Mathias says, eyes still trained on me. “You’re already here.” Turning to the guards, he says, “This could be a false alarm, but I doubt it. We’re on high alert and will treat the situation as an assault. All staff members have been alerted and are readying themselves to fight. Your mission is to locate Seers and secure their safety. If anyone tries to stop you, shoot first and ask questions later.” He looks like he’s about to say more, but purses his lips in a deep frown, attention arrested by something behind us.
I follow his gaze in time to see five flaming flares hover high in the air before dropping from the sky, immediately followed by a poppoppop of sound.
“The threat is real,” Mathias calls over the continued crack of distant gunfire. “The next generation is to be preserved at all costs. Move out, and may every one of you be successful.” He claps a hand over his breast in a salute.
Faces grim, the guards salute Mathias, then grip their rifles and sprint in the direction of the dorms. They disappear within seconds, the blur of their movements blending into the dark. Only five guards remain, clustered around Mathias and his family. Wilson is one of them.
“We don’t have time to stand around and dawdle,” Mathias snaps. “The breach is in the forest near the main gate. If they take the road, we’ll all be trapped.”
“What about the children?” Pam wraps an arm around Tarry’s shoulder, her expression tightening. She regards me with flint in her eyes, the open hostility leaving me confused and uncomfortable. “They were supposed to be safe. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
There for a second, and gone the next, a look of anxiety crosses Mathias’ features as he glances at Tarry and Laila. “Tarry, come with me. Laila, go with Kieran.” He looks at Kade. “Get Palmer to safety. They absolutely cannot get what they came for, do you understand?”
Kade nods once, a sharp jerk of his head. “Yes, sir.”
Mathias faces Laila, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Go with them. You’re in no condition to fight.”
“But, Dad—”
He cuts her off. “Can you run?”
She hesitates, hand fluttering over her abdomen. “I think so.”
“Then run and find a safe place to wait out the fight. You were right, and I should have listened. Now I need for you to help Kieran get her to safety.”
Laila nods and throws her arms around her dad’s neck. To my surprise, he hugs her back for a second, then pushes away, replaced by Pam, who embraces Laila and whispers soothing things.
Tarry squeezes Laila’s arm, and their eyes meet. “Be careful.”
“You too,” Laila says softly. She disengages from her mother’s grip and walks stiffly toward us.
No sooner has she reached my side then one of the five guards dives toward Mathias, throwing them both to the ground. A muffled crack. The window next to the front door shatters in a spray of glass.
The rest of the guards leap into action, pushing Tarry and Pam to the ground and aiming their rifles at an undiscernible target. Deafening pops of gunfire make me duck and cover my ears.
“Behind that tree,” Kade says, crouching in front of me and pushing my frozen limbs into action as I half crawl, half stagger behind the huge trunk of the great oak.
Amid the chaos, Laila aims her gun and shoots.
All at once, the enemy fire stops.
“Get to cover now!” Mathias commands, dragging Pam and Tarry around the side of the cabin.
The guards scatter. Laila and Wilson dash behind the tree with us.
Blood rushes near my ears, pounding in and out with my frantic heartbeat. A sudden light flooding my vision makes me yelp.
“What’s wrong? Are you hit?” Kade demands.
“No, I’m okay.” It takes me a second to realize I phased, that the light is in my eyes, and only I can see the brightness. I peek around the side of the trunk, and that’s when I see him.
He’s stalking toward us, creeping closer one step at a time. There’s a gun in his hand with a long tube at the end of it. He’s wearing some kind of goggles, and, like the Cora guards, he’s draped in black from head to toe. His angled walk has brought him halfway around the tree. Suddenly, he stops and lines up his weapon, the barrel pointed straight at Laila.
“Laila, get down!” I scream. “There’s another one!”
Wilson dives in front of Laila, shoving her to the side. A cracking sound, then a thud as Wilson hits the ground, body sprawled at an awkward angle. I gasp when I see the red carnage that was his face and have to choke back vomit rising up my throat.
He’s gone. Just like that, Wilson is dead.
“You dirtbag!” Laila shrieks, aiming her gun and squeezing off a shot.
Kade throws me to the ground, covering my body with his. He lifts his gun and shoots.
“You both missed,” I cry out, as another shot whizzes past, close enough I can practically feel it by my ear. “Aim down and to the left.”
They both adjust their aim and fire.
A shot hits the gunman in the forehead, flinging him backward to the ground. I don’t know whose bullet stopped him, but it’s done. He’s gone.
But as I glance around again, I see more figures inching toward us along the sides of the surrounding buildings.
“They’re everywhere!” I gasp. “More are coming this way.”
“Get behind the cabin,” Kade orders, already pulling me up, forcing me into a jog before my feet have even made solid contact with the ground. The three of us round the corner, almost running into the little group clustered there.
“Where are they coming from?” Mathias demands, a look of pure rage contorting his features.
I point at the buildings. “That way.”
“Get Palmer out of here,” Mathias snaps at Kade, already taking off in that direction. “The rest of you follow me.”
Pam and the guards join Mathias, but Tarry wraps his arms around me in a smothering hug. His lips press against my cheek. “Be safe, Blue Eyes. I’ve gotta go Rambo on these dirt dwellers.” A fierce spark in his eye is the last thing I see before he takes off running after his dad.
“Tarry!” I reach for him, but he’s already disappeared. Panic grips my chest. What’s going to happen to him? To all of them?
Kade holds out his hand, but I don’t take it. “We need to go,” he says, voice grim.
“No, we have to help them! I can tell them where those guys are. They can’t see them like I can.”
“Absolutely not.”
“But they could die!”
“You heard Mathias. We need to get to safety. I have orders.”
I give him a withering look. “You always do.”
Pain flashes in his eyes, and for a second I feel satisfied in knowing I have the power to hurt him the way he hurts me.
“That’s my girl,” Laila says, a stormy look flashing in her eyes. “But he’s right, for once. We need to move.”
“Where are we supposed to go?” My gaze zings between the two of them and the battle in the distance. “They’re all over the place.”
“Let’s go to the armory,” Kade says.
Laila glances at him with an incredulous expression. “Why would we take her there?”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m almost out of ammo,” Kade snaps. “At least there we’ll have an endless supply of backup. Plus, it’s underground. You’re not going to get much safer.”
Another round of gunfire starts, and Laila glances around wildly. “All right, let’s do it.”
The shots grow louder, a little closer than before, and Kade edges to the front of our little group, peering around the side of the cabin. Whatever he sees freezes him to the spot. I try to peek around his arm, but he pushes me back and shakes his head.
“Are we going or what?” Laila demands. “We’re wasting the head start my dad gave us. If all you’re going to do is sit around being a pansy, I guess I’m going to have to take point. Let’s move already!” She doesn’t wait for a reply before sprinting away from us and disappearing around the side of one of the buildings.
Kade curses but throws out an arm when I move to follow her. “Not yet.”
“But she—”
A girl’s scream splits the air in the direction Laila went. Two goggle-wearing men are dragging a girl down the path toward the road. Her long brown hair swishes back and forth as she fights their hold, but both of her arms are bound behind her back, wrists tied with something.
“Piper! Kade, I think they have Piper!” I fumble with the case of throwing knives. I have to help her.
Kade’s hand closes over my upper arm, forcing me to stop. He wrests the knives away and backs the two of us up until I can no longer see around the side. “You can’t save her. She’s gone. We have to go.”
I pull against his grip, but can’t dislodge his hand. “We can’t just let them take her.”
“Stop making this harder than it has to be. If I have to carry you to the armory on my shoulder, you know I’ll do it.” He starts to wrap an arm around my waist, already bending in preparation to lift.
My teeth grind together. In that moment, I despise him—for leaving Piper and taking away my choice in the matter, and because I know he’ll back up his words. “Fine, I’ll go with you. Just let go of me.”
He grips my hand tight in his. “Not until we reach the armory.”
I glare at him one last time, and then we’re both running. He’s faster than me, but I’m the one setting the pace, while he scans the path for threats, gun drawn and ready to fire. We skirt along the edges of buildings, finally arriving at the backside of the main lodge where we stumble to a halt and he releases my hand.
Laila is waiting in a doorway, glowering by the time we reach her. “Took you two long enough. I’m a gimp, and I still beat you here.”
“Do you have clearance?” Kade asks Laila.
She rolls her eyes. “Of course I have clearance. I’m the headmaster’s daughter.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“I didn’t exactly roll out of bed and remember to grab my key!”
Kade scowls. “Then why would you say you have clearance?”
“Oh, just shut up!” Laila snarls, one hand clutching her abdomen.
Dark drops of blood well around her fingers, forming a palm-sized splotch of red that stains the bottom part of her T-shirt. My eyes widen at the gory sight. She doesn’t know I can see it with my night vision phase, and I don’t think Kade has any idea. I should say something, clue him in, but before I can open my mouth, he crouches in front of the steel door, one hand fishing a throwing knife from its case.
“Would you hurry up already?” Laila clamps her jaw and winces, hovering over Kade’s shoulder and blocking out the small amount of light from the moon overhead.
Kade heaves an angry-sounding sigh. “If you’d picked up your key, we wouldn’t have to do this. Now would you please give me some space?” She scoots back about a baby step. He yanks the knife out of the door jam, stabbing it back in at a different angle. After a few more moments of trial and error, the door finally clicks and swings open.
Laila pushes past Kade into the hallway on the other side. “Finally. Next time I need to do this, I’ll make sure it
’s with my grandma. She’s faster than you, hands down.”
“You’re welcome.” Kade tucks the throwing knife back into the case. I catch the fleeting look he gives me, then the furrow of his brow when he glances beyond to where most of the fighting is still taking place.
One second, he’s still crouched down, and the next he’s pointing his gun over my shoulder and shoving me through the doorway toward Laila.
I smack into Laila’s shoulder and fight to keep my balance, barely registering the fact she’s already joined him in the doorway, both of them pointing their guns at an approaching figure.
“It’s just my mom, you big oaf,” Laila snarls, relaxing her stance and stepping back. “What was that they taught us in training? Look first, then shoot? Maybe you should revisit that lesson.”
“I didn’t shoot your mom,” Kade snaps back.
“No, but you could have, and then I would have had to kill you.” Laila moves forward to greet Pam. “What’s going on? Where’s dad? And Tarry?”
“They’re still out there,” Pam pants, leaning her hands on her knees to catch her breath. “Your father told me to come help you. We saw you having trouble getting into the building. Others saw you, too. Your father is dealing with them.”
Laila groans. “I have a feeling there will be a lecture later.”
Pam reaches out and squeezes Laila’s hand. “You and I can take the Seer to safety.” She points at Kade. “You guard the door so no one follows us.” Not waiting for an answer, she grabs my arm and pulls me down the hall.
I flinch from her too-tight grip and glance back over my shoulder. Kade hesitates in the doorway, eyes searching for something, but it’s too dark, and we’ve already moved too far away. Renewed gunfire pops off, startling me with how close it is to our location.
My last glimpse of Kade before rounding a corner is him snapping into action, plastering himself against the wall and aiming his gun into the darkness on the other side of the door.
The three of us break into a jog, albeit an awkward one since Pam hasn’t let go of my arm.
“Where are we taking her?” Laila asks in a voice filled with pain. “He won’t be able to hold anyone off for long since he’s low on bullets.”