Wade watched as I struggled to keep the creature down. I noticed his frown, and scoffed.
“A little help here, Wade?”
“I figured since you ignored my request to step aside, and you’re continuing to disrupt my operation here, I might as well see what you can do,” he replied sarcastically. “Clearly, not much.”
As much as I hated it, he was right. The gargoyle tossed and turned until it escaped my hold. Dammit, I need more practice!
“Your operation?” I snapped. “For Pete’s sake, help me kill this thing!”
“No one’s killing anything tonight,” Wade replied, then brought his hands up again. The gargoyle dodged several fire pellets, then decided to deal with the source, directly.
In three wide jumps, it reached Wade and pounced at him.
“Don’t let him get away!” Wade shouted at me.
“Let who get away?” I replied, then glanced over my shoulder and saw the wounded guy trying to run off.
“If he gets out there, the gargoyle will go after him before I get a chance to catch it. Keep him here!” Wade grunted as he tackled the gargoyle with what looked like Judo moves.
What in the world is he doing?
Nevertheless, I caught the guy by his sleeve, pulling him back and farther away from the middle of the street, where Wade was struggling to get on top of the gargoyle.
“Just stay here. He says it’s safer if you don’t run. Let him do his… thing,” I said to the guy, then stared at Wade for a couple of seconds.
The beast got the upper hand and punched him so hard, Wade flew twenty feet to the right, then slid over the fence and slammed against the passenger door of my car. My heart hurt as I heard the metal dent on impact.
“My baby!” I gasped, as Wade quickly came to and frowned at me.
“Your baby?” he muttered.
“Ah jeez, not you! My car! Don’t scratch my car!” I shot back.
The gargoyle didn’t wait for Wade to get up. It rushed at him, and I knew that if I didn’t do something quick, my Daisy was going to pay the price. Fueled by fear itself, I sprinted forward and found the strength to clap my hands and do something I hadn’t done since I’d nearly destroyed the shed of my last foster home.
The friction of my palms coming together created sparks, and the adrenaline pumping through me provided the energy I needed to generate a thin sheet of fire, which I aimed directly at the gargoyle.
Wade froze, his eyes wide as he saw the blaze coming. Just as I’d manipulated the creature earlier with telekinesis, I employed the same arm movements to guide the fire sheet as it slipped right in front of Wade, prompting the gargoyle to come to a grinding halt, its knees scraping the asphalt.
“Hah!” I cackled, then brought my arms back, as if pulling two ropes, and the fire sheet moved closer toward the gargoyle. The creature scrambled backward as the flames licked at its back.
Wade jumped to his feet and ran around the beast, depositing small green crystals in a circle, before he stopped, dropped, and slapped the ground hard, muttering something. I stilled as the green crystals lit up from the inside, my fire curtain gone in a flash. Bright, greenish-white beams shot out from the gems, then became flexible and lashed around the gargoyle. The creature didn’t know what to do, scared by my fire and blinded by the strange, flashing ropes that stretched over it in a net-like pattern.
Wade got back up, casually dusting himself off, as the now-incandescent-green ropes tightened into a trap and knocked the gargoyle down, forcing it into submission. The creature struggled and growled, but whenever it tried to stand, the incandescent ropes burned into its thick skin, far worse and deeper than any of the fires that had been thrown at it earlier.
Only then, as I managed to catch my breath, my knees and arms shaking from both physical exertion and shock, did perfectly reasonable questions start knocking the air out of my lungs.
What was that trap? How did it work? How could light be bent like that? How come Wade could use fire the way he did? Did it come from those rings on his fingers? How did he know what a gargoyle was? Why had the creature tried to attack the guy? Where had it come from?
Of the many darting through my head at this point, I figured I deserved answers at least to these questions. I shifted my focus to Wade, understanding right then and there that (a) I wasn’t the only one with peculiar abilities, and that (b) he clearly had the answers I needed.
Answers that I’d been looking for since I was seven years old and first noticed how different I was from everybody else.
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Love,
Bella x
Read more by Bella Forrest
HARLEY MERLIN
(Brand new fantasy/romance/supernatural series!)
Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven (Book 1)
THE CHILD THIEF
(Action-adventure/romance.)
The Child Thief (Book 1)
Deep Shadows (Book 2)
Thin Lines (Book 3)
THE GENDER GAME
(Action-adventure/romance. 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/romance. 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)
Stargazers (Book 8)
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 Guardians
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)
Series 8: A Voyage of Founders
A Voyage of Founders (Book 60)
A Land of Perfects (Book 61)
A Citadel of Captives (Book 62)
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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