skin , I still felt the acid eat away a hole in the thin fabric and bite at my forearm.
My mouth dropped open in shock , and a sob slipped out before I clamped down on my tongue. God , this hurt. On my “Shit List of Bad Memories,” being burned by Scarlet Steel was near the top of the list, if not at the top.
I cursed when the fourth ke y didn’t unlock the cell either , and forced myself to move on to the final key. The smell of burnt flesh drifted toward me, and I made my mind a blank slate, refusing to acknowledge that it was my flesh. O therwise , I’d lose my resolve and never try the last key.
A fter some noodling, I heard the almost inaudible click of the lock opening. I pulled my arm back inside and covered up my other hand with my sleeve before bracing myself and gripping the bars. The material didn’t completely cover my fingers, leaving them exposed to the metal’s mercy. It ate at my flesh as I yanked on the door with a cry of pain, jerking my arms back to my body as it banged open, rattling the floor.
“About time,” Paris snapped. “Now let me out.”
I mumbled a few things that would have earned me a slap, but luckily she didn’t hear them. I stepped out of my cell and scurri ed over to the lock holding her door closed. It took me a while to find the right key again , but it wasn’t nearly so time consuming since I was actually facing the lock and no t guessing where the hole was. At last, the lock gave and I awkwardly shoved the door open with my elbows and the tips of my sneakers, which were too wide to fit between the bars all the way.
Paris stepped past me, looking annoyed. Her sharp gaze was fixed on the door Orion had taken his leave through. “We have to go after him. If he leaves this facility, then any chance Aden has of surviving is gone.”
I had to think a minute about what she was saying for it to make sense. The thing about Paris was when she got mad, her accent got heavier.
A reply was forming on my tongue when a weird itching sensation spread over my forearm and my hands. I glanced down. My skin was literally sc abbing over and healing in fast- forward. Mouth gaping, I watched as the raw, bloody sores came toget her and formed new skin, returning to normal as if nothing had ever happened.
“Wow,” I breathed, holding my hand up in front of my face and examining it.
“Yes, you’re healing faster,” Paris said, waving a hand as if this were a trivial thing. To someone who hadn’t been a vampire for very long, it was pretty amazing. I thought about all the fights I used to get into in grade school, and how this little ability would have come in handy and saved me from being grounded many times. Dad would never have known about my scuffles if the evidence had simply vanished.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I blinked, my eyes refocusing on Paris, who was staring at me with disdain.
“Security will be here any minute wondering what’s happened,” she said. “We need to be gone before they arrive.”
Nodding, I followed after her as she carefully stepped over the strewn bodies, her pumps splashing in the blood-soaked floor. Slapping her badge to the scanner, I watched as the light flipped from red to green and the door swung open. Paris barreled through, with me following in her wake. The floor was already slippery enough without having the soles of my shoes slicked with blood. Upon those first few frantic steps, I slipped and slid into a wall, but I didn’t let it slow me down. Paris looked like she was having just as much trouble, eventually stopping to pry off her pumps and carry them with her fingers hooked in the heels.
“Why don’t you just ditch ‘em?” I called over the wailing siren.
A look of complete and utter shock came over her. “You do not ditch six thousand dollar Christian Louboutin heels ! They’re rare to find now, practically vintage!”
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. “How much did you say those things cost?”
She didn’t
My mouth dropped open in shock , and a sob slipped out before I clamped down on my tongue. God , this hurt. On my “Shit List of Bad Memories,” being burned by Scarlet Steel was near the top of the list, if not at the top.
I cursed when the fourth ke y didn’t unlock the cell either , and forced myself to move on to the final key. The smell of burnt flesh drifted toward me, and I made my mind a blank slate, refusing to acknowledge that it was my flesh. O therwise , I’d lose my resolve and never try the last key.
A fter some noodling, I heard the almost inaudible click of the lock opening. I pulled my arm back inside and covered up my other hand with my sleeve before bracing myself and gripping the bars. The material didn’t completely cover my fingers, leaving them exposed to the metal’s mercy. It ate at my flesh as I yanked on the door with a cry of pain, jerking my arms back to my body as it banged open, rattling the floor.
“About time,” Paris snapped. “Now let me out.”
I mumbled a few things that would have earned me a slap, but luckily she didn’t hear them. I stepped out of my cell and scurri ed over to the lock holding her door closed. It took me a while to find the right key again , but it wasn’t nearly so time consuming since I was actually facing the lock and no t guessing where the hole was. At last, the lock gave and I awkwardly shoved the door open with my elbows and the tips of my sneakers, which were too wide to fit between the bars all the way.
Paris stepped past me, looking annoyed. Her sharp gaze was fixed on the door Orion had taken his leave through. “We have to go after him. If he leaves this facility, then any chance Aden has of surviving is gone.”
I had to think a minute about what she was saying for it to make sense. The thing about Paris was when she got mad, her accent got heavier.
A reply was forming on my tongue when a weird itching sensation spread over my forearm and my hands. I glanced down. My skin was literally sc abbing over and healing in fast- forward. Mouth gaping, I watched as the raw, bloody sores came toget her and formed new skin, returning to normal as if nothing had ever happened.
“Wow,” I breathed, holding my hand up in front of my face and examining it.
“Yes, you’re healing faster,” Paris said, waving a hand as if this were a trivial thing. To someone who hadn’t been a vampire for very long, it was pretty amazing. I thought about all the fights I used to get into in grade school, and how this little ability would have come in handy and saved me from being grounded many times. Dad would never have known about my scuffles if the evidence had simply vanished.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I blinked, my eyes refocusing on Paris, who was staring at me with disdain.
“Security will be here any minute wondering what’s happened,” she said. “We need to be gone before they arrive.”
Nodding, I followed after her as she carefully stepped over the strewn bodies, her pumps splashing in the blood-soaked floor. Slapping her badge to the scanner, I watched as the light flipped from red to green and the door swung open. Paris barreled through, with me following in her wake. The floor was already slippery enough without having the soles of my shoes slicked with blood. Upon those first few frantic steps, I slipped and slid into a wall, but I didn’t let it slow me down. Paris looked like she was having just as much trouble, eventually stopping to pry off her pumps and carry them with her fingers hooked in the heels.
“Why don’t you just ditch ‘em?” I called over the wailing siren.
A look of complete and utter shock came over her. “You do not ditch six thousand dollar Christian Louboutin heels ! They’re rare to find now, practically vintage!”
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. “How much did you say those things cost?”
She didn’t
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