behind him. Those green eyes fixed on me right before he sprang forward.
I fired, and the little gun kicked in my hands. The heat from my element poured into my veins and thrust fire into my muscles. The influx of raw elemental power snapped down my spine and jerked away my control. I protectively recoiled in on myself, my demon assailant momentarily forgotten. He rammed me up against the wall. His barbed tongues thrashed at my face. My hand slipped on his scales, but I couldn’t get purchase to shove him back. I dug my nails in and tried to keep him at arm’s length, but the tongues still writhed too close to my face. I wedged the gun under his jaw and pulled the trigger. The bullet blasted through his skull, jerked his chin up, and threw his head back. He fell away from me into a heap on the floor.
Ripples of fire rolled down my legs and seeped across the floor. A pool of flame reached for the demon’s body and lapped at his arm. His armored-fingers twitched, muscles retracting from the heat. Fire laced around each digit, exploring, tasting. It wasn’t an attack, more a curious investigation, but it shouldn’t have been happening at all. I had no control over it.
I jabbed the toe of my boot into his torso. He didn’t move. Even after a gunshot to the head, you can never be too careful.
Car doors slammed outside. Boots hammered on the sidewalk.
I couldn’t let the Enforcers see me like this. I dashed into the bathroom at the back of the house. The fire’s embrace wrapped tightly around my body, pulling back from flammable surfaces like a creature with its own consciousness. I opened the window just as the bathroom door opened.
Ryder shied away from the heat, arm up to shield himself. Orange light danced over him.
I backed away. “Don’t tell them.”
His expression tightened, lips parting. He would have to tell the Institute. Of course he would. It was his job. His life. I was his responsibility. He didn’t need to say it. I read the truth on his face.
I held out a hand. Liquid fire rippled across my skin and twisted around my fingers. “Don’t come near me. I can’t control it. It shouldn’t be happening.” He chanced a step closer. “Don’t! Please. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Muse...” There were others behind him, more witnesses.
I felt the window at my back and eased my hand through. “I mean it. Stay back.” I ducked through the window and jumped. The impact with the backyard jolted through my legs. I used the pain to drive me forward and ran. Not unlike the demon I’d chased down, I ran from those I knew would hurt me. The men and woman back there, they’d see demon, not colleague.
I burst through the rear gate, flames spluttering, and dashed down a path toward a park. The Enforcers were behind me, shouting orders, coordinating their efforts to round me up. Pain sparked up my side as though someone had taken a sword to my flesh. I staggered and fell to a knee. The hand I planted against the path to stop myself had blackened to the color of soot. My nails lengthened and gleamed like black glass, becoming obsidian talons that curled into the dirt. I was changing, revealing the demon, but I still couldn’t feel her. She was silent. Gone. This shouldn’t have been happening.
“Don’t move!”
I swung the gun around and fired. Ryder’s left shoulder jerked back, rocking him off balance. The snarl on my lips wasn’t my own. He brought his gun up and narrowed his gaze down the sight. A dark stain spread across his shirt, and his left arm hung limp at his side, but his aim didn’t waver. “Muse, I can’t let you go,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “You’re a danger to yourself and others.”
Tearing my gaze away from him, I focused ahead, into the park, and the trees beyond. Launching to my feet, I ran, expecting to hear the crack of a bullet at any moment, the sudden flash and burn of a bullet piercing flesh, but it didn’t happen. He let me go.
Chapter 10
T here
I fired, and the little gun kicked in my hands. The heat from my element poured into my veins and thrust fire into my muscles. The influx of raw elemental power snapped down my spine and jerked away my control. I protectively recoiled in on myself, my demon assailant momentarily forgotten. He rammed me up against the wall. His barbed tongues thrashed at my face. My hand slipped on his scales, but I couldn’t get purchase to shove him back. I dug my nails in and tried to keep him at arm’s length, but the tongues still writhed too close to my face. I wedged the gun under his jaw and pulled the trigger. The bullet blasted through his skull, jerked his chin up, and threw his head back. He fell away from me into a heap on the floor.
Ripples of fire rolled down my legs and seeped across the floor. A pool of flame reached for the demon’s body and lapped at his arm. His armored-fingers twitched, muscles retracting from the heat. Fire laced around each digit, exploring, tasting. It wasn’t an attack, more a curious investigation, but it shouldn’t have been happening at all. I had no control over it.
I jabbed the toe of my boot into his torso. He didn’t move. Even after a gunshot to the head, you can never be too careful.
Car doors slammed outside. Boots hammered on the sidewalk.
I couldn’t let the Enforcers see me like this. I dashed into the bathroom at the back of the house. The fire’s embrace wrapped tightly around my body, pulling back from flammable surfaces like a creature with its own consciousness. I opened the window just as the bathroom door opened.
Ryder shied away from the heat, arm up to shield himself. Orange light danced over him.
I backed away. “Don’t tell them.”
His expression tightened, lips parting. He would have to tell the Institute. Of course he would. It was his job. His life. I was his responsibility. He didn’t need to say it. I read the truth on his face.
I held out a hand. Liquid fire rippled across my skin and twisted around my fingers. “Don’t come near me. I can’t control it. It shouldn’t be happening.” He chanced a step closer. “Don’t! Please. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Muse...” There were others behind him, more witnesses.
I felt the window at my back and eased my hand through. “I mean it. Stay back.” I ducked through the window and jumped. The impact with the backyard jolted through my legs. I used the pain to drive me forward and ran. Not unlike the demon I’d chased down, I ran from those I knew would hurt me. The men and woman back there, they’d see demon, not colleague.
I burst through the rear gate, flames spluttering, and dashed down a path toward a park. The Enforcers were behind me, shouting orders, coordinating their efforts to round me up. Pain sparked up my side as though someone had taken a sword to my flesh. I staggered and fell to a knee. The hand I planted against the path to stop myself had blackened to the color of soot. My nails lengthened and gleamed like black glass, becoming obsidian talons that curled into the dirt. I was changing, revealing the demon, but I still couldn’t feel her. She was silent. Gone. This shouldn’t have been happening.
“Don’t move!”
I swung the gun around and fired. Ryder’s left shoulder jerked back, rocking him off balance. The snarl on my lips wasn’t my own. He brought his gun up and narrowed his gaze down the sight. A dark stain spread across his shirt, and his left arm hung limp at his side, but his aim didn’t waver. “Muse, I can’t let you go,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “You’re a danger to yourself and others.”
Tearing my gaze away from him, I focused ahead, into the park, and the trees beyond. Launching to my feet, I ran, expecting to hear the crack of a bullet at any moment, the sudden flash and burn of a bullet piercing flesh, but it didn’t happen. He let me go.
Chapter 10
T here
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