Insidious(116)

Without my feet beneath me, I dropped to the ground, smacking my ass on the concrete floor as he let go of me. I shot up and bolted back out the door. “ADAM!”

My legs were moving so fast, I thought I might lose control of them. I charged through the corridor, leaping down and jumping up the split level stairs of the second story. Just as I called out for Adam again, his frame rounded the corner at the end of the hall. Relief drained from me as the dual doors dividing the corridor between us suddenly bolted shut.

“Kat!” Adam met me in seconds, throwing his weight into the barrier from the other side.

I desperately yanked at the handles, already knowing it was no use. The unseen force rippled all around me, fastening the doors in place. I couldn’t control my hysteria as hot tears streamed down my face, my palms slamming against the unforgiving steel.

“Run.” Adam was barely audible. All color had drained from his face, his eyes fixed over my shoulder through the small laminated window built into the door. “Kat, get out of here!”

“That’s good advice,” drawled the voice behind me.

Not bothering to turn around, I bolted to the classroom door closest to me.

Locked.

I darted across the hall to the opposing one. Same thing.

No…no…no.

I couldn’t breathe. My lungs were heaving so fast, but my sobs kept robbing me of air. Adam’s agonizing screams only further unraveled me as he desperately kicked, slammed, hurtled every ounce of himself into the steel to no avail.

I slammed my fist into the door one last time, praying something would finally give. Nothing.

“Kat…” Blaine’s soft voice made my knees buckle, and I cried. I screamed until there wasn’t any air left in me. I cried even after my voice gave out. I crumpled to the floor, dignity be damned.

There was nowhere left for me to go.

The faintest heat began spreading up my arm. I opened my fist, finding a small humming light sitting in my palm. It crackled, glinting blue, red, gold, and shades I wasn’t even sure had names. I rose back to my feet, turning to face Blaine.

He took one look at the light in my hand and froze. “Kat, don’t—”

The promise of hope flickered in my chest. If he really had marked me as his mate, then I shared his abilities. I could take him on.

The halls filled with another scream. My own. My entire arm suddenly felt as if someone had dipped it into boiling water. White light flashed in my vision, and arms caught me before I blindly collapsed on the floor. The instant Blaine’s hands touched me, the pain stopped.

Everything stopped.





“Kat? Kat!”

I gasped, and my vision finally cleared. Wild, icy blue eyes loomed over me, wide in what looked like…worry. The air had cleared. Not just the energy that I had produced, but his as well. I blinked a few times, and Blaine’s features softened, reinstating that lopsided grin.

“Don’t scare me like that.”

The doors slammed behind me, and I whirled around, seeing the material bow. Without Blaine’s magic reinforcing the door, it was finally giving way. Only a few more hits and it would buckle in.

Gun shots erupted from below us, echoing across the lower halls. Swarms of footsteps immediately followed.

“We have to go.” Blaine grabbed hold of my arm, pulling me backward.

I tried regaining my bearings, but the floor was suddenly off kilter. It slanted in all the wrong ways, making me stumble over my own feet. With every step, the ground seemed to tilt in another direction. “What did you do to me?” I rasped, still struggling against Blaine’s grip.

“I saved you from blowing up the entire city block,” he huffed, dragging me to the stairwell.

Broken bits of the lock exploded across the floor as the dual doors burst open. Blaine cursed under his breath, resuming his stance where I was—yet again—his human shield. And I could see why. Adam barreled down the hallway, his gun firmly in hand.

Any hesitation he had before was gone, replaced by an unnerving resolve. “Let her go now, or I’ll shoot her.” He wasn’t kidding. Adam really was willing to put a bullet into me if it meant taking Blaine down. If it meant stopping him from damning me.

Blaine’s breathing was suddenly uneven, worsened all the more as Mr. Reynolds’s voice called out from the other end of the building.

“They’re surrounding the place. You leave now, you just might stand a chance of making it out of here alive. Alone,” declared Adam, taking aim to the right side of my chest.

“And what about her?” growled Blaine, pulling me closer. “The only reason your men haven’t killed Kat was because she served a purpose. They needed her to flush out their target. They know now who’s pulling the strings here. Your father has no use for Kat. He’ll kill her.”