The warehouse comes into view, and Gage disappears from sight. A few seconds later, he reappears, and his jaw is tight.
“There’s a way in,” he says, looking over at me. “They’ve left one side open and weak. That has ‘trap’ written all over it.”
“I can feel the presence of the seals from here,” Ella says, frowning down at the warehouse.
I can’t feel a damn thing. And it doesn’t take rocket science to figure out why.
“I think I know what it means to be bound by Leah,” I say as I start walking toward the warehouse.
Gage hisses my name, but I ignore him. Dice leaps in front of me, pushing back against my chest.
“Where’s the weakness?” I ask Gage.
“Around back. They left it vulnerable for attack. They’re probably ready with an army and weapons. We need to wait on reinforcements.”
“And do what?” Dice demands. “Walk in without knowing what’s going on? They have knowledge about our world that not even we do. I hate to point this out, but that book Slade gave us informed us of a lot of shit we didn’t have a clue about. We need a much better plan than seek and destroy.”
I move forward, but Dice blocks me again.
“You can’t go in and try to level the place. The damn girl and children could get hurt. Do not make me be the rational one. It’s not my color.”
He glares at me, but I vanish, reappearing right in front of the main entrance. Everyone wants us to come in through the back. They don’t realize there’s nothing stopping me from walking right through the front.
I don’t hesitate before kicking the door in, and a sea of black-clad militant men panic as I launch myself at them. My hands fly out, but no power forms. My eyes go wide, but I dodge the hurricane of bullets that fly at me, even though I have no fucking idea how.
I dive and roll, grabbing a gun for myself and snapping the neck of the man who is holding it. I’ve never even fucking shot a gun before.
The warehouse is lined with old crates and random conveyors, and bullets ricochet and resound as they fly by me. The wood splinters and dust stirs over the top of me, and I curse while figuring out how to fire the damn gun in my hands. Apparently pulling the trigger works just fine.
Rolling my eyes, I hold the gun up and just fire blindly, not risking letting them put a bullet in my head.
Something explodes outside, and screams ring out. Ella… Fuck. If she loses it, she’ll bring this whole place down no matter how heavily it’s sealed.
Another explosion rocks the warehouse, and a guy falls right in front of me. I grab his face and snap his neck with a flick of my wrist, then grab his gun. Never thought I’d have to fight humans with guns.
“She’s stronger than we thought!” a man yells, just as another explosion rocks the warehouse.
Ella… They know about her. Motherfucker! She’s the damn target!
“Damn it!”
Grabbing my phone, I quickly text Gage.
ME: Ella is the target. Get her the fuck out of here.
I fire blindly again, feeling my phone buzz in my lap as I search for where Leah might be. In this chaos, it’s hard to concentrate like I need to in order to sense her.
“Fucking shoot her! She shouldn’t be that close. Not there. She can’t do that!” someone barks.
GAGE: Too late. No one can touch her right now.
Fuck!
I leap up, running through the chaos, and desperately seeking out Leah. Another explosion forces the roof to crack and threaten to collapse. The children are all still mortal. Their bodies won’t be indestructible yet.
Bullets whizz by my head, and I continue to spin, duck, and dive as my heartbeat thuds in my ears. The last thing I need to do is lose control, because Ella is already lost. The two of us combined will destroy this place and everyone in it.
Leah’s presence taunts me, letting me know she’s close, and I follow the unseen force that finally points me in the right direction.