CHAPTER 24
Becca couldn’t breathe around the crushing pain in her chest. She wanted to cough, but she couldn’t seem to get enough air for that, either.
Or maybe that was the smoke.
Red glowed through her windshield. Was there a fire out there?
She couldn’t seem to find her seat belt. First she needed to find her hands.
Her head hurt.
Everything hurt.
The rocks on her wrist felt warm, twisted around to fall against the pad of her thumb. She wondered if they were keeping her calm.
Good thing Quinn had stayed at school. Becca probably should have taken the bus, too.
Phone. Where was her phone?
Something pounded against the car. She wished it would stop. Didn’t they know how tired she was?
Oh, good. The steering wheel was right here. She’d just put her head down.
For a second.
Chris didn’t remember bolting from the car. He was just suddenly aware of the rain pouring down the neck of his shirt, soaking through his hair to welcome him into the storm. He ran through standing water, splashing hard with each step.
Why wasn’t she getting out?
Fire licked through the gap around the hood of Becca’s Honda. Billowing smoke ignored the rain and made paths to the sky.
From five feet away, he couldn’t see through her windows. The car was full of smoke.
Chris stretched an arm out to grab her door handle, ready to yank her free.
The door wouldn’t open.
He fought with the steel, swearing when the door wouldn’t give.
“Unlock it!” he yelled, pounding on the glass. “Becca! You have to—”
“Chris.” Nick caught his arm. “We have to run. He’s stronger. He’ll kill us.”
Gabriel was beside him, his eyes trained on the fire. “Now, Chris. The car’s on fire.”
“She’s trapped.” Chris could feel the heat coming from the hood now. The strength in the storm soaked into his skin with every drop.
He could seize this power. Use it.
Chris looked over the roof of her car. There, by the edge of the woods, the Guide remained.
Chris wanted to freeze the rain, to turn each drop into a tiny dagger, to attack this man and let him feel what true power could do. He’d never felt this clarity before, this surety in his own ability.
“Get her out.” Gabriel swiped a hand across the narrow gap along her hood, pulling the fire into his fist, then shaking it loose to hiss and die in the rain.
More fire immediately replaced it.
Gabriel swiped it clean again. “But hurry.”