The Burning Shadow (Origin 2)

Everything happened fast.

Coop swung his arm out, catching the drone with his forearm. The drone flew across the room, smacking into the side of another student’s head. The wailing of the siren stopped. Someone screamed as the boy went right down, out before he even landed, his face making a sickening cracking sound as he hit the floor. Blood pooled around him.

Suddenly, Mr. Barker was flying across the room. I jumped back as our teacher slammed into the window and then went through it. Shards of glass flew like missiles, cutting through clothing and skin.

Coop had thrown him.

That wasn’t normal.

Holy crap, none of this was normal.

Shouts and shrill screams pierced the air, and Coop just raged out, picking up chairs and tables and throwing them. They broke apart against the chalkboard. Those close to the door bolted, but Zoe and I and everyone else near the broken windows were trapped.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Zoe said, her gaze darting around the room. Coop was tearing the classroom apart.

“Really?” I breathed, yelping as a chair winged over our heads. “You think?”

“You got any ideas? Because—”

Coop ripped the leg of a chair off, just tore it right apart, breaking wood and metal. His strength was inhuman. He whirled and pitched it. The leg flew toward us—toward Zoe.

I didn’t think.

Spinning around, I pushed Zoe hard. She toppled sideways, and I followed. What felt like a piece of ice hit my left cheek a second before the chair leg crashed through the window directly where Zoe had been standing. That was how it felt at first, like an icicle was dragged across my cheek, and then it burned as glass rained down on us, catching in our hair.

“Evie!” Zoe’s eyes went wide. “Your face.”

Crouching next to her, I touched my face with a shaky hand and winced. “I’m … I’m fine.”

“You know you didn’t need to do that,” she whispered through clenched teeth as she grabbed my wrist, pulling my hand away. Blood tinged the tips of my fingers.

We both jumped when something shattered near us again.

“I have to do something.” Zoe still held on to my hand. “He’s going to hurt more people. I have to—”

“No.” I pulled on her arm, my wide gaze swinging toward her. “You can’t. If you do…” I didn’t need to finish the sentence. If Zoe intervened, it would expose her to every single person in the class; the world didn’t know about Origins or hybrids. They’d think she was an unregistered Luxen, and unregistered Luxen …

They disappeared.

Zoe squeezed her eyes shut as she sucked in a ragged breath. Something else crashed above us, and she opened her eyes. “Evie, I have—”

“Everyone down,” a male voice boomed. “Everyone down on the floor now, palms flat against the floor.”

Officers dressed like SWAT members filed into the room, wearing all black and helmets that shielded their faces. They carried rifles, the long and scary kind. They didn’t look like the Alien Response Task Force. Not at all.

Zoe pulled me down to my knees. Within seconds, our bellies were on the floor, our heads down. Coop turned to them, still on his feet.

“This will be our last warning,” came the voice again. “Stop or we will stop you.”

No. No. No. They couldn’t shoot Coop. He was sick. They couldn’t—

It sounded like a zapping noise, a succession of rapid electricity firing. Coop jerked as the hooks dug deep into his shoulder. I expected him to go down. A Taser was no joke.

But he didn’t.

Coop took a step forward, toward the men.

Another Taser fired. The hooks snagged him in the belly, and he kept going. He didn’t slow, knocking a chair aside even as a third Taser hit him in the leg. He was still standing, still charging toward them.

How was that possible? Tasers and stun guns even affected Luxen.

Classmates were prone on the floor, their faces pale, some bloodied, and all of them had their eyes squeezed tightly shut. I saw the boots of the officers at the doorway to the class. I saw Coop.

Three Taser shots and he was still standing.

“One more step and we will put you down!” one of the officers shouted. “Come on, bro. Don’t make us do this. Stop!”

“Please,” I said under my breath, my fingers squeezing Zoe’s until I could feel the bones in her hand. “Come on, Coop, please just stop.”

Coop didn’t.

Blood was leaking from his nose and eyes now. And that blood didn’t look right. There was a bluish-black tint to it, and it shimmered.

Oh my God …

He threw his head back and roared. The sound caused me to jolt and Zoe to curse. Coop screamed so loudly and deeply, like he was being torn apart from the inside. There was a cracking sound—a sound of bones snapping.

One of the officers with the long rifles stepped to the head of the pack. It sounded like a firework. A quick pop. Then a dime-size hole appeared in the center of Coop’s right thigh. His leg gave out, and he stumbled. Two of the officers launched over the overturned tables, tackling Coop. He fought them, throwing one of them off and breaking free. It took four officers to bring him down—four officers, three hits of a Taser, and a bullet to the leg.