The Black Tide (Outcast 3)

Time.

Time to find Dream, time to stop her.

We will do what we can, he replied.

I nodded and left. It didn’t take me long to make my way to the nearest break in the wall, but the only way to shorten the time it would take to get through the park that divided Carleen and Central was to become shadow. But I was running ever closer to the edge of exhaustion, and I still had to get into the city unseen.

But that inner voice was now telling me I didn’t have a whole lot of time left—that I needed to get into the city as fast as possible.

Frustratingly, she once again refused to say why.

Which left me with little other choice but to take my alternate form and race through the night and the trees. A cool breeze rustled the leaves and played through my particles, but it didn’t do a lot to ease the gathering tide of weariness. I ignored it; there was little else I could do.

The city’s vast metal wall soon came into sight. I spun upwards, gathering speed. As the light from the UVs began to unravel the shadows and shift me back to flesh form, I made a final lunge for the top of the wall. My fingers latched onto the edge and, after several huge gulps of air, I reached for the light, wrapped it around my body, and then hauled myself up onto the top of the wall. Where I lay on my back, staring up at stars that weren’t visible thanks to the brightness of the UVs, waiting for the wash of weakness to again ease.

I needed time—time to heal, time to sleep—but that nagging inner voice was still insisting I wasn’t about to get either in the immediate future.

I seriously hoped my inner voice was wrong.

I quickly made the minor changes necessary to alter my natural form to Catherine’s, and then pushed upright. After a quick look around to orient myself, I padded along the wall until I found a rooftop where the drop wasn’t steep. I repeated the process, leaping from one rooftop to another, until I found a means of climbing down to the ground. From there, I made my way through the various streets and pedestrian access lanes until I was near my temporary apartment on Third.

But I’d barely entered the street when I spotted two people coming in the other direction.

Two people I knew.

The first was Charles, and he did not look happy.

The second was the chancellor.

And then I saw something else.

The latter was surrounded by a halo of energy—a force so angry it hissed and spat at the air like striking snakes. It was surprising Charles appeared unaware of its presence given he walked right next to her.

That force alone told me this wasn’t Karlinda Stone. That it was, in fact, Hedda Lang.

Or, as we knew her, Ciara Dream.

Chapter Eleven

I immediately reached for a gun but even as I did, she raised a hand and something hit me—a force so powerful it pushed me off-balance and started tearing at my shield. Pain ripped through my brain and the shield that hid me began to flicker and disintegrate. I pushed the last of my strength into it and raised the gun again.

Or, at least, I tried to.

But my arms were now locked to my sides, my fingers were becoming numb, and that numbness was spreading all too swiftly up my limbs and across my chest. Every breath was becoming a struggle; if I stayed here, I’d die.

This bitch wasn’t going to win, and she certainly wasn’t going to kill me. Not that easily.

I spun around and lunged for the walkway, hoping against hope that putting a building between us would break the grip of her magic. It didn’t. The creeping numbness continued to move upward and my lungs started to burn as breathing became more and more of a struggle.

Distance—the only hope I had now was distance.

I ran on desperately, my head spinning and my lungs burning. A dozen more steps and the tendril of her magic finally snapped. The abruptness sent me staggering forward, but this time, I wasn’t able to stop the fall. I went down hard, skinning my palms in the process.

I gulped in air then pushed upright and ran on. Dream would be after me, of that I had no doubt. I couldn’t be found by her—not in this condition, and certainly not when I now knew just how dangerous her magic could be.

I did have the means of combating it—the very same charms Branna had stolen from Nuri—but they were tucked under the mattress inside the apartment. Right now, they might as well have been on the moon.

I found a cross street, raced down it, and then turned right into Fourth Street. The light shield gave out as I did so and a woman did a quick step sideways to avoid me. Her curses drifted after me, but were thankfully lost to the noise of several airbikes going past. Unless Dream had super hearing, she wouldn’t have caught it.