Page 171 of Hunters and Prey

My head pounding harder, slanting out my vison with each slam of that pulse, I turned away from the street, leaning on the railing as I closed my eyes. It felt like someone was stabbing glass knives into each of my temples now, along with a third one into the back of my head.

My uncle’s fanatics were moving out of the Mission District.

The riots were spreading.

I wondered if they were targeting the financial district for symbolic reasons, or if they’d already started moving into other neighborhoods.

“Both,” Black said, glancing at me. “Dex fed me the reports this morning. They’ve hacked surveillance cameras in most of the city now, and we have regular drone patrols, along with people on the ground. They’ve got incidents logged in the Western Addition, the Haight, Hayes Valley, the Castro, Noe Valley… the Marina. SOMA.”

“Fantastic,” I muttered.

Another explosion went off, making both of us flinch.

That one came from the other side of the buildings to the east of us, probably somewhere along Market Street.

Because of some quirk of the acoustics, or possibly the size of the explosion, it was even louder than the one that happened more or less on our doorstep.

It also made me flinch harder, maybe in part because I’d been so focused on Black during the first one. Whatever the reason, the pain in my head exploded.

It felt like someone was ripping my skull open with a claw hammer now.

It got so bad, I let out a low gasp.

Gripping the railing with one hand, I fought to breathe, gripping the back of my head with my other hand. I could feel Black staring at me, but I couldn’t look up, or speak, or even open my eyes. All I could do was wait for the wave to crest, for it to roll back from the shore long enough that I’d be able to think.

As he stared at me, I felt something in Black’s light change.

“What in the fuck is wrong with you?” he said.

Despite his words, I felt real worry vibrate his light.

When I couldn’t answer him, he took a step closer.

“Miri,” he growled. “What is it?”

I could feel that part of me separating out again, fighting to pull my light away from my body. I gripped the railing tighter, gasping again, fighting to stay in my body––

“MIRIAM!”

My eyes snapped open.

Black was there, gripping my arms, staring down into my face.

I hadn’t seen him cross that distance.

I had no memory of him moving towards me at all.

He was holding me in both of his hands now though, breathing hard, his face only inches from mine. His light was all around me. His gold eyes studied every millimeter of mine, visibly shaken, visibly watching me come back, watching my eyes focus on him, watching to make sure I was there with him, that I was able to see him again.

Once I could feel myself coming back, I saw the fierce look on his face turn into one of obvious relief, along with a denser fear.

His fingers tightened on my arms.

“Miriam,” he said. “Miri, ilya… hold my gaze. Stay here with me.”

I nodded, blinking. I focused on him, like he said.

As I did, I felt something begin to ground in my feet and legs.

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