Page 53 of Her Magic Light

Almost instinctually, I jerked as I tried to bring my hands to my face, but the cuffs prevented movement and kept my arms behind me. Tightness crept through my chest. It had gone from bad to worse.

“Shit,” I ground out. “Shit.” I blew out against the fabric, desperate to keep it from my mouth and nose. I was going to suffocate. They were going to suffocate me if they continued this. I’d die here. Bess would wonder about me now and then when a rainbow followed a thunderstorm, and I would disappear from their minds.

The guard behind me nudged me forward with the tip of his weapon, and I took two quick steps. I whimpered.

“Careful,” Coop’s voice cautioned. “She’s rare.

The guard laughed, and it was cold and uncaring—no depth of feeling at all. “I don’t care.” His deep voice should have been melodious, but it was devoid of emotion, too. “All murderers go to solitary. Doesn’t matter if they’rerareor not.” He laughed again, this time like a man who really enjoyed his job.

My knees threatened to buckle.Murderer. The word echoed across my mind.

“But I’m not—” I wasn’t what? Rare? A murderer?

“I’m not…” My protest was muffled against the hood, and my words died away as I tried to tell them I wasn’t a murderer. There was no way I could be a murderer. It wasn’t me.

I was just a hair colorist from the small town of Sweetwater. Being a murderer didn’t fit me. I preferred to capture spiders and release them away from the house. I would never have killed someone.

Until it looked like I had. Until power burst out of me.

I curled my fingers into my palms until my fingernails dug into my skin. Had I really killed someone? If I hadn’t, how did I explain what had happened to Adrian and the reaction that had sparked? How did I explain my position now?

I sniffled a little then stood straighter. Coop had moved away now. I had no idea how I knew. I couldn’t see through the bag, and my hearing wasn’t as clear—the most obvious sounds were my own breathing and every movement of my head as the hood rustled. But I couldn’t sense him in front of me anymore, almost like I’d known when he was standing there, like his support had been physical rather than simply the emotional side I’d taken from it.

I mourned the loss of him. He’d been the one constant thing since the morning in the coffee shop. Always there, even if most of the time he’d hidden his blue eyes behind regulation shades. Whether I should or not, I trusted him.

The weapon nudged me forward again. Apparently, prison was about to get a whole hell of a lot worse for me. This was the real deal. The nudge came again, and I gritted my teeth.

With each hesitant step I took, I reassessed, checking that the ground was firm beneath my feet and that it was still the same surface I expected. There was no way to tell if this asshole would even tell me if I was approaching a flight of stairs.

He directed my every turn with a touch of his weapon at my left or right hip, but it had taken me a while to know what those touches meant, and he’d probably left me with bruises in the time it had taken me to figure it out. My skin might look like a pincushion tomorrow.

As he directed me to turn again, a rush of cooler air whispered over my hands, and the ground turned to some sort of metal mesh. It rattled with each step. I wanted to throw my arms out for balance, but the cuffs prevented it and I swayed to the side as I tried.

Sliding my feet forward, I tried to keep going. But I didn’t trust the suddenly industrial environment I found myself in. It had to be in an area of “the Facility” I hadn’t seen yet. My mouth twisted. It was an area Istillhadn’t seen.

Even the guard’s steps echoed differently here, like we were in a much more open space than we’d been previously. Through the mustiness of the material against my nose, I detected faint strains of oil and damp. Like I was in a forgotten area of the facility, like things that needed fixing were left here to rot.

I swayed into the wall again, my hip pressing against a railing as my cheek hit some sort of smooth metal beyond. Going forward wasn’t an option without more direction.

“Stop.” It was the first word he’d said and the next sound was the creaking of badly maintained hinges, supporting a heavy door.

I didn’t try to respond to him, though. Even his breathing sounded aggressive, like some sort of wild animal had followed me all the way from the cafeteria to wherever he’d brought me.

The way he’d nudged me all the way here left me off balance, and I crashed against the edge of the doorframe as I passed through it, grateful that the hood over my face offered some protection. But it still hurt as my cheek slammed against the hard surface. Tears welled in my eyes.

Fear clutched me, and the strange tight sensation from before began to invade my chest again—the one that had clawed at me and demanded release.

But I clamped it down, determined to not let it out. Especially as I didn’t know what it was or what it made me capable of. Power threatened to erupt, and I decided then. I had to learn what I was, but I wouldn’t release it.

No. I had no time for that.

Maybe I held an energy I didn’t understand, but I wouldn’t accidentally murder again.

twenty

The air around me changed again, almost charged with static electricity now, and I shivered. I couldfeelthe technology humming in this place. The atmosphere practically vibrated. I almost stopped walking, and my breath rate increased as my heart started to pound again. Uncertainty crowded me. Where was I going?

“Steps.” It was a bark of a word from behind me, and the guard took hold of my upper arm, but not gently like Coop had.No. This grip was punishing as his fingertips dug into my skin. He half-lifted, half-dragged me down each metal step, and he grunted with each impact.

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