Page 96 of Shadow & Stars
I ran harder and faster.
“Fire!” a woman cried.
Three Synth beams crackled through the air. I dodged each one with inches to spare, sweat dripping down my face. That wretched tower seemed to sizzle at me like a desert sun.
“Don’t let him through!”
A man brandished his talisman.
I shifted, a dull ache shooting through my veins. Before one of the agents managed to banish me, I fired a series of silk at them. One. Two. Three. I yanked on the strands as I ran, sending them tumbling onto the grass. The talisman bounced out of the man’s grip.
Avoiding another Synth beam, I made the final push, hearts pounding in my ears. I fired off more silk, clearing a path straight for the door. At the last minute, I would throw Roman through. I could feel him already preparing for the launch.
A Synth beam hit me in the side at the last moment, sending me spinning through the air and Roman was flung from my back. It burned my flesh, spreading up my torso until it reached my underarm.
“Wankers!” I howled, hitting the grass on my other side.
“I’ll fucking say,” Roman said, from behind me.
30
ROMAN
“Someone get the talisman!” a guy with an extremely fluffy mustache yelled.
I clenched my fists, unsure of my next move after the acrobatics I’d just pulled off.
Good to know my training never let me down, a mid-air flip with a graceful landing still a firm part of my repertoire.
“Don’t move!” a woman barked, gun pointed at my head.
Her grumpy eyes told me she wouldn’t be up for standing aside.
Those pesky pixels continued to dance across the sky. Wouldn’t be long now before this part of the sky came down on our heads.
Don’t wish. Don’t wish. Don’t wish.
There were seven agents, one of me, and an injured Xavier I desperately wanted to tend to. My baby was hurt, black blood leaking from his wound.
Nobody gets to hurt my baby.
Would he like being called baby?
Bloody hell! Save it for later!
The talisman came back into play, putting Xavier in series danger. Shit. If only I had Synth beams of my own to blast it from that guy’s fingers. I attempted summoning Synth. It was there beneath the surface, but not coming out to play anytime soon.
Damn.
“Can we talk?” I tried.
I got laughed at.
Yeah. Hilarious.
Okay. New tactic. If I could get a gun, I might be able to even the playing field a bit.
Thunder shook the sky and the earth. I staggered under the quake, a riot of pixels rippling overhead. A line tore through them, like wallpaper being ripped off the wall by a naughty child. That piece of sky tumbled to the ground, destroying a parked van close by.
