Page 44 of To Teleport, or Not to Teleport?
“But he’s a traitor!” Angelica whined, her composure disintegrating before our very eyes. “He needs to pay.”
Mac pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “He didn’t commit any of those crimes. His father did. You, however—”
“He betrayed his father!” Angelica shrieked. The wind picked up, and static electricity formed with her shrill words. “Bryson wouldn’t be gone if not for him!”
A bolt of electricity arched from the tip of Angelica’s finger and straight toward Grayson. My heart dropped to my stomach at the same time anger, sorrow, and a hatred I’d never tasted flew through my cells.
“Gray!” I screamed.
The people around me cupped their ears, their eyes wide at the scene before them.
A split second was all it took for Angelica to attack Grayson, but it had felt like a lifetime. I was frozen to my spot, my body and mind at odds as my heart squeezed impossibly tight in my chest.
Mac ran past me on all four paws in his race toward Angelica, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the bolt heading toward the only man I’d ever loved. Eliza twisted in his arms, and the bolt struck her in the chest, causing her to slam into Grayson when they flew backward.
“Mama!” Grayson said, snapping me back to the present. He scooped her into his arms and dropped to his knees.
I’d never wanted control over my teleportation more than I did in that moment. Pushing past the crowd, I followed on Zelda’s heels as she ran toward the limp Shifter.
“This one’s definitely gonna hurt.” Zelda reached her palm toward the smoking fabric in the center of Eliza’s chest.
“Zelda, no!” Mac roared and knocked her away, wrapping her in his arms to shield her from the fall.
“Mac? What are you doing? I need to heal—”
“No! You can’t heal the dead,” he said, his voice choking on the last word.
My gaze darted from the powerful couple to Grayson, who cradled Eliza. Her open eyes stared up at the blue sky. He raised his head, and the grief in his nearly green eyes tore a hole right through me.
Lowering onto my knees, I pulled them both into my arms. Silent tears slipped down my cheeks as Grayson sobbed over his mother’s body. Arms wrapped around us, and I found both Kaleb’s and Bear’s solemn faces.
I tuned out the hum around us. Focusing on Grayson, I wished I could undo what Angelica had done.
“She just jumped in front of me,” Grayson muttered after a few minutes had passed. “Why would she do that?”
I swiped the tears from his face, noting how much he looked like the boy I’d known so many years ago.
“She loved you,” Mac said, drawing their attention.
“As parents, we’d do anything to protect our kids,” Zelda said, sharing a look with Mac before kneeling at my side. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t help her.”
Grayson shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault.” His expression became as hard as granite, the man I knew disappearing as he looked past me. “Where is she?”
“I took care of her. She’ll never hurt you or anyone else ever again,” Mac said, and I noticed for the first time the blood smears along his neck.
Grayson deflated with relief and nodded. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I should have—”
“Thankyou!None of us could have anticipated she’d do that or that Mama would protect me like that,” Grayson said, shutting his mom’s eyes and brushing a strand of hair from her face.
“It’s our job to protect our babies,” Zelda said.
Chapter 14
The bell rang, and my last class darted out the door. I packed the papers I needed to bring home to grade and noticed the calendar hanging on my wall. The month was wrong, and somewhere along the way, I’d quit marking off the days.
I supposed that was what happened after your boyfriend lost his mom in front of half the town.
