Page 54 of Livewire Witch

All of it.

Pure electricity erupts from somewhere inside of my body, arcing into the air and blasting directly at Simpson. He’s knocked clean off his feet, flying into the air and smashing against the floor. I don’t stop to see if he’s dead, or maimed, or breathing. Since the two of them were touching, Silver also got a hit of my magic, and she’s currently in a crumpled heap on the floor, her neck still bleeding.

I bolt forward, checking for a pulse and wrapping one of my hands around the wound in her neck. I don’t think it’s toodeep, but it’s hard to tell in the dim light of the basement. She’s breathing, her pulse racing, but she’s also unconscious.

We need to get out of here. Quickly, if the smell of smoke coming from upstairs is anything to go by.

Scooping Silver into my arms, I tear a strip off my shirt and make a makeshift bandage for her neck. Then, without wasting another second, I clutch her close to my chest and dive into the air-conditioning vent, crawling through until we’re outside.

Once we’re clear of the basement and the vamps’ nest, I make a run for it, dipping and diving through alleyways and not stopping until we’re at least a few streets clear of the vamps.

I’m panting and shaking, Silver still unconscious in my arms as I make three attempts to dial Fabian’s cell. I’m running on adrenaline and a big dose of panic as I wheeze out an explanation of the situation.

Of course, Fabian’s lack of memory of Silver makes that even trickier.

We really need to find a fix for that, but Seb’s shit scared of somehow making him worse. Silver has also insisted that we focus on all the other stuff on our plates right now. She’s right that Fabian’s barely healed and messing with his brain is probably not the smartest thing to do.

Still, it’s an added complication we don’t need.

I can hear Roscoe in the background, chipping in as I manage to spew out a description of what happened while Silver’s still bleeding, still unconscious in my arms. I don’t know if she hit her head, or if it was the shock of my magic that knocked her out.

She better wake up soon though, or I’m going to lose my shit.

Thunder rumbles above us, and I try to keep a lid on my emotions. The last thing she needs is for it to start raining or hailing because I can’t control myself.

I peer down at her face and see that it’s paler than normal. Bloodless. I should probably inspect the wound at her neck, but I can’t risk removing the temporary bandage and making it worse.

Another crack of thunder breaks through the sky and chunks of ice the size of fists hail down on top of us.

Dammit.

This is why I’ve got to stay angry. There’s no room for anything else inside me. All other emotions are too damn unpredictable.

Dangerous.

Just like they said I was when I was a kid.

“Where are you?” Fabian asks, from his exasperated tone. I’m guessing it’s not the first time he’s asked.

“We’re at least twenty minutes out from The Spire or from my place.”

Not that we can take her back to The Spire. Can’t be dangling her in front of Felix’s nose when he’s a petty asshole that knows far too much about her.

My vote was to kill him. Chuck him down a few flights of stairs and see how his luck held out.

Too bad Fabian nixed the idea. Supposedly, we have too much unrest in the district already and losing the Nexus’ leader would make the entire district unstable.

Can’t say I buy that argument. But I’ve always trusted Fab’s judgment in the past. I’m not about to start questioning him now.

“Come on, man,” I plead with them. “I don’t know what to do here.”

“Dante’s. Get to Dante’s,” Roscoe calls through the phone. “Put all your issues to one side and get there. He’ll be able to help our girl.”

I groan. Not the fucking vamp again.

“His place is less than ten minutes from you. I’m sure he can help to stabilize Silver until we can get there,” Roscoe says. “Is she all right?”

I should probably be comforting him right now. I know that. But she’s still unconscious and there’s a ton of blood all over her neck and shirt. It’s also all over my hand from where it’s still pressed against her.

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