release me soon.
It wasn’t until we were outside and around the corner of the theater that the creature finally stopped and let go.
I stumbled, gasping, lungs on fire as it moved away very slowly. I grabbed the hilt of theblade, and the creature’s eyes followed my gesture. Neither one of us moved. It looked at me again, and this time I saw something different, something aware, intelligent, something . . . grateful?
It blinked and then dipped its head as though thanking me before taking off down South Rampart Street as Sebastian and Henri raced around the corner.
Henri kept booking after the creature. Sebastian ran past me, shouting and looking back. “You okay?!”
I nodded mutely, stunned by what had just happened but hurrying down the street after them as fast as I could. That thing was our ticket to Athena’s temple; we couldn’t lose it.
The only reason I caught up to Sebastian was because he had slowed. Henri was far in front of us, and the creature was putting some serious distance between itself and us.
“Henri, track it!” Sebastian yelled ahead.
Henri increased his speed, leaped into the air, and turned into a hawk.
A red-tailed hawk.
A screech blasted through the air as the bird shot upward. On the hunt.
I jogged to a stop, panting hard and bracing my hands on my knees. “Henri’s . . . a . . . hawk.” I straightened and started walking in circles. Now it all made sense. His strange hazel-yellow eyes. The fact that he cleared buildings of rats and snakes for the Novem. Yeah, easy job when you’re a predator. “Was anyone going to tell me?”
“It was his decision to tell. Or show. Come on, it’s headed into the ruins. With Henri tracking it we can walk from here.”
We headed west, away from safety and civilization and deep into the ruins of Midtown. As we walked at a fast clip my thoughts turned to Gabriel. I was so pissed that I’d allowed him to mess with me once again. I didn’t know how to fight something like that or how to guard against it.
Sebastian’s shoulder bumped mine. “It takes practice.”
“What?”
“Learning how to block a Bloodborn’s influence.”
My step faltered. I caught back up to Sebastian. “I wish you would stop doing that.”
“Stop doing what?”
“Reading my mind or whatever you call it.”
“I’m not reading your mind. I’m reading your emotions, and it’s not like I’m trying real hard. Kind of easy to put two and two together. I’d be pissed too if that happened to me.”
“Yeah. Somehow I doubt you’ll ever have to worry about Gabriel wanting to suck on your neck.” He smiled and shrugged. We went for a few more seconds before I said, “So how do I stop him from doing that?”
We veered off the sidewalk and around a mountain of trash and debris, and walked down the middle of the street.
“It’s just a matter of being aware and knowing his intent. Gabriel’s influence works because he waits until you’re distracted or your guard is down. All it takes is a second. You always have to have that block in place because as soon as you don’t, that’s when he’ll use it.”
“He’s such a jerk,” I said, wanting to rant. “If I’m going to go all gaga for a guy, it’ll be because I want to, not because some asshat is helping me along.”
God, how lame was that? Just shut up, Ari. Before you embarrass yourself even more.
“Well, just for the record . . . forcing a girl to go all gaga for me isn’t my style.” He paused, his tone doing nothing to hide his amusement. “I like the gaga to be natural.”
I rolled my eyes and took off at a jog before he could see that my face had gone straight past hot to volcanic.
Thirteen
M IDTOWN LOOKED LIKE AN OLD WAR ZONE.
And thirteen years ago I suppose war had come. In the form of wind-driven floods that used Dumpsters, vehicles, and a million other things as frontline soldiers. Some of the debris had been strong enough to take out supports and corners, collapsing parts
It wasn’t until we were outside and around the corner of the theater that the creature finally stopped and let go.
I stumbled, gasping, lungs on fire as it moved away very slowly. I grabbed the hilt of theblade, and the creature’s eyes followed my gesture. Neither one of us moved. It looked at me again, and this time I saw something different, something aware, intelligent, something . . . grateful?
It blinked and then dipped its head as though thanking me before taking off down South Rampart Street as Sebastian and Henri raced around the corner.
Henri kept booking after the creature. Sebastian ran past me, shouting and looking back. “You okay?!”
I nodded mutely, stunned by what had just happened but hurrying down the street after them as fast as I could. That thing was our ticket to Athena’s temple; we couldn’t lose it.
The only reason I caught up to Sebastian was because he had slowed. Henri was far in front of us, and the creature was putting some serious distance between itself and us.
“Henri, track it!” Sebastian yelled ahead.
Henri increased his speed, leaped into the air, and turned into a hawk.
A red-tailed hawk.
A screech blasted through the air as the bird shot upward. On the hunt.
I jogged to a stop, panting hard and bracing my hands on my knees. “Henri’s . . . a . . . hawk.” I straightened and started walking in circles. Now it all made sense. His strange hazel-yellow eyes. The fact that he cleared buildings of rats and snakes for the Novem. Yeah, easy job when you’re a predator. “Was anyone going to tell me?”
“It was his decision to tell. Or show. Come on, it’s headed into the ruins. With Henri tracking it we can walk from here.”
We headed west, away from safety and civilization and deep into the ruins of Midtown. As we walked at a fast clip my thoughts turned to Gabriel. I was so pissed that I’d allowed him to mess with me once again. I didn’t know how to fight something like that or how to guard against it.
Sebastian’s shoulder bumped mine. “It takes practice.”
“What?”
“Learning how to block a Bloodborn’s influence.”
My step faltered. I caught back up to Sebastian. “I wish you would stop doing that.”
“Stop doing what?”
“Reading my mind or whatever you call it.”
“I’m not reading your mind. I’m reading your emotions, and it’s not like I’m trying real hard. Kind of easy to put two and two together. I’d be pissed too if that happened to me.”
“Yeah. Somehow I doubt you’ll ever have to worry about Gabriel wanting to suck on your neck.” He smiled and shrugged. We went for a few more seconds before I said, “So how do I stop him from doing that?”
We veered off the sidewalk and around a mountain of trash and debris, and walked down the middle of the street.
“It’s just a matter of being aware and knowing his intent. Gabriel’s influence works because he waits until you’re distracted or your guard is down. All it takes is a second. You always have to have that block in place because as soon as you don’t, that’s when he’ll use it.”
“He’s such a jerk,” I said, wanting to rant. “If I’m going to go all gaga for a guy, it’ll be because I want to, not because some asshat is helping me along.”
God, how lame was that? Just shut up, Ari. Before you embarrass yourself even more.
“Well, just for the record . . . forcing a girl to go all gaga for me isn’t my style.” He paused, his tone doing nothing to hide his amusement. “I like the gaga to be natural.”
I rolled my eyes and took off at a jog before he could see that my face had gone straight past hot to volcanic.
Thirteen
M IDTOWN LOOKED LIKE AN OLD WAR ZONE.
And thirteen years ago I suppose war had come. In the form of wind-driven floods that used Dumpsters, vehicles, and a million other things as frontline soldiers. Some of the debris had been strong enough to take out supports and corners, collapsing parts
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