“I’ll find them again and, when I do, I’ll kill them and any who stand with them!”
Kerry crushed the ball down even more, this time accompanied by squishing noises. Against my will, my mind filled the image of bodies turning into the consistency of toothpaste.
“Blech!” I couldn’t hold back the chill that shook me.
Kerry’s mouth kept moving on the screen, but Jax’s phone hadn’t caught the words this time.
“What are you saying?” Chessie leaned closer to the television.
“Never mind,” he muttered. “None of that was for any of you to hear, anyway.”
On the video, he shook like a leaf in a hurricane, but managed to smash the sphere down to a golf ball. Holding it in his palms, he whispered something, then smashed it.
Everything on the screen went crazy, flashing from the sky to the river to the grass and up to the metal roof I’d slammed into the bank to make a deflection shield. A blinding white burst filled the screen and the video ended.
“And to think,” Gigi murmured, “guys like Noah Farley and Cole Fanishell tormented you at school. I don’t think they ever realized that you could have crushed them in seconds.”
“Yeah, like one of those martial arts movies where the main character enters the ring andbam bam, bam,”Jax made three quick jabs, “the enemy falls down dead.”
The others continued in the same vein, and I wasn’t surprised to see how blank Kerry’s face was. He didn’t play. Not even a little. He’d done what he’d felt he needed to do. Period. Gigi’s astonishment at his capacity for brutality meant as little to him as Jax’s admiration of it.
As for me, after watching that video, I realized how lucky I was to have met himbeforeI’d joined the hunting party at City of the Future.
12. Tornado of Power
Gemma
When I woke up the second time, I knew I’d been asleep for a while. The taste in my mouth said at least a day, anyway.
Slightly less exhausted than before, I looked around, but it was too dark to see much. There were no windows, only a door to my left, and its outline provided the only light. I was lying on a soft mattress with a nest of blankets and pillows around me. I didn’t have my shoes on, but I was pretty sure I still wore the same clothing I’d had on since the ambush in the mountains. While I was grateful to stillhaveclothes, and even more grateful to still be wearing them, I would have given just about anything for a pair of fresh panties.
The door opened. At the sight of the tall, lean figure standing there, I felt hope burst inside me.
“Kerry?” I whispered.
Then he flicked overhead lights on, and my heart fell.
The guy looked about Kerry’s age and height, but that was the end of the similarities. He had black hair, toast-brown skin, and midnight black eyes. Seeing me awake, the man’s thick eyebrows drew together as he came the rest of the way in the room.
I scuttled away from him until my back was against the headboard. Forcing my chin up, I reminded myself that I was strong and could use my power to knock him out if he tried anything.
“Who are you?” I swallowed, trying to get some moisture in my dry throat. “Why am I here?”
Instead of answering, he held out a phone.
“Who is this?” he demanded. “Tell me his name!”
Taking my eyes off him, I looked at the small screen and gasped. I recognized that tornado of power. I’d stood inside a smaller one myself.
Bolts of lightning shot out from the tornado and each one wrapped around a man who looked very much like my captor. The lightning carried him back into the tornado, and I realized Kerry had built a trap of some kind.
Oh, my sweet boy. What’s happened to hurt you this much?
“Who is he?” The man raised his voice this time, making me flinch.
I didn’t know why he wanted to know, but I figured it wouldn’t be for anything good. I kept my eyes fixed on the phone and ignored him. Whoever was filming zoomed in and, from the look on his face, my boy was gone. All that was left was the tiger, and it was bent on destroying everything in its path.
“Oh, Kerry,” I breathed without meaning to.
