Marcus let out a sigh, his shoulders sagging as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “I don’t have time for this. I’ve got shit to do.”
Micah ran forward, and I sucked in a breath before taking off after him. “Micah!”
Marcus stiffened, his eyes going wild as he stumbled back.
But then, he smiled. “Let’s see if you can catch me this time, flower boy!”
Marcus ducked into a nearby alley, and we followed, the distance too much for us to do anything, especially with my magic locked away.
The rain pelted us like chips of ice, stinging my eyes, cutting into my skin in its relenting waves, and the chill tore through my leathers. I stumbled to a stop, grabbing Micah’s arm as my breath left my lips in a puff of white mist, the air freezing around us.
Micah’s eyes met mine, realization flashing across his face before we scanned the darkness around us. The roar of the rain blinded our senses, filling our ears in its rush, dulling our vision with its veiled droplets, snuffing our sense of smell.
Marcus’ laughter echoed through the alleys, his trail lost to us, and I took a step back as faint clicks reached my ears over the rain. The direction from which it came was unclear. Micah and I took a step back.
Micah grunted as he hit the ground beside me, and I twisted around to find him being dragged back, a claw-tipped hand wrapped around his ankle.
“Fuck!” he shouted as he twisted around and threw his hands out, as if to summon his magic, but no vines came to ensnare the darkling.
I launched myself toward him, and the wind rushed from my lungs as a body crashed into me, knocking me to the side. My head smacked against the pavement, and the world swam around me. I groaned, trying to push myself up.
Micah’s panicked shouts reached my ears, and I rolled to the side, finding him pinned beneath a darkling.
“Get the fuck off me!” he shouted, pressing his forearm to the darkling’s throat as it snapped its torn jaws.
I groaned, saliva flooding my mouth as I tried to regain myself, tried to think past the shattering pain echoing in the back of my head.
“Hang on!” I shouted, my words a near slur as I pushed myself up. Two darklings charged for me from the darkness, their jaws stretched wide, claws reaching as they launched themselves at me. I drew my dagger as they pinned me to the wall, and it was knocked from my hand, sliding across the pavement. I grasped the shoulder of one of the darklings, and the neck of the other, grinding my teeth as I fought to keep them off me.
Micah cried out, and I turned my gaze to find him struggling beneath the weight of the darkling as it snapped and clawed at him.
“Don’t you fucking give up!” I shouted as I tried to summon the flames Marcus had silenced.
He reached down with his free hand, ripping his dagger out before plunging it into the darkling’s chest. It shrieked before collapsing on him, body crumbling into dust.
The darklings snapped at me as I held them at bay, unable to grab my dagger, unable to get to Micah. I reached for the flames, beckoning them, begging them to answer my call. Sparks flashed at my fingertips but doused instantly.
“Come on,” I growled as they sparked and doused once more. “Come on, come on, come on!”
Micah cried out, and I cursed as darklings swarmed him, grabbing his arms, his legs, dragging him further away, fighting with one another to claim him.
“No!” I shouted as the scent of his blood reached my nose. “Fucking fight them, Micah!”
The flames flickered at my fingertips before flaring to life, and I roared as I unleashed them, incinerating the darklings holding me down in a pyre. Their shrieks echoed through the street long after their bodies collapsed into dust, and I turned, throwing my hands out to send a wave of fire crashing into the hoard of darklings pinning Micah down.
They disintegrated before they could hit the ground, their ashes melding with the rain. I ran for Micah, dropping to my knees as I slid to his side.
“No,” I muttered, my eyes darting over his body, his leather armor torn and shredded, his blood pooling on the ground around him, mixing with the ashes of the darklings.
His chest heaved as he panted and coughed, his eyes clamping shut as he lay on the ground, unable to move. I slid my arm under him, trying to pick him up, to rush him to Johnson’s clinic.
“Stop,” he gasped, clutching onto my shirt.
I pulled him against me. “I need to get you help.”
He shook his head and let it fall back, eyes rising to the sky before they fluttered shut. “Too late...”
My heart stalled, and I searched him once more.
