Page 190 of Firestorm
I will,I thought.
He gasped again as I slowed his blood flow. I numbed his brain so he wouldn’t feel the pain. His lips tinged blue as he sank down so he was lying flat on the ground, struggling for a breath but feeling no pain. The blood in his body stopped completely, and his brain began to go offline, one area at a time. Like shutting off the lights in a warehouse, section by section.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank–
Landon’s voice stopped abruptly as his brain went dark.
The firestorm around me died instantly, simply disappearing from existence along with Landon’s soul.
I released my hold on Landon’s heart, and it stayed still. The blood in his veins stayed still. His brain was still.
I somehow ended up on my hands and knees, trying not to vomit.
Landon was dead.
I killed him.
Rafe and Wyatt came running at me, their boots pounding the pavement while Willow and Mia’s footsteps were much lighter and quicker.
“Skye, holy shit,” Willow breathed.
“I’m so sorry, Skye.” Mia’s voice trembled.
“Skye.”
“Skye, it’s okay.”
“Baby?”
Aiden’s voice broke through the others, and I looked to him to ground myself as panic washed through me.
Aiden was still in the dirt, his breathing ragged. He’d held that last lightning bolt for too long. It’d burned his hands slightly, and his eyes flickered.
He’d been through so,somuch today.
“It’s okay, Skye.” Aiden ran his burnt skin across my hand. “You did what you had to do.”
I took in the devastation around me as the authorities finally reached us, agents fanning out across the quad to gather up the last of the militants. Dead bodies littered the blood-stained grass. A dead mannext to me still had his eyes wide open, staring at me as if they could still see.
His radio beeped before a voice rang out.
“The Phantom is here. Repeat, the Phantom is here. Female, early twenties. Dark hair, light eyes. Pale skin. I repeat– the Phantom. Is. Real. She. Is. Here.”
I gasped, lurching back and scrambling to my feet.
“Skye, hang on.” Rafe said. “No one’s going to take you. I’ll protect you.”
“Skye, please listen to us.” Wyatt begged.
“Baby?” Aiden asked, his voice soft. He looked up at me from his place on the ground. His eyelids fluttered.
Don’t leave me,Aiden begged right as he fell unconscious.
I had to get out of here.
“Skye, don’t you fucking–” Wyatt started.
I threw my arms over Aiden, holding him tightly and squeezing my eyes shut just as rain began to fall, the cool drops sizzling as they hit Aiden’s heated skin.
