Artifice - Man x Man - Book Six

Chapter 57

"Can you phase?" I ask her over the cracking of the ice shield, shielding her with my body. 

"And do what? They have guns." Marisol retorts, pulling a gun off her own hip to shoot overhead as a lycra figure. They fall to the ground and she shoots them in the head before rummaging through the objects on their person. 

"It's a government badge..." She murmurs, holding the glittering metal pin in her palm. So, am I being excommunicated for the second time? My body begins to tingle and water rises up and over the edge of my ice barrier. I throw up my hand, freezing it and forcing it back toward the barrage of screams of those below who are crushed beneath the ice shelf. 

"I'll give you one idea who is behind this." 

Marisol shoots once more up the stairwell, pressing her back to mine. "Well, we can't stay here. More are just going to keep coming. Call Doe." 

I grip all over my body but my phone is gone, I must have dropped it in the bookstore. She reads my face and checks over her body as well before cursing out loud, kicking the dead body. "

Damn it! Mine, too. And the damned keys." 

My body threatens to deflate, we're stranded here. I take a deep breath and calm myself, I've been in worse situations before. I can handle this. 

"Alright. Keep an eye out behind us, let me know if we're getting overwhelmed. If I get in enough distress, Alpha will feel it and he will come for us. Until then, I've got to keep us alive." 

Forming stairs out of the ice, I climb the height of the barrier and peer over the edge. With a quick move, I take a blast of wind and sweep the officials off of their feet only as I look down on them they don't look as I expected them to. 

They look straight ahead as if they have no thought of their own. No one even makes an attempt to aim for me they're so focused on shooting at the wall, that as I blow them over, they twist and tumble as if they aren't even human. I hear gunshots behind me and watch the men fall off the fire escape. 

They almost appear to be charmed. A blast of wind hits my chest, and I'm flying through the air. At the last minute, I direct the gust below me and manage to right myself. 

"Soli, it's Red."

Marisol's shoulders go rigid. "That's the one who beat Doe? For fun?"

I nod, not having to say anymore. She snarls low in her throat, while I shake my head, warning her with my eyes. 

"We can't get angry, not here. Soli, we can't let her get away. He let her go, he's going to blame himself... we have to end this here. These officials seem almost mindless. I knock them over and they just keep shooting. What if this is a stunt? This happened before, in our time, it was just an attempt to make us look bad. We can't be seen killing these officials. I think we sneak around the back, we can make an escape and try and find her."

We steal around the side alley and come out on the busy street. "Smell for burning atmosphere."

"Excuse me? I'm not a tracker, Nic."

"Soli, please, just try." 

Am I that spoiled with my warlord? It seemed as if every wolf I confronted was offended by this request save for him. He prided himself on his ability to track, though I do remember him saying that it was a skill he had to work on constantly. 

Sota had taught him when he was young, and he had taught others. My body feels like it's been struck by lightning and I drop to my knees, unable to scream, unable to fight back. Soli wheels around, teeth bared, and I reach for her to warn her as someone grips her from behind.