Free Mercenary Magic by Ella Summers Page B

to the ground, rolling as they fell so that she landed on top of him. Something whistled over their heads.
    “What the hell do you think—”
    He pressed his finger to her lips, then pointed across the parking lot at the fence that separated his plot from Battery Spencer next door. Magic rippled down the metal web, tearing it from the posts.
    “Oh, so you’re telekinetic too? Wow, aren’t you one special guy.” She jumped off of him.
    He rose from the ground. “I’m not telekinetic.”
    “What?”
    “I’m not doing that.”
    “Then who is?”
    “I am,” a woman’s shrill voice sang out.
    Sera turned. The mage was standing on top of one of the buildings, her arms extended high to the heavens. Nearby, Miss Lightning stumbled shakily to her feet and pounded her fist against the ground. A river of lightning split across the asphalt, hitting the glyphs, which burst into a halo of glowing light.
    The telekinetic swung her arms around, and the metal web shot toward them. A second lightning blast hit Kai in the chest, knocking him back. As he fell toward the shining glyphs, Sera reached out and grabbed his hands, pulling hard.
    But the blast was too strong, its momentum sucking her up. They both fell through the glyphs into darkness.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER TEN
    Falling

     
     
    SERA HIT THE ground, dirt and pebbles scraping against her bare shoulder as she slid down the hill. She slammed face-first into a spiky bush, which stopped her uncontrolled descent. It also hurt like hell.
    A hand caught her around the wrist, pulling her to her feet. She glanced back at Kai. His clothes were neat, his face clean. He certainly didn’t look like a tornado had sucked him up and spit him out. How was that even possible? He’d been fighting just like she had.
    “You’re hurt,” he said.
    Sera followed his gaze down her legs to the mess that was her jeans. The bottoms were frayed and dirty, and a thick spread of pointy stones had sunk through the fabric and into her calves. That explained the burning sensation that had been steadily growing since the fight.
    “I’ll be fine.”
    His eyes narrowed, and his lips drew thin. “How much pain are you in right now?”
    None, because I’ve blocked out most sensation below my knees. “I’ll be fine.”
    “Are you always this stubborn?”
    “Yep. Stubborn and rude. That’s me.”
    Sighing, he pointed at a nearby boulder jammed into the hill. “Sit. I’m going to take a look at those wounds.”
    She considered telling him to shove it, but he was right. She was hurt. If someone else decided to attack them—which, based on how splendidly her day had played out so far, was pretty likely—she’d be next to useless in this state. And if there was one thing she couldn’t stand, it was being useless. She could be mature for a few seconds and let Kai take a look at her torn-up legs.
    “Will I live?” she asked, wiping the back of her hand across her dusty, sweaty forehead.
    Kai looked up from scrutinizing her ruined jeans. “No.”
    “Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome.” He flipped open his pocket knife.
    “I hope you’re not thinking of amputating anything with that toy.”
    “If I don’t amputate your jeans, your blood will paste them to these puncture wounds.”
    Resigned to her fate, she waved for him to proceed with the operation. As he began to cut, she kept her eyes high. She didn’t need to watch her favorite pair of jeans be butchered. Those mages were going to pay. She didn’t know how, but she was going to make sure of that.
    “So, we’ve been transported across the bridge,” she said, staring out toward the water. The Golden Gate Bridge shone red-gold in the warm afternoon sun.
    “Yes.”
    Snip. Snip. Snip. The tiny scissors were taking forever, but she supposed they were preferable to her sword.
    “At least it wasn’t across the country,” she added. “If we hurry, maybe those mages will still be there.”
    He set a hand on her shoulder, pushing her back