Free The Seventh Immortal (Hearts of Amaranth #1) by J.M. Parry

paralyzed just a
few feet behind her.
    Kait wanted to tell him to be calm, but she was afraid that
he would listen to her. She desperately didn't want to use
the vox
dei on him
anymore and, until she could control it, she thought it would be
better to avoid giving him any instructions.
    Her eyes scanned the street. The police
still had their weapons trained on her and Paul. There had to be
another way out of this. She needed them to focus on her. She could
handle herself. As long as he had a chance to run, everything would
be fine.
    She had to do something to draw their
attention. She had to scare them enough to make them forget about
Paul. Then she had to hope that he would know to run.
    “ That's it, isn't it?” Kait asked stepping closer to Grant.
“That's your Gospel? That's what you teach? Pain. Suffering.
Misery.”
    The skin under Grant's eye twitched, but he
never stopped smiling. “It is what I know.”
    “ Sounds like a shitty gospel to me,” Kait snarled. Before
Grant could react, she lowered her shoulder and slammed her body
into his chest. She felt him double over as the breath was knocked
from his lungs. Grabbing the fabric of his shirt, she pulled the
police chief to the ground.
    Rolling over on her back, Kait noticed that
he plan had worked. Suddenly, every police officer on the street
was focused on her. They all had their guns trained on her and
Grant as they fought. None of them would dare pull the trigger.
They didn't know that Grant was immortal.
    “ Go!” Kait shouted at Paul. “Get out of the
city. Don't come back!” She didn't care about using
the vox dei anymore. She just wanted to save his life.
    Grant wrapped his long fingers around Kait's neck and began
to choke her. He was bigger than her, but his frame was thin and
wiry. If she tried, she could overpower him. It wasn't like he
could really stop her from breathing.
    Kicking her legs against the ground, Kait
pushed Grant off of her. She twisted her torso around, freeing her
arm, and elbowed him in the ribs. He tried to stand up and get away
from her, but Kait was too fast. She grabbed his wrist and pulled
him back. Yanking his hand behind his back, she wrapped her wright
arm around his neck. Even though he was several inches taller than
her, she managed to wrestle him down to a crouching position so
that she could use him as a human shield.
    As Kait tightened her arm, she realized that
his neck was more fragile than she expected, and that she was
stronger than she thought. It wouldn't take much to snap his spine.
That wouldn't kill him, but perhaps it would put him out of
commission for long enough to get Paul to safety.
    Then she had a better idea.
    “ No one move!” Kait shouted to the police officers. “Or I
kill him. Let Paul go. Then you can take me wherever you
want.”
    The cops immediately started to lower their weapon. The
situation, combined with the power of the vox dei , was enough to fully overpower them. They
were compelled to give in to her demands and, for just a moment, it
looked like Kait had won. Paul would have the time he needed to
leave. Then she could deal with whatever came next.
    “ You think you are so smart,” Grant rasped. “But you still
have so much to learn. This will be a mess to clean up, but I will
make sure that you know the pain of loss.”
    “ Shut up!” Kait tried to close his throat with her arm to
keep him from speaking, but it was not enough.
    “ Just shoot the boy!” Grant yelled at the police. “Forget
about me. Kill him!”
    Grant had been using the vox dei on the St. Louis PD for over seven years.
They expected it. They knew how to follow him, and his orders took
precedence over everything else—even the power Kait tried to exert
over them moments before, and even the threat to Grant's own
life.
    Like programmed automatons, the officers
stationed on the street raised their weapons. In unison, they aimed
at Paul.
    Kait didn't know what to do. Killing Grant
now wouldn't accomplish