Free Burning Darkness by Jaime Rush Page B

again to do the same thing.”
    Darkwell had used her. Maybe. She’d trusted him once. She wasn’t so sure she could trust Eric.
    He turned to her. “You froze time. You really friggin’ froze time.”
    She nodded, feeling a smile spread on her face. Her mother’s legacy. “But I didn’t think about you freezing, too.”
    “I’m surprised you didn’t haul ass while you could.” And leave him there, he didn’t say.
    Me, too. She shrugged. “It was only fair to help you; you told me about it.” At his surprised expression she added, “Don’t make more out of it than that.” That’s all it was.
    “I won’t.” He looked at her. “Let’s get to someplace safe and figure out what to do next.”
    Let’s. Meaning let us . She didn’t like the sound of that. Getting someplace safe sounded good, but no way was she staying with Eric Aruda, even if she didn’t have any good options.
    Neil stood in the wreckage of the building. He didn’t want to chase them into the woods. They had the advantage there, and they were skilled enough to push him out, unlike the average human. He looked down at one of the bullet wounds, running his finger inside the hole in his shirt and touching the weal of healed skin. He hated getting shot. Worse, was getting badly cut. He slid his finger down the cut Eric had made. Even though it was healed now, it hurt like hell and drained him.
    He pulled out his phone and called his brother. “They escaped, but I’ll find them again. Any luck on your end?”
    “You’re not exposing yourself, are you?”
    He smiled at the wreckage strewn all around. It felt good to wreck things. To create chaos. To breathe in the emotions of fear. He inhaled now, at the memory of the sweetest scent, fear flavored with anger.
    “No worries. I’m in a remote location.” It would look like vandals had torn up the place.
    “And you couldn’t take them down?”
    Oh, but he loved the chase so. They would die, he had no doubt of that. They could not go to the authorities, nor could they hide forever. He had waited so long for this, obeying, curbing his desires so his pretty brother could have all the power and glory.
    “Remember, they’re not ordinary humans,” he said. “They’re strong—stronger than I thought they’d be. I can get into them, but they can push me out. Don’t worry; I’ll wear them down.”
    The silence was filled with doubt. Malcolm had no choice but to trust in him. Who else could handle this?
    “Have you taken care of the others?” he asked.
    “No. There’s a block on them, and I suspect they’re all together somewhere. I have a feeling it’s near Lucas Vanderwyck’s gallery. Darkwell noted that they saw activity in the house above his art gallery, though when they went in, no one was there. I don’t want to pull in any more of my people than necessary. It’s a delicate situation, one I expect you to remedy immediately. Take care of Aruda and Raine now, so they’re not loose ends. Then we’ll be ready for the rest of them.”
    Neil heard someone address Malcolm in the background. “Sir . . .” The rest was too low to hear.
    “I have to go,” Malcolm said to him. “Be effective. I’ll do a locate as soon as I can. Maybe Aruda will lead you to the rest of them.”
    He disconnected. Neil shoved the phone back in his pocket. He wished he could locate. Even Malcolm had to look into something, akin to a crystal ball, to see a distant location. They had always been competitive, but Malcolm was the golden, older brother. He was all right with that . . . as long as he could kill.

Chapter 6
    S omeplace safe, after hitching a ride on the back of a farmer’s flatbed for an hour, turned out to be Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis. Not that he cared, at that moment, about getting back to nature, fresh air, all that crap.
    Eric knew he needed time to think. Sitting on the flatbed, the air rushing around, whipping Fonda’s white-blond hair into a frenzy, was not the time