Free Missing Pieces (The Pieces Series Book 1) by Tiffany Flowers Page B

“And don’t hate on the tattoo.”
    He acts like I hurt him. “Ow, you wound me. Well, you would if you actually had any magic other than your bad flashing ability.”
    I pretend to pout. “Maybe if my teacher was any good, I would know more by now.”
    Neeko has been too busy with whatever he does to work with me so Derrick volunteered to help. I think he likes watching me fail. “Are we on for our run today? The teacher can only do so much.”
    “Yeah, yeah. I’ll need to go change and dry off. I’ll meet you in ten.” Not daring to flash because there’s no telling where I’d end up, I run up to the room.

    T en minutes later, I meet up with Derrick at the beginning of the trail we always run after our practices. It goes through the woods all the way around the property. He loves to run as much as I do, and has become a really good friend. “Took you long enough, pipsqueak. Why didn’t you flash? Oh, wait. You can’t.”
    “Shut up and run, Derrick, or are you afraid I’ll beat you again?”
    “Like you ever beat me.” He chuckles “Maybe in your dreams. I knew you dreamed about me.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me and takes off jogging. I take off after him.
    We jog for about an hour before we reach the half-way point. It is my favorite spot. It has flowers in every color you can imagine, surrounded by trees the size of giants. The sweet aroma of the flowers washes over me. I come here every chance I get and sit under my favorite tree with my eyes closed, peacefully dreaming of what my real parents could have been like and why they would leave me. When I’m with Derrick, this is where we take a break. I sit in my usual spot and close my eyes, trying to get my breathing back to normal.
    “Tired, pussycat?”
    “Shut up, Derrick.”
    “Make me,” he says in a childish tone.
    I throw a stick at his head, missing by a few inches. “Easy now, killer. I was just kidding.”
    I laugh, then turn serious. “I know. I have just been stressed with Neeko always disappearing. I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle against his work.”
    “He loves you, Gabby. You know that. It’s just that things have gone crazy with the demons. They have become more active and he is trying to find the reason behind it.”
    “Why won’t he talk to me about it then?”
    “He thinks he is protecting you.”
    “Well... What?”
    Just then, we are surrounded by demons. Derrick grabs me and places me between him and a tree behind him, trying to protect me. There are just too many.
    “Derrick, just flash us out of here.”
    Before he can, one of the demons shoots him with some type of electric gun and Derrick falls to the ground, unconscious. 
    “Derrick, get up!” I scream, my voice breaking with terror at the knowledge that I’m all alone with demons.
    I start to shake as they close in on me. I lean against the tree to keep my balance. My body starts to feel as if it’s absorbing the tree’s energy. Suddenly, I feel like the tree is giving me knowledge of what I can do. I place one hand on the trunk of the tree and turn my other towards the demons. I close my eyes and will the plants and trees around me to do what I ask. I hear gasps and shrieks. I open my eyes to see the demons, the ones who didn’t flash to wherever they came from, hanging from the trees by vines. The vines have wrapped around them, holding them tightly. I bend down to check on Derrick. He is still out cold. I have got to try to flash because those vines are not going to hold them for long. I grab Derrick’s hand and close my eyes, trying to focus on Neeko. I feel the breeze and open my eyes. We are in the library.
    “Help!”
    Neeko comes running in and sees Derrick lying on the floor. “What happened?!” He rushes over, checking Derrick for a pulse.
    “We were jogging in the woods and got to the half-way point to rest. We were attacked by about 12 demons. They shot him with some kind of electric current and he went down. I used my magic