Free Reawakened (Chronicles of Cas Book 1) by E. M. Moore Page B

would've."
    He tipped my chin in his direction after I pulled into the garage. "Hey. You're not Damen. Stop comparing yourself to him. He'd be proud of you for what you did."
    I shrugged. No matter what he said, him and I both knew that I fucked up. "I just hope that Frankie can fix this and that the Elite will agree to help keep the calm until he gets what he needs and we can turn the damn ley line off."
    "I'll give the Elite everything I have in me to get them here. They won't want the magical world exposed either. I'll tell them about the rise in crime and everything else."
    I walked Jake to the portal and told him to hurry back no matter what. If the Elite weren't going to send backup, I needed a plan two.
    To distract myself from waiting for him, I turned on the TV and tried to catch the news. Was it really as bad as Frankie made it out to be?
    The short answer? Yes. The longer, more appropriate answer, hell yes. It was way worse.
    As soon as I found the local news station, a rolling headline across the bottom of the TV read, "Reports of injuries and accidents rise in Salem today to over 1,000. We are unsure what is causing the uptick in violence. Unverified reports have reached the news station that we are researching now. Please stay tuned for more information."
    The screen cut from a weather woman to a news reporter near the mall. A heavyset man spoke into a black microphone, sweat beading on his forehead. "This is Evan Guleg from News Channel Eight. I am at the North side of Museum Place Mall where a stabbing has just been reported." The camera cut to police officers taking down a young man.
    No.
    My heart leapt into my throat. My eyes had to be wrong. There was no way I was seeing what I was actually seeing on the screen.
    The camera cut back to the reporter. "As you can see, police are apprehending the suspect now who is said to have attacked a tourist for no reason. More reports of this nature have been flooding the newsroom all day. We are verifying everything we can. Again, this is Evan Guleg outside the Museum Place Mall where a violent crime has just taken place."
    The camera panned over to the cop car where an officer was shoving a teen into the backseat. When the suspect looked up, my stomach heaved. It was him. Liam. The shifter I'd let out of magical restraints not twenty-four hours ago.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Fourteen
     
     
     
    Though the screen had changed twenty minutes or so ago, I still kept staring at the small section of the TV that had showed Liam's face as the cop shoved it down and pushed him into the backseat of the cop car. His hair was disheveled, messy. It was coarse like his shifter host. He was dirty. Brown spots on his clothes, hands, and cheeks. But it wasn't his appearance that got me the most, it was the look in his eyes.
    He looked absolutely terrified.
    That was when I knew that the ley line being on was causing much more damage than we originally thought. Liam stabbed someone, and he didn't look angry or upset. He looked lost and scared. There was no way he would've done something like that if the ley line wasn't on full blast.
    Jake was right. Again. I should've left Liam shackled in the basement. I should've stayed here with him. He was a little kid for fucks sake. I didn't do the right thing.
    Finally, I tore my eyes away from the TV and slipped my phone out of my pocket. In a fog, I searched for the number to the hospital and then called the main desk extension.
    "North Shore Medical Center."
    My heart pounded in my throat. I closed my eyes and wished for good news. "Um, hi. I'm calling in regards to a stabbing that just took place. Could you tell me how the victim is?"
    The lady sighed. "Are you family?"
    My tongue felt thick in my throat. "No. Not family. Just concerned is all."
    In a monotone, the voice on the other side of the line rattled off a well-rehearsed line. "I'm sorry but if you're not family, I'm not allowed to give you any