Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Energy surged through me. Some sort of instinct took over, and I threw my arms out to the sides, shattering the invisible bond that was holding me. Then I lunged at Andy and snatched him out of harm’s way.
A moment later, time started moving again. Andy was safe and secure in my arms, and somehow, we were hovering near the two-story ceiling. I couldn’t figure out why he was all lit up, but then I realized the light was actually radiating from me. He looked awestruck as he touched my cheek and whispered, “You’re so beautiful, Sam.”
It finally dawned on me—the moment I’d waited for my entire life had actually happened. My powers had emerged, but this wasn’t the time to try to make sense of it. We were still in danger.
Beneath us, Rosselin looked around in confusion. Then he looked up, and when he spotted us, he raised the gun. Without thinking about it, I pantomimed a pushing motion, which sent Rosselin and his men flying out the door and tumbling down the stairs.
Andy looked stunned. “How are you doing this?”
“I’m not really sure. All I know is, something happened when I thought Rosselin was going to kill you. It’s almost like… like something inside me cracked open. Now there’s all this energy flowing through and around me. I just instinctively started using it, which feels as natural as breathing.”
Even so, our landing was a little rough. It was easy to throw energy around, and apparently, to use it when I wasn’t giving it a lot of thought. Trying to do something precise and intentional was going to need some work.
After we touched down, we hurried over to Arden. He’d regained consciousness and was leaning against the wall. I asked him if he was okay, and he nodded and gingerly touched a spot on his temple, which was starting to bruise. “Take care of him, Andy,” I said. “I need to finish this.”
I strode out the door and down the stairs, bolstered with new-found confidence. Rosselin’s men stayed down when they saw me coming, which surprised me. They were unquestionably powerful and could have put up a fight, but for some reason they chose not to.
Rosselin, however, scrambled to his feet with panic in his eyes. He started to lunge for his gun, so I pushed my hand forward, slamming him into the side of the SUV and pinning him there. “This ends here and now,” I growled.
“Please,” he sputtered, “don’t kill me.”
“You’re not worth the paperwork. I’m going to let SPAM deal with you, but let me be clear. If you ever show your face again or try to harm anyone I care about, I’m going to turn you inside out and use you like a sock puppet.”
Okay, so I was new to this whole threatening the bad guy business, and that needed work. It certainly instilled a healthy dose of fear in him, though.
A few moments later, Andy and Arden joined me. They were carrying thick rolls of twine, and we made quick work of tying up Rosselin and his men.
I wasn’t sure why the henchmen allowed us to do this, since at least one of them was powerful enough to take down wards and rip heavy doors and gates off their hinges. When I commented on it, the bearded guy muttered, “My brothers and I were told we’d be going up against civilians when we took this gig. Rosselin’s not paying us enough to get dismembered by a ridiculously powerful superhero.” I had no way of gauging my powers, but the fact that the three of them didn’t think they could take me on was eye-opening.
I stuffed Rosselin into the back of the SUV and ordered his men to get in the back seat, mostly to tidy up. Then I disabled the vehicle by ripping off a tire, in case anyone got the bright idea to try to escape. I’d actually only wanted to deflate it, but channeling my power was rough and imprecise—like wielding a club, not a scalpel.
Then I joined Arden and Andy, who were sitting on the front steps. Andy let out a shaky breath as he leaned against me, and I put my arm around his shoulders.
Arden murmured, “That all happened so fast.”
“It did. Are you okay?”
“Mostly, but I probably have a mild concussion,” he said. “I’ll call my family doctor when we go inside, and I’ll ask him to come and take a look at me. Right now though, I just need to sit here and process all of that.”
A minute later, the sound of helicopters shattered the silence. Three of them appeared over the treetops and landed on the lawn, and a bunch of people in SWAT gear began pouring out.
Arden looked alarmed, so I said, “Don’t worry. I think they’re on our side.”