Chapter 6
Pierce
“What’s our strategy?” I ask, voice lowered as we linger just outside the center square of the Obsidian City.
“To not die,” Axl says in that gruff way he does—half serious, half joking.
I arch an eyebrow at him, unamused.
There’s an apprehension lingering in my bones I don’t recognize. A foreboding, even if a small one.
We’d faced the Faders without our powers at the Athanry from a place of pure, grief-fueled adrenaline.
Now?
We’re fully aware of the missing powers we’ve relied on our entire lives.
And, more than ever before, we have something to lose.
“We use a split maneuver,” Kal says, ever the optimist, though his eyes are full of dread as he looks on the scene happening a few blocks ahead of us.
Mayhem.
Chaos.
The Faders, clad in their signature white canvas uniforms and full-face masks, are breaking into shops that line the center square, smashing anything they can, hurting anyone who gets in their way.
And, being the Obsidian City, the Nightmare’s city, his people are fighting back.
They’re known for their wild desires, impulsive behavior, and unflinching courage. They aren’t taking the attack lightly.
“Axl, you and I can flank the right side, come up from the third block over,” Kal continues, and I nod, the plan already laying a clear visual in my mind despite him not finishing. It seems I haven’t lost my ability to strategize—a small comfort.
“Jax, Pierce, you two go to the left, take that street there, and sneak up on them from behind.”
Jax nods, more eerily quiet than usual. There’s a twinkle in his indigo eyes that sends an icy chill over the back of my neck. He’s been dying to unleash his barely controlled anger since Rylee went down.
I fear for any Fader he may get ahold of tonight.
“No killing,” I say immediately. The rule never stood in the past, not when they were actively trying to blow us to bits with the blasters they use, not to mention that odd substance they possessed that nullified our power whenever it touched us.
But now? How could we? After what we suspect?
“Agreed.” Kal immediately supports me.
“I’ll do my best.” Axl shrugs.
“I make no promises,” Jax says, low and cold.
Shit.
I catch his gaze, imploring. “And what if you cross that line tonight with the wrong one?” I lean forward a little on my velomage. “How are you going to tell Rylee that you killed her sister? Do you think she’ll ever forgive you? Regardless of the circumstances?”
Jax glares at me, then the scene ahead of us. He turns to Kal. “We’ll go left.” He revs his velomage and takes the lead.
I spare Kal and Axl an encouraging nod, then take off after Jax. I’ll have to stick close to his side, not out of need for protection, but to ensure he doesn’t kill anyone.
We slip off our velomages as we near the scene, not wanting to give away our position. A strange feeling, certainly. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t have bothered to be stealthy, let alone split up.
But we’re not in normal circumstances, and we may never be again.
Fear slips in like a cold blade, corrupting my usual calm, calculated approach to Legend business.
This will be a challenge.
I feed off adrenaline as we creep closer, keeping to the shadows of the buildings, my muscles bracing for a fight.
Booms of magic blasters and the cries of Jax’s people fill the night air.
Jax and I mimic each other, falling into that rhythm we’ve practiced since we were young, ducking low as we approach a group of Faders converging on a legal enhancement shop—the place is known for its mind-altering teas and smoking herbs.
Nothing that pushes the boundaries too much, but still enough to not be legal anywhere but the Obsidian City.
I recognize the shop owner. He’s unconscious on the pavement outside his store, blood dribbling from a split lip and a gash on his head.
Anger ripples beneath my skin, ridding me of the last lingering dregs of worry.
Jax must feel it, too, because one moment, we’re being quiet, careful about how we approach the five Faders currently wreaking havoc on the store, and the next, he’s racing up to the closest Fader, wrapping his arm around their neck from behind.
Shit.
I leap into the fray, backhanding one Fader and landing a kick to the gut of another. Forcefully, I make my way in front of the shop, pushing back the remaining two, who are doing their best to set it ablaze.
“Fuck,” Jax groans, releasing the Fader.
A fine white dust coats his face, turning the skin beneath his eyes red as he paws at it.
The Fader joins the four closing in on me as Jax stumbles forward, tears of blood streaking down his cheeks.
I spare a glance to my right, down the block, where Axl and Kal are fighting hand to hand with three Faders.
“Eight,” I say to Jax, chest heaving and fists raised.
“We can take eight,” he says, flashing his teeth at the five creating a horseshoe formation in front of us.
They aren’t reaching for their blasters. How curious.
I’ll puzzle that out later. For now—
“Took you Legends long enough,” one of the Faders, a man, says. “Are you losing care for your people now that you’ve secured a mate to fuck whenever you want?”
A low growl comes from Jax, but I hurry to jump in.
“Where is your leader?” I ask, scanning the five before us. None of them have the slight build of the one Rylee stepped in front of at the Athanry. Maybe she’s off fighting Kal and Axl? Or perhaps she’s lying low after last week’s disaster.
“We’ll take you to her,” a masculine voice says from beneath one of the Faders’ masks. “In pieces!”
They converge on us as one, like fire nips at their heels.
Jax and I go back-to-back, fighting and fending off as many as we can.
Fists and boots and that damned white dust fly so quickly I can’t keep track.
It’s a small relief they don’t know we’re without our powers.
If they did, they wouldn’t keep hitting us with the concoction to try to nullify them, and they’d resort to using the blasters.
Survival instincts take over, focusing on what I can defend against.
Block, punch, duck, kick.
Over and over again.
Until my muscles feel like hot rubber and my breath comes too quick.
If I had my powers, I’d use my energy bands to render each of them unconscious in seconds or dive into their minds and force them to sleep.
But I don’t have my powers. And I’ve never tired this quickly before.
For a split second, genuine fear snaps through me—
The butt of a magical blaster hits me in the temple. White-hot pain bursts down the left side of my face, my ears ringing.
I go down like a stone.
“Pierce!” Jax hollers, but it sounds muffled.
I blink until the black bleeds out of my vision.
Arms snake under my shoulders, and my boots drag against the cobblestone road as someone hauls me back.
They have Jax pinned to the ground. He looks feral, thrashing beneath the three Faders it’s taking to subdue him.
Fuck.
I still haven’t reconnected to my limbs, the mental lock broken as they drag Jax and me to the center square.
“Kal,” I groan when the Fader drops me in a heap next to his unconscious body. His brown hair looks black on the back of his head, soaked in blood.
Axl is on his stomach, his wrists and ankles bound with ropes, his skin red and puckered beneath them. He hisses when the binding cuts deeper as he struggles.
Is this how we go? Powerless and weak against a rebel group?
Jax snarls as the three hold him down next to me. He looks wild, like an animal ready to rip out their throats with his teeth.
My fingers twitch, the adrenaline in my blood forcing life back into my limbs. I can’t give away my hand just yet, can’t let them know feeling has returned to me. I’m the only one not bound or unconscious.
Strategy.
Think.
There are eight of them and one of me.
Get Axl free first, since no one is on him.
Then Jax.
The three of us together should be able to—
“Four Legends at once.” That same man from earlier speaks.
“She’s going to promote us. We’ll get our pick of rooms in the palace.
” He approaches with heavy steps, then crouches and tilts his head as he pushes a blade against my cheek.
He hesitates, no doubt for dramatic effect, before slicing with quick, decisive precision.
I clench my jaw, refusing to react to the hot, sharp sting.
He turns to look at his comrades. “They bleed the same as we do.” With a satisfied grunt, he hovers over me, then cuts my face again—deeper this time, the bastard.
I hiss but hold my position. I need surprise on my side to finish this.
“Not so fucking special without your powers, are you? Amazing what a little nullifier can do.” He brandishes the bloody blade, leveling it over my eyes this time.
Focusing through the pain and fear, I ready my muscles, envisioning my strike.
Going on three. One . . . two . . .
But before I can act, the Fader grunts, and the knife drops to the ground with a clatter. His eyes are wide with terror as familiar emerald bands of energy tighten around his torso, then yank him back so fast, he doesn’t even have time to scream.
For a split second, I think my father has come to bail us out of this mess . . .
“Butterfly,” Jax huffs before the Fader holding him down hits him in the back of the head with the butt of a blaster.
Rylee.
She’s here. Looking murderous and gorgeous as ever, dressed in Jax’s black jacket and . . . Is that a nightgown fluttering around her legs? I let out a ragged breath. She’s awake—and she’s saving our asses.
Hope and relief slam into my chest so hard, it feels like a physical blow.
And then something else drives into me, a force that strikes like a lightning bolt, shattering me from the inside out.
My mind clears as my body floods with my power.
Bit by bit, it snaps together like the pieces of a puzzle, settling in all those empty spaces created when I gave it to Rylee.
I laugh as I grip it, taking over where she started.
I’m on my feet, shoving the Faders back while tearing through Axl’s ropes with my energy bands.
The Faders holding Jax release him, whimpering and grabbing their heads as he slowly climbs to his feet.
The Nightmare’s power is restored, too, judging from their cries of terror.
And Kal’s, as well, because he’s up and moving, his focus on Rylee, who is heading toward us with that glittering determination I love so much in her blue eyes. A roll of her wrist, and the last remaining Fader claws at their throat like they can’t breathe.
I’ve seen her do this before—stop someone’s air supply. It’s her own special power.
A whistle pierces the air, and the Faders scatter in all directions, their confident bravado gone.
We should chase after them, but I can’t make myself move.
My friends must feel the same, because they come to stand on either side of me, the four of us staring at our mate.
Her long blond hair is wild, hanging over her shoulders as she stares back, breathing heavily. She looks terrifyingly adorable, her skin a little pallid, as she finally closes the distance between us. We stand silently as she studies each of us in turn, shaking her head.
“Which one of you wants to explain why I woke up with Baydel sitting on my bed?” She cocks a brow at us.
“Uh-oh,” Axl says. “We’re so fucked.”