Page 58 of Stealing Embers

I whip around to find a woman on the sidewalk behind me. She’s beautiful, with midnight hair hanging loose around her shoulders. Her arms are crossed in front of her and a trail of mist slithers in, out, around and up her legs.

My internal alarm was tripped the second the man stepped onto the sidewalk in front of me, but now it’s blaring.

I don’t know who these people are, but I know I need to get out of here.

“You’re a hard one to catch alone,” she purrs.

I sink into a defensive position, angling my body to keep both threats in sight. The man takes a step closer. A sliver of moonlight lights the contours of his face, revealing an Adonis with midnight eyes.

“How adorable. They taught her some of their moves.” The woman speaks over my head to the man. His lips turn up in a smile. Despite his beauty, it makes me think of the Joker from Batman—maniacal and more than slightly unhinged.

“What do you want?” I spit at the pair, my eyes volleying between the two as they continue to take measured steps forward, closing the space between us.

My fight-or-flight instinct has kicked into high gear and I’m already planning my escape.

There’s an alley down the street that will take me to the main road. I just have to make it across the street and down a few houses. This isn’t a bustling metropolis, but a screaming girl running down the road will still make a scene.

“What do we want, brother?”

“How about we leave that a mystery for now?” he replies.

I’m only half-listening. They’re close enough that some of the mist circling them disengages and reaches for me.

Nope, not letting that stuff touch me.

I take off for the opening between the buildings. Starbursts of color pop in my vision as I run. My heart sinks. If I phase, I’ll be vulnerable in the real world as well as the spectrum world.

I will myself not to phase, and for a moment it works. The lights dancing at the corners of my sight disappear.

Without checking behind me, I reach the alley and change my trajectory. Skidding around the corner, my boots scrabble for traction on a patch of black ice. Regaining my footing, I cast a glance behind me. There’s no sign of the dark-haired stalkers and Main Street is only a block away.

I’m going to make it.

I’m slammed up against a wall before I have time to experience a rush of relief. The back of my head strikes the brick with a sickening thud.

My vision blurs before clearing. When it does, a third stranger is revealed. His face is only inches from mine.

Why can’t I breathe?

I raise my fingers to my neck to find a hand circling my windpipe.

I claw at his grip as the stranger tilts his head and regards me with narrowed black eyes.

The bursts of colors that indicate I’m about to half-phase are back, exploding not only on the periphery, but throughout my vision.

The panic can’t be held back this time. It blows over me like a torrent of wind, erasing my captor from view even as I remain pinned to the wall.

From one blink to the next, I go from a darkened alley to a world flooded in a dark rainbow of purples and blues.

Beautiful yet deadly.

Sucking in a half-breath, I continue to struggle against the now-phantom hold on my throat. Desperately, I kick out with my legs as the pressure increases, but my wild strikes find no purchase.

My sight begins to fade. Lack of oxygen is going to force me to pass out.

“Playing with your prey again, Ronove?” The raven-haired female’s voice echoes in the alley. The spectrum world reacts violently to the melodious sounds, like a stone thrown in the water; angry ripples in the air zig-zag and spread before dissipating.

The pressure at my neck blocking my airflow lessens as a figure materializes in front of me.