Toxic (Denazen #2)(24)

Any lingering control Kale might have had evaporated.

Alex saw it, too. He smiled and inclined his head toward me. “You can’t hit that anymore, eh? No worries, brother man. I can step up to the plate in your place.”

Kale threw himself forward, knocking them both down. They crashed into the wall, bumping the TV from its stand and sending it crashing to the ground. Bits of plastic and glass exploded, bouncing across the floor, making tiny plinking sounds.

Kale jumped up and hauled Alex to his feet. “You are no better than me. And you’re going to stay away from Dez.”

Alex shoved him away. “Or what?”

Kale grabbed the front of his shirt. “Or I’ll come find you. Alone.”

And that’s when the shit really clipped the fan.

Ginger came hobbling into the room—finally—screaming at the top of her lungs. Kale, momentarily distracted, turned. Alex had never been above a low blow and used this to his advantage. He brought his head back and slammed it forward into Kale’s. I heard the crack as though it’d happened to me. Both boys stumbled back a few steps but managed to stay on their feet.

I shoved Jade aside and stormed between them before it went any further. Kale shot forward to make another lunge for Alex, but I’d gotten in the way. He had just enough time to knock his bare-knuckled punch harmlessly to the side.

They both looked at me like I was crazy.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Alex snapped, shoving my shoulder.

He didn’t push hard, just kind of touched my shoulder and nudged, but it was enough. Kale elbowed me aside and flew at him again. Only this time, Jade actually did something. Grabbing a handful of Kale’s hoodie, she yanked back. But it didn’t stop him. In one fluid twist, he bent at the knees and shimmied, leaving the hoodie hanging in her hands—sans him.

He was about to take another swing, but a scream sliced through the air, stopping everyone cold. It was laced with fear and sounded like it came from the lobby.

Even worse, I knew that voice.

“Mom!”





9


Kale screamed for me to wait, but I didn’t listen. How could I? Mom was in trouble. Back through the door and around the corner I ran. The hallway seemed longer than usual—each step moved me back instead of forward. I reached the lobby in record time and found Rosie standing in the middle of the room, a bewildered expression on her face.

“What happened?” I snapped, scanning the room. It was just us.

She shook her head and pointed toward the door. “I—I’m not sure what—”

Time came to a screeching halt. Just beyond the glass doors, a dark blue van was squealing to a stop. The door slid open, and three men in Denazen’s patented blue monkey suits were wrestling Mom inside.

I heard Kale yelling behind me again, but I didn’t stop. Through the doors, across the lot, and over the bushes that bordered the property. Nonono. “Mom!”

My heart slammed into overdrive, brain demanding my legs pump faster. Cover more ground. A few feet ahead, the men finally managed to maneuver Mom into the vehicle as it jerked into motion. There was nothing really coherent going through my head in that moment. I acted on pure instinct. With a quick prayer, I dove for the still-open doors on the van. I dove for Mom.

For once in the last few days, something went right—sort of. My speed was perfect and my aim exact. I sailed through the opening and straight into Mom. Actually, I sailed through Mom. Why? Because Mom wasn’t really there. I realized my mistake a second too late. A pair of strong arms circled my waist and yanked me further inside as I tried to squirm back through the opening.

I resisted, clinging to the edge of the door as one of the men tried to pull it closed. Fighting harder, I managed to slip one leg over the edge and out of the vehicle, blocking the door track. Something in the back of my mind raged. If they closed that door, it was over. Good-bye, sunshine, good-bye, world. Good-bye, freedom.

One hand still curled around the metal rim, I groped the floor for the blanket sitting inches away. The second my fingers gripped the itchy material, I closed my eyes and held my breath.

A string of curses filled the air, accompanied by the increased cool September breeze and a flood of light. I opened my eyes in time to see the door-turned-blanket peel away and flutter from the side of the van. One of the men had been leaning against the door in an attempt to block my path. The door now gone, he lost his balance and toppled over the side and out into traffic. Good. One less to worry about.

“Bind her hands! She can’t do her little switch-a-roo tricks if she can’t touch anything,” the one holding me yelled.

I squirmed and shimmied, but his grip was too tight. “How would you like to spend—” I slammed my head back like I’d seen Kale do once. All I hit was air. “—the rest of your life as a seventeen-year-old girl?”

That got him to let go. Only problem was, he shoved me toward the other side of the van and away from the door.

A familiar chuckle drifted back from the driver’s seat. “Careful, Wayne. That little girly has some kick to her, yeah?”

Able.

I opened my mouth to comment that he knew all about my kick, but a deafening clatter sounded above our heads. The van swerved, and Able cursed. “What the hell—”

His answer came in the form of Kale, who swung in through the doorless opening and landed between the two remaining suits. Lips twisted, a low growl rose from his throat. He lunged for the first man without a word, right hand locking around the man’s uncovered wrist. There was a moment of terror in his eyes and then nothing.