Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
It was honestly too complicated for my not-so-technical mind to understand, but right now the only thing that mattered was that I trusted Lana – and the fact that we had so little time left before Zeus ended up torching the whole of New England with his thunderbolts.
"Stop."
Lana's half-shriek had me jerking as I forced myself to a screeching halt. "Cast it, Lana," I muttered, "you didn't have to shout."
"I know, I'm sorry, I'm just...you're near," she ended lamely.
We were about halfway down the hall, and I had one door on each of my side. I walked towards the left when Lana suddenly said, "Not that. The signal's weakening."
I backed up and moved towards the right door.
"That's it.” Lana’s voice tinged with trepidation.
The knob vibrated under my fingers as its identification spell worked on verifying my credentials. A clicking sound followed as the door unlocked itself, and I exhaled, realizing only at that moment I had been holding my breath the whole time.
Even now, as I advanced warily inside the office, I had a hard time believing it was truly a CIA agent responsible for poisoning Zeus. Why would one of us do this? It just didn't make sense.
With the shutters drawn, I had to make my way in the darkness, heart thudding against my chest. Lightning flashed outside the hallway, illuminating the entire office for but a moment. I made out an iMac on top of a large desk – the only one inside the room, and my stomach turned upside down in dismay. So we weren't just up against any ordinary agent but a ranking officer to boot?
The windows started to vibrate, and I almost jumped when I heard a thunderous boom explode outside. It's started, I realized bleakly. Squaring my shoulders, I moved forward more quickly, this time determined to get to the bottom of it. I had to find out who it was –
Lighting flashed once more, and I jumped back with a gasp when I saw a figure sitting on the chair.
What was that? Was it real? Or did I only imagine it?
"Blair?" Lana demanded worriedly from the earpiece.
Outside, another thunderbolt hurtled out of the heavens with a loud boom, the sound too close for comfort, and my eyes squeezed shut as trauma tried to seize control of my mind. Memories invaded my thoughts, and I shuddered as I recalled the blazing heat of Zeus’ thunderbolt.
You’re okay, Blair. You’re safe. You’re alive—-
Blinding light struck my eyelids, and I opened my eyes, confused and disoriented at seeing the office suddenly ablaze with light. A moment later, I saw someone reaching towards me, and I scrambled back, but it was too late.
Fingers pulled my hair, and I screamed as I shoved my assailant off, heart pounding, and the side of my scalp stinging. I touched my left ear and realized that whoever it was had ripped my earpiece off, effectively disconnecting me from Lana. I slowly looked up, a thousand possibilities running through my mind, but when my gaze collided with the other woman's, I realized that I would never have guessed the truth.
"I thought I’d find you here."
It was Agent Tamara Gries, and she had a gun pointed straight at me.
A Level 1 witch versus a Level 5 one was like pitting someone who took a single Kumon class against a mathematician. It was pointless and hopeless, but even so I gave it my best shot.
My gaze flew to the window behind her, and I screamed, "Paul, now!"
Tamara whirled around.
Ha! Sucker!
It was a childish thought, but cut me some slack. I was fighting for my life here.
Wasting no time, I took advantage of her momentary distraction and tore out of the office. Her scream of fury bounced into the hallway, and the hairs behind my neck stood up. That was the sound of one pissed off murderer if I ever heard one, and I had just shot straight up to the top spot of her kill list.
Tamara blasted a hole out of her office wall and began firing at me. It was a grand entrance, I’d give her that, and I would probably have told her so if I hadn’t been too busy deflecting both her spell bolts and bullets.
Thank God and Gaea for shield spells, which was the first thing our Self-Defense instructor had taught us. They probably knew it was a neophyte's best chance of surviving, in the event they had a student foolish enough to go up against an advanced-level witch.
Case in point: yours truly, who was now trying her best to talk her way out of certain death.
“Don’t do this, Tamara!”
“I will certainly do this, with much pleasure.”
It was hard, arguing with a madwoman while manually whipping out one shield spell one after, but I managed. It wasn’t like I had a choice.