Storm

Chapter Twenty-Nine

My heart stopped beating in my chest.

Completely stopped.

Then, I was running away as fast as I could.

I didn't get very far at all.

Actually, Mace grabbed my arm and yanked, forcing me to fall onto my butt on the floor of the room he was in. In seconds, the door was slammed shut and I was trapped in the room with Mace.

It was just us.

"Do I want to know why you're here?" he asked, quietly. His expression was blank, as if he were trying to mask it. I wondered if he was even vaguely surprised to see me.

I didn't respond. I remained on the ground, staring at the door. Mace let go of my arm and I scurried away.

"Don't try opening the door. It won't work."

I tried opening the door.

It was locked from the outside. How? Who knew.

I turned to face Mace who was still just standing there, arms crossed over his black tuxedo, eyes marking my every movement. The room itself was quite bland. Just a desk, a laptop, and a chair to match. The rest of it was white walls and a bookshelf stuffed with random textbooks. The desk was organized and looked brand new.

Had I really walked into...Mace's office?

If so, why did he even have an office? And why was it in this building?

"It's convenient you ended up here. I'm surprised that you just chose my door out of all the possibilities. I was just leaving to see what the ruckus was about, but it looks like I found the cause of it all." He shook his head slowly, as if I were merely a disappointment. "You have one minute to tell me where the others are."

I blinked at him, trying on a poker face. "What others?"

His returning look made it obvious he knew I was lying.

"I seriously don't know-"

"Yes, you do. I saw both Asten and that other little boy running about here. Do you think I'm blind?"

I just didn't answer. I also didn't really know the answer. Both Asten and Max were somewhere in the building, but I truly wasn't sure where. Hopefully, they'd both gotten out.

Mace looked down at a watch on his wrist. "Thirty seconds."

I just scooted backwards and leaned against the door. Better to have as much space as possible between myself and Mace.

He took a few steps forward, making my movement useless.

"You could just go ahead and kill me, then, because there's no way I'll ever tell you where they are," I whispered, not trusting my own words. I really hoped he wouldn't be taking them to heart.

He let out an exasperated sigh as if I was too much work for him. Then, he moved so quickly that I barely registered it.

There was pain at my neck as Mace held me against the wall, fingers digging in. My throat constricted and I found it difficult to breathe. I hadn't meant what I said about dying. I really didn't want Mace to kill me.

But then, he was whispering something in my ear softly. It took me a minute to comprehend. "I need you to get the hell away from this place and never come back. Never. And don't ever come looking for me again."

I wanted to point out that I hadn't come all this way to look for him and that I wasn't planning on coming back, but he'd already released me. I stared at him in shock. He pressed a button and the door to the office clicked open.

"Go," he ordered, his eyes blazing.

I didn't need to be told twice.

I ran.

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Mace had let me out.

He'd let me escape.

Despite the fact that they still had all of our other friends, despite the fact that he'd betrayed us...

He'd let me go.

I wasn't sure what to think about that.

Once I was outside the office, I kept running, this time urging to get outside. I was done here. There was no way I was going to keep looking and possibly stumble across somebody worse than Mace.

At this point...we would just have to find them later. I didn't know how exactly, but I wasn't really thinking about anything but the present.

I clutched the hem of my dress as I ran towards the end of the hall...then the next...then the next...

And then doors.

I slammed through them. Crowds of people were gathered outside in little clumps. I searched the dead Earth quickly, looking for a familiar face.

A hand touched my shoulder.

I turned to Asten in relief. He looked unbelievably concerned. He also seemed a little sad, as if he too were struggling with the concept of leaving Kyan, January, and Elijah behind.

But at least he was here. Asten was here...with me. He was alive.

Now, I just had to hope everyone else still was.