Amplified by Alexia Purdy Read Free Book Online Page A

winced. His telekinetic power zapped me as if I was touching a power outlet.
    It was excruciating and left me breathless and fighting to suck in a breath, but I managed to twist his arm and pull it behind him, crushing his hand to make him let go of the syringe. Gritting my teeth, I fixed it into my fingers and positioned it to his throat. “I hope what you got in here doesn’t do too much damage to humans,” I hissed.
    “Wait! Don ’t, please!” Rick paled as the needle dug into his neck, a pinprick of blood welling around it. His heartbeat was thumping under his chest, and I could feel it as I pressed my own against him to hold him in place. The electrocuting feeling he emitted stopped, and I shook my head to clear it.
    “Now why shouldn ’t I?” I snickered. It was always better to be on the winning side. Christian stepped forward as Mercer made his way through the bathroom door, literally. It splintered into a thousand wood strips as he bounded into the room, red faced and furious.
    “Please… .” Rick swallowed as the sweat began to bead on his temples. His racing heart was a huge indication of what sort of poison I was holding. Good. Not so fun getting a taste of his own medicine.
    “Let ’s play this game my way now.” I shoved Rick toward the door to the hall and backed toward it, keeping a wary eye on both Christian and Mercer. “No one comes any closer or I off him. Oh, and Rick… tell me what this poison does.”
    “You don ’t want to know.”
    I tugged at his arm, causing him to yelp from the pain. “Oh , I think I don’t, but I have the right to know what you were going to shoot me up with. Come on, we’re all waiting.”
    Rick huffed and groane d as I stretched his arm even farther behind him. He’d have no use of it for an hour or so after we were done, but that would be his problem, not mine.
    “It ’s an antidote.”
    “Oh? For what?”
    “To make you completely human.”
    “I doubt that.”
    “It’s true.”
    “Then why are the vamps staring at it like it’s the black plague for them?” Did he think I was that stupid? Really? Mercer and Christian didn’t dare get near us. They eyed the syringe with nothing but pure horror and an obvious smidge of intimate terror. Yeah, I had a weapon in my fingers, but I had to know what it was for.
    “Because… .” I loosened my grip on him as his voice croaked. He was straining too much and was sure to pass out if I didn’t let him breathe. “It’s an antidote to anyone’s unnatural powers, from the Zompire plague. It turns everyone absolutely human again. No powers.”
    Well, well. Holy moly.
    “An antidote to the plague?” I repeated in disbelief, my fingers shaking as I held it pressed oh so close to his pounding jugular. “What’s it do to you? Kills your powers, too, right? You’re pretty human already except for those telepathic tricks you’re so good at agitating me with.”
    He didn ’t answer, just grunted as he pulled to attempt to free himself. Big mistake. I tightened my grip on his awkwardly bent arm. He gasped and paled. Yeah, that did him in.
    “Well?” I wanted my answer.
    “Yes. Even my telepathic power will be extinguished with it.”
    Ah. So he had attained his powers a s a mutation from the plague. We weren’t so different. Whatever he’d taken had left him with his mind powers intact but human.
    Thank goodness the door was cracked op en. I didn’t want to let go of him to turn the knob. We slipped into the hall, and I backed us down the hall toward the way we’d come in. Now what? I kicked at the doors we passed to hopefully find one of my pals as I walked backward down the hall. I was still vulnerable, with no weapons and no idea where the hell I was going. This place was a maze, and I was severely outmatched. We’d been such fools to go there with so few warriors.
    Finally I kicked one of the doors and Elijah swung it open, cursing at the noise. “What the fuck is… April?” His eyes widened,