Worth Dying for (A Dying for a Living Novel Book 5) by Kory M. Shrum Read Free Book Online Page A

outside the room we just escaped.
    I don’t wait for them to bust down the door to the suite before I’m running. I take the stairs two at a time, catching up to Ally and Maisie in no time. As soon as they see me running, they move faster. Maisie stumbles a lot with Winston in her arms, and Ally manages by keeping one hand on the wall to steady herself as she rushes from landing to landing as quickly as her ankle will allow.
    The red EXIT sign hangs over the door and Maisie bursts through before I can stop her.
    “Wait!” Ally and I shout in unison.
    We run after her, stepping out into full blown chaos.
    A compressed alley behind the hotel connects two major streets. I’ve only been through the alley once before. Gideon insisted we do a dry run of our escape route before we made this hotel our home base. The alley had seemed creepy and cramped then, reeking of garbage and piss. Now it was even worse.
    Both ends of the alley are blocked by a clot of cars and vans. Dispersed in front of the cars are men with guns.
    “Fuck!” I throw my shield up around Ally without thinking. Maisie shrieks and I realize my timing was shit. I drop the shield, let Ally grab ahold of Maisie and then erect it again so at least the three of them are safe inside the barrier even if I can’t shield myself too.
    True, my shield has gotten bigger in the last month or so. Gabriel once told me, when we were still chatting on a regular basis, that it was because I’d acquired a second partis power, in addition to the firebomb and shield stuff.
    “Jessica Sullivan, drop your weapons and give us the girl.”
    I hold up my hands. “What weapons, idiot?”
    Men from the other end of the alley rush toward Maisie and Ally. Two men collide with the shield and bounce off as if they’d run right into a brick wall. They tumble to the pavement holding themselves and swearing. They can’t see the shield apparently.
    My flames ignite. Blue fire courses up my limbs and torso, twisting in an arc. It pulses erratically. Both rows of officers, agents, whatever the hell they call themselves, leap back, giving us room.
    “Drop your weapons—” someone says over the loudspeaker again.
    “You want to see a weapon?” I purr as my blast powers up. It feels so good. Drunken. Giddy. I’m trying not to twirl or fall into a fit of laughter.
    “Don’t,” Ally begs. “There are too many people.”
    “You’re safe.” I remind her.
    “I’m not worried about us,” she begs. “They can see you.”
    She thrusts a hand up toward the sky as a helicopter blots out the clouds. An aerial news crew flying at an angle above two tall buildings cuts left and out of my view. I can hear the whirling blades long after it slips from sight, the whomp-whomp-whomp-whomp hurting my ears.
    Shit.
    Caldwell must know where we are now. Perfect. No scarf. No tech device. It’s only my face on prime time television.
    I open and close my fist, delighting in the intoxicating warmth of the electricity rippling over me. Please give me a reason, I beg them. Make one little move.
    “No,” Ally says again. “No!”
    If I drop my guard they’ll take Maisie, hurt Ally, and kill me. No way.
    And hesitating will cost me. The girls and Winston are safe in the shield, but I’m vulnerable. If any of them get the bright idea to put a bullet in my head, it’s over. I’m hoping the erratic fire is making it hard to see me clearly, a sort of armor in its own right. But if I cut the flame entirely, they’ll see me perfectly. Or they could rush forward and try to take me by force. Then what will happen?
    I meet Ally’s desperate wide eyes. “I’m sorry.”
    The fire around me brightens, growing, expanding and whipping wildly. The men fall back, ducking behind cars and vans, shielding their bodies while their eyes remain trained on me.
    I blast one side of the alley, hopefully pushing the men and the vehicles back enough that we can squeeze through with minimal casualties. The fire flares