Barron's Prey

Molly & Barron

Chapter 20

Molly

Molly's gut churned as she stared at the building in front of them. It looked run down, empty, but she knew better. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep herself from reading the emotions emanating from the building. Fear. Sadness. Helplessness. Anger. They pulsed from the warehouse, pushing her back into her seat.

"You going to be okay?"

She glanced at Barron from the corner of her eye as the rest of them jumped from the SUV. "Yeah. I'll be good."

"Okay. Stay here," he said as he flung open his door and ran after the others.

She sat there, mostly in shock as she watched them run towards the building. They didn't hesitate, they didn't form a plan. No, they ran towards the building like death was a part of their daily routine. This wasn't her. Oh, she understood needed violence. Her dad had required her to take a basic self-defense class when she was a teenager, but she wasn't a fighter. She was a thinker. She figured her way out of a situation; she didn't run head first into them.

They disappeared into the building, walking into the darkness of the building. She couldn't stay here. She couldn't wait to see who would make it out. Plus, she didn't take orders from a man who she'd just met.

Stepping out of the SUV, she staggered under the emotions. Damn, but she wished she hadn't learn to read them. For her, and most of her family, once they learned something, they had a problem with turning off their abilities. It was why they stayed happily oblivious. They couldn't risk becoming power hungry. No, she'd seen too many people allow their magic to become them. She wouldn't be that type of person, neither would she allow someone she loved to do the same.

It was why her family was still so close. They kept each other in check. Through the hard and the easy times, they stuck together. They kept each other grounded. They weren't with her now though. She needed to be steady on her own.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed as hard as she could against the feelings bombarding her. It lessened, but just enough for her to walk forward. As she finally reached the doorway, pain hit her hard enough to drop her to her knees. Her hands hit the concrete ground, wet with something she refused to look at. This wasn't a part of her life, but she had a feeling that if she planned to stay near Barron, this is what her future would look like.

Coughing sounded beside her and her head snapped in that direction. A man leaned against the wall, pressing his hand into his side while firing shots off with the gun in his other hand. He was dying. She could feel it. It flowed off him in nice waves, none of them reaching her. He knew he was dying; he accepted it as a fact and was okay with it.

She crawled towards him, and her movement caused the man to glance her way. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she came closer.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Molly," she mumbled as brightly as she could as she flopped on her back beside him.

"Shit, lady," he started, but another coughing fit hit him hard enough to force his hand to drop the gun.

Molly watched as blood trickled down the side of his mouth. He was closer than she had thought he was. Reaching forward, she brushed his hand away from his side. Pressing hard against the wound, she once again ignored the blood. He had silver embedded deep in him. It was flowing through his veins, killing him slowly.

She tugged at the substance in her mind and was shocked when the man jerked against her palm.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.