Page 199 of Glutton for Punishment

The moment we clear the wreck line, the world turns into a battle scene. Gunfire cracks through the air in sharp, rhythmic bursts, echoing off broken buildings and rusted metal.

People are everywhere, ducking behind walls, leaning out from alley mouths, firing from shattered windows of the abandoned slums. Powers flare around me, cutting through the air in unpredictable bursts.

I spot Sly and Lucas almost immediately on the right flank—back to back, moving like they’ve done this together for years instead of minutes. Lucas is barking something I can’t hear over the gunfire, while Sly is firing in tight, controlled bursts, sweeping the street clean in sections.

Our team is holding.

“Left side!” someone shouts behind me.

I don’t hesitate. He doesn’t even see me coming. I reach out with my power towards a group firing at our team from behind a vehicle.

The closest one has no mental shield at all. I press into his mind and see the shape of his thought, the way he’s weighing his next move, and I twist it, violently, in a new direction.

He turns away from his initial target and fires into the man next to him, shooting his own man in the chest. He does it again two more times before freezing in confusion. Someone shoots him in the head before he even gets a word out.

I ignore the bile creeping up my throat for using my power like this and focus on getting to Arwen. I move on to the next target.

It’s almost too easy out for my power here, where the Gluttons haven’t been trained in mental shields.

I push again. Another shooter shifts mid-aim.

I pull my gun up, firing when I need to, advancing when I can, never stopping long enough to become a target myself. Around me, Maddox’s team is pushing forward in coordinated bursts. We’re making progress, but I can feel the pressure building.

Flames catch my eye to the right, bright and violent against the gray of the concrete.

Holly stands in the center of the destruction. Three gang members are caught in a collapsing wave of fire she’s thrown across the street, roasting them.

She’s terrifying, and I make a mental note to be extra nice to Holly in the future.

That distraction costs me.

It happens too fast to register as the battlefield itself tilts out of alignment. I feel my stomach drop as if something has punched me from the inside out.

Systemic pain spreads through my veins, my body burning as if someone poured a flammable substance into my blood and ignited it from inside.

My hand tries to tighten around my weapon, but my fingers don’t respond. They shake, dropping the gun as I stumble to one knee.

Muscles seize as heat crawls up my spine, twisting through every nerve like it’s consuming me.

My vision blurs red at the edges as a woman steps into view. She has wild, dark hair and eyes that don’t look anchored to reality. Her expression almost delighted as her hands thrum with power.

Wicka.

She tilts her head as I struggle to stay upright.

“Do you feel it?” she asks. “The toxins multiplying in your blood?”

I try to suck in a breath, but it’s like my throat is on fire.

She takes a step closer, fingers curling as if she’s holding invisible threads I can’t see.

“It’s going to kill you,” she continues, voice softening into something almost fond. “You know that, little Pride Heir. The body can only take so much.”

My body spasms again, harder this time.

I hit one hand against the ground to keep myself from collapsing, but it doesn’t help much. The pain is everywhere as my bloodstream turns against me.

Wicka smiles wider, watching me like she’s waiting for me to break.