Chapter 7 · The Lab Goes Up

"Get down!" Kael's hand hit my shoulder half a second before the window exploded.

Glass and heat slammed across the alley. I tasted smoke before I hit the ground. The lab. My mom's lab.

"Stay low." His voice was right against my ear, his body covering mine. The pavement was cold under my palms. The air wasn't.

I shoved at his chest. "Let me up."

"Not till I know what blew."

"That's my mother's work burning."

"That's why you're staying down." His hand pressed between my shoulder blades. Not rough. Immovable. "Someone just lit it thirty seconds after we walked past."

I went still.

He felt it. "Yeah. You're welcome."

"I didn't say thank you."

"You thought it loud enough." He shifted his weight off me but kept one hand on my back. "Can you run?"

"Can you stop asking stupid questions?"

He almost smiled. I hated that I noticed.

Another explosion cracked through the building. Smaller.