Page 150 of Tracking Snow

It was my magic clawing at the place where it had been cut away. Now that space is full.

During the kiss, a thin line of heat scored up my inner arm, sharp even through everything else Seven poured into me. I twist my wrist inside the cuff and look.

The hand mirror. Tink's pixie dust ink glows fresh, and the glass is smooth. Every crack gone, every broken segment flowed back into one bright, seamless sheet.

Tink said the meaning would reveal itself one day.

A grin takes over my face until my cheeks ache.

Whole. I'm whole in a way I forgot how to be.

Power surrounds me in bright currents, each one distinct. I can feel them. Goldie. Cinder. The Seven. Even Rosie’s magic lives inside me, the first ability I ever mirrored stamped so deeply onto me that Queenie’s poison couldn’t erase it.

I reach for Two. The restraints pass through my body. My feet hit the floor as five security guards mobilize at once.

The first guard lunges for me.

Goldie’s teleportation opens inside my chest, and I disappear with a strange popping sound, reappearing behind him.

"Oh, this is fucking awesome."

He spins.

I teleport again, popping up beside the next guard long enough to tap his shoulder.

"Too slow."

I’m across the room before his fist finishes swinging.

The third guard draws his gun. I reach for Cinder’s magic and his blood answers to me now.

It floods from his nose and leaks from the corners of his eyes. He drops the gun with a strangled cry as red spills from his ears and over his lips. I release the hold the second his knees hit the floor.

"Contain her," Queenie's voice cracks across the lab, an octave above her podium tone. In my peripheral, she slides along the counter toward the exit, one hand feeling for the door while her men drop paycheck by paycheck.

Goldie's magic answers before I finish the thought. I pop between her and the door, close enough to count her eyelashes, and waggle my fingers. "Stay for the show."

She recoils into a rack of empty vials. I'm gone before it stops rattling.

One’s speed floods my muscles. The room slows as I cross to the far table.

I switch to Two’s powers and reach into the locked drawer where they put my daggers, then switch back to super speed and run. One guard hits the floor before he sees me coming. I drive my elbow into another man’s throat, sweep his legs, and race back to where I started before his body lands.

The final guard raises his weapon.

My daggers lift from my hands.

Rosie’s power hums through me, warm and familiar. I flick my fingers and send both blades flying. One pierces the wall through his jacket sleeve. The other pins his pant leg.

He pulls the trigger.

I teleport directly in front of him and wrench the gun away.

"Now, now, I haven’t finished the magic show yet." Then I cold cock him and he drops.

The scientists stand frozen behind their stations. I point the gun at the IV running into Ariel’s arm. "Wake them up."

One woman raises both hands. "The sedative has to wear off naturally."