by Hayley Todd
After a few moments of cat and mouse, a snarl crossed his face and he lifted his hands toward the air. Another wall of flame erupted from the ground around me, pinning me into a corner. It moved with me when he wanted it to but otherwise I had to focus on not stepping into the fire.
I had nowhere to go.
Chapter Forty-Three
Iwas pinned in, flames on all sides, unable to move away or find a better position. Henrick advanced, letting a line of fire fall from his fingertip and drag across the ground. He had a predatory smile on his face and he watched me closely.
“This isn’t the only time I can do that to you, Kyra,” he called, sending a shiver of revulsion down my spine. “I will take you away, where I can do it again and again and again, until you provide me with an heir and learn some respect.”
I hated to admit that I was afraid of him. But I was damned terrified.
He suddenly stopped, several feet outside my prison and turned to look over his shoulder. I couldn’t see Liam or Will from this side of the arena. “Bring him,” he hissed and my stomach dropped.
If Liam had Will, Will had lost and I couldn't save him. I couldn’t even save myself.
Sure enough, the blonde man walked up alongside Henrick, dragging Will by his neck, twisted awkwardly over Liam’s elbow. Will had a fresh, deeply purpled black eye and his split lip had opened again, dripping blood over his chin. He scrambled against Liam’s hold but it was no use.
Henrick grabbed Will from Liam, twisting his fingers into Will’s hair and dragging him closer. Will scrambled, not able to place his feet wholly beneath him so skittered and bounced across the ground. We made eye contact, watching each other, wishing to be anywhere but here.
Henrick placed one of his hands under Will’s chin and the other at the back of his neck and in an awful flash of clarity, I could see what he was going to do. I lurched forward, casting myself into the flame and feeling how it engulfed my entire being where I touched it. I couldn’t get through the wall. Not without burning myself up in the process.
I fell back, defeated, my clothing burned away in several places and my skin scorched with purple red blisters. “No!” I cried. “This is between you and me, Henrick! Leave him out of it!”
Henrick smiled up at me with a sickening pleasure as he twisted.
And just like that, Will’s neck broke and he crumpled into a corpse.
I screamed. I wasn’t even really aware that I was doing it. But I could hear it. It hurt even my own ears. Agony like nothing I had ever felt exploded in my body, ripping me apart atom by atom.
No.
He hadn’t just killed Will. It wasn’t possible. My lively and vivacious best friend had been right there. Right beside me. He couldn’t be gone. It was impossible. No.
No.
I hadn’t consciously gathered energy to me but it had come to my call nonetheless. I glared down at this man, hating him with every fiber of my being. I had never felt an emotion as percussive as this loathing. I tossed my hands forward, blue-white magick arcing across the air between us. It plowed through his wall of fire, not parting it, not blasting through the flame. It blew his containment circle into pieces, the remnants of flames dancing and spiraling away into nothingness on the wind.
As though it had been made of glass and not of living flame, the circle exploded outward, shattering into a million pieces. The chunks of it scattered across the arena, slamming into Liam and Henrick. I could see where Liam’s skin was burned from it.
They both stared at me wide eyed. Liam dove toward me first. He was closer.
I didn’t even look at him. I didn’t take my eyes from Henrick’s. That face would haunt my dreams for longer than I could comfortably admit. It would haunt me even from beyond the grave. I growled and it rumbled in my chest, frightening.
Liam looked like he wanted to bolt as he neared me. I slapped my hand in his general direction and a lightning bolt the width of my entire body lanced across the space between us, crashing into his chest and hurling him up the stadium. He landed somewhere amongst dilapidated balconies. I didn’t care. I just wanted him out of my way.
Henrick stepped away from Will’s body, backing slowly toward the exit. I didn’t give him the chance. I tossed my other hand forward and another bolt of electricity leapt across the arena. He was fast. But I was faster.
It crashed into his torso, searing a burning hole straight through his shoulder. He shrieked in agony, clutching at what was left of his chest and arm. I advanced, my footsteps heavy and leaden and painful. Everything was painful. All that was, was pain.
Henrick stared at me, afraid. He should be. Under other circumstances, I might’ve taken pleasure in that expression. For my nightmare come true to fearing me? It was satisfying, extraordinarily so. But in my current state, the joy didn’t even begin to pierce me.
For every step I took, he stumbled another back, still clutching the bloody mess that was his shoulder. “Kyra, look, I--” he stammered.
No. I wanted it to stop. I didn’t want to hear him speak.
I lifted my hands on either side of me, my fingers limp. I could just barely see through the haze that they glowed so brightly that it hurt my eyes. I snapped them both forward clapping my palms together. Another lance of power leapt from me, thunder crashing from the sudden displacement of the air. The ground between us was scorched, patches of fire left in its wake.
He threw his hands up, trying desperately to block the blow. But it was too much. The lightning exploded through his defenses, crashing into his torso and carving a hole directly through his abdomen. I could see to the other side of the arena through him.
It sickened me but it was merely an echo, a reflection of emotion somewhere in the back of my mind, trying to peek through.
Henrick fell to one knee, somehow still alive. “Kyra, please, I--” he gasped, the words barely managing to come out of what was left of his lungs.
I held my hand forward, bringing his explanation to a stop as those terrified wide amber eyes flicked up to my face. “Henrick, messing with my family was a mistake.” The words didn’t even sound like my own. They echoed, triplicated in my throat. If it were even possible, those eyes went wider.
The clouds above stirred and roiled, rolling over one another, thunder crackling close by. Rain began coating the arena, piercing us all with its cold fingers.
Henrick’s gaze dashed to the sky, shock in his expression before they fell back to me. He was babbling now, trying to find an appropriate excuse, something to pierce the hardness of my consciousness. The words were all static, my brain not even taking the time to process them.
I stepped closer and closer to him, looking down at his knelt form with what I felt was an absence of expression more than an expression itself. I felt nothing but agony, horrible tearing pain in my heart. And hatred. It pierced the veil.
“Help!” Henrick shrieked and I could vaguely hear boot steps thundering from the ground beneath me. It was no matter. I would avenge Will, even if it was the last thing I did.
I gazed down at him and he cowed, shrinking away from me. “Goodbye, Henrick,” I said, and lifted my fist toward the sky, letting the rain wash over me before yanking it back toward the earth. I walked away from him as a lance of lightning arched down from the sky, slamming into the figure that had once been a man. The thunder shook the arena, slamming into my ears as a percussive explosion.
When the air cleared and I managed to blink the spots out of my vision, Henrick was gone. A smear of red washed the ground where he had been. He had been vaporized, his evil scattered to the winds.
My vision had tunneled. It took me a few minutes to realize that. I felt cold. Not even just cold but the absence of anything else. Like a black hole. I was beside Will’s body now and crashed to my knees, just as the arena flooded with people.
In the forefront I could see my friends and my family. Carson, Anton, Kellic, Damien, Gabrielle, Naomi. Their names cascaded through my mind as they flooded throu
gh the entry. Figures came speeding down from the boxes around us. Vampyres. Witches. Enemies.
I tried to make myself care. They may need my help. There were dozens and dozens of them. Liam crested the seating area far above, gazing down in horror at the scene below.
I didn’t care.
Because I didn’t feel.
I dropped to my knees, my hands grasping Will’s, already growing cold. Or maybe I was just cold. I was endlessly cold. Empty.
They were too late.
Will was dead.
And I was only cold.
Freezing cold.
Chapter Forty-Four
I barely felt it when Carson touched me. He rolled me away from Will by a hand at my shoulder. Even his overwhelming warmth couldn’t crack through this icy cold. I refused to let go of Will, so he leaned me back and looked over me carefully.
I had missed him but in that moment, none of that mattered. I felt nothing but cold and dread and pain and cold.
Carson called something over his shoulder and Anton appeared, his golden eyes falling on me. He nodded to Carson and Carson stepped away from me, letting Anton step nearer. Anton place his palm flat over an exposed portion of my ripped t-shirt, his skin touching mine. He hissed in a breath and jerked his hand away, looking up at Carson with wide eyes. He said something but the words were lost to me.
Damien had urged my mother, Gabrielle, and Kellic into the throngs of battle before he approached. He exchanged words with Carson and Anton, all of them watching me. I didn’t care. I didn’t even ask. I didn’t speak. All that I could hear was the thrumming of my own heartbeat in my ears.
Light exploded around me and I was sure that there was sound to accompany it but I couldn’t hear it past the aching ring of my own sorrow. The fingers clutched in mine became colder by the passing seconds. Tears streamed down my face but even they didn’t provide warmth. It felt like icicles dripped from my cheeks.
I looked up, having no real interest in the activities around me but not being able to look at Will’s still face any longer. Carson and Anton were yelling now. I only knew that by the overall tone and body language. Their words still didn’t come to me. I thought that was odd for a moment but didn’t care enough to consider it further.
Eventually, Anton stormed away, heading up and into the seating above to join the fray. He stood alongside Kellic and I could tell that he was trying to keep her from looking below.
The four of them, Kellic, Anton, Gabrielle, and my mother had cornered Liam. He looked like a deer in headlights, his eyes wide, his movements frantic and jerky. He had blood running from a gash in his forehead. It had blinded him in one eye and caked onto his cheek.
The rest of the arena was in chaos. There were Vampyres and witches bursting from every upper entry, evidently having gotten there through the bowels of the Coliseum. From the arena entrance below, Magicks and other Vampyres, clad all in blue, leapt into the stands, slamming in waves against the oncoming enemy.
It seemed like our side was winning, more of the non-uniformed Vampyres and witches falling to the ground by the moment. Damien led the charge now, leaping headlong into battle and to what would’ve been my surprise, Damien’s friend from the coronation followed. The blue clad Vampyres flanked him, keeping him separated from the waves of enemies.
Carson was trying to get my attention as Kellic leapt atop Liam’s back, knocking him to his knees. I didn’t ignore him so much as not be able to consciously pull myself from this numbness. Kellic clasped her hands around Liam’s neck while Gabrielle and my mother attacked Henrick’s army, keeping them at bay. Anton hammered blows into Liam, breaking bones and sending scattered bruises across him.
Kellic grabbed Liam by the chin, her other hand snaking behind his neck. The pose was painful. It was exactly how Henrick had killed Will. She twisted, snapping hard but not stopping until she rode his body to the ground, the head no longer attached. I almost felt sick. But I almost felt a lot of things right then.
A man approached me where Carson stood. He swiveled red eyes to me, watching me and speaking to Carson. I didn’t look directly at him but I could see him out of the corner of my eye. It was the friend from the coronation.
Lucas.
His name was Lucas.
He looked concerned, his face drawn into a frown. He spoke quickly, making wild gestures with his hands as he looked around. He caught sight of my family and Anton being swarmed by more Vampyres and witches and his face grew hard. He snarled. I couldn’t hear it through the ringing in my own ears but I could feel it. It reverberated through the air. Blue clad Vampyres near him turned, receiving orders, before hurtling themselves toward my overwhelmed family.
That. That almost got something.
My heartbeat seemed to slow, thump-thumping hard in my chest. I lowered Will’s hand to his chest, releasing him and stood. Carson leapt to his feet. He had knelt beside me and hadn’t expected me to stand. I would not--could not--lose someone else tonight. If I could feel nothing else, I could feel that.
I turned to them. Carson spoke to me but I still couldn’t make out the words. I leapt forward, catching the edge of the wall lining the arena and hoisting myself out. My body burned with icy cold, like frostbite seeping in from the edges. The troops ahead had formed rings, my family in the middle, surrounded by a ring of Vampyres and witches moving in on them, and then they were surrounded by my father and Lucas’ troops.
I looked to the sky. A storm was still churning there, feeling much like my own emotions. It seemed to swirl overhead, waiting for my command. And I listened.
The air sparked and sizzled, an enormous amount of energy just waiting to be touched. Carson touched my shoulder, shouting something at me. I knew something was wrong with me. I still couldn’t hear him, even if I tried to focus, even if I could for one moment shove the image of Will’s neck being snapped from my mind. Something had broken within me. But right now, I didn’t care.
I lifted my hands, reaching for the energy of the storm, letting it fill me and lift me. My ears popped as the air crackled and for one, oddly slow moment, I could hear.
“Kyra, you have to stop! This is going to kill you!” Carson screamed, his hand locked onto my shoulder. I cast him a glance and if my heart had hurt before, it was in sheer agony at his expression. There were tears lining his eyes, unspilled, but only just. His green eyes blazed, glowing. Was he trying to use his influence on me? Why wasn’t it working?
I turned my face back to the rain and clouds above. I pulled more energy, letting it settle into my belly before reaching forward and commanding the clouds above to coalesce. The storm obeyed, spinning until the sky had all but transformed into a cyclone.
Then, in a moment of absolute stillness, I slammed my hands toward the earth and a wall in the shape of a giant ‘O’ fell upon the ground. It’s power was so great that it knocked even me from my feet. It created a solid structure, glowing with blue-white power. The Vampyres and Magicks on the outer rim of the bull’s eye were knocked away, blasted by the concussive force across the arena. I knew by design that it was a perfect circle, vacant in the middle, protecting and guarding my family.
The wall sizzled and popped, casting stray rays of electricity into the air. It lit the arena so brightly that I had to shield my eyes, lest I be blinded by it.
Then suddenly, the power was gone. I could feel its touch, a shimmering electricity all around me, but I could no longer wield it. Actually, I could no longer stand. I could barely breathe. I didn’t know that I had fallen until I felt Carson’s arms wrap around my back, scooping me up and resting my head against his chest.
Like a sun gone cold, the power vanished, sucked back into the sky that pelted rain down upon us. The arena was absolutely silent. Vampyres and Magicks forced themselves upright from where I had unintentionally flung them.
I could see my family now, Anton holding Kellic close and staring directly at me. My mother and Gabrielle stock-still, stunned. But they were safe. They were alive.
They were uninjured. The line of dozens upon dozens of non-uniformed Vampyres and what witches remained had been wiped out completely. In their place, smears of red lined the stadium, but they were nowhere to be found, gone to the wind as Henrick had been.
I found my father, standing on the ground of the arena, staring at me, then upwards, then back at me. Lucas stood beside him, doing much the same. My father shook himself, glanced back to where Will’s body lay haphazardly on the ground. He lifted his fist, fingers open and the ground slid up around Will like small stone walls. Then he closed his fist and pulled down. The walls lifted higher, closing in over Will like a tent, pulling downward and dragging his body into the earth.
I wanted to scream at him and ask him what exactly he thought he was doing to my best friend, but I found that I couldn’t. I couldn’t push words out. I couldn’t make my mouth open. I could do nothing but watch. I could watch and I could hurt.
Anton clutched Kellic right then, pulling her against his chest. His eyes glowed and I knew he was drawing the sorrow from her. My mother held Gabrielle, her expression wide eyed and staring, looking at me. Gabrielle sobbed, the cries racking her chest. I couldn’t hear her but I could see the heaving breaths she took again and again.
Carson approached Damien, holding me tightly. They both looked me over. Exchanging words in that far off droning way. Damien said something, commanding and Carson took me away, walking back down the path I had entered through what had felt like a million years ago.
I had done it. The threat was gone. Henrick and Liam and their rebellious forces were gone. But so was Will. Had it been worth it? I truly wasn’t sure that it had been. Would a life of a prisoner have been a life I could have led, knowing Will was safe? I had done this to him. He had been such a staple in my life that Henrick had taken him. Henrick had killed him.
The ringing in my ears began to fade the farther we went through the bowels of the Coliseum. Sounds made their way to me again, distant echoes of themselves.