I flung my hands toward him, his body flying away from me as my attack hit him square in the chest. Timothy hit the floor, came to a standing position, and began to advance, more explosions rocking the floor with each step he took toward me. I raised my hand again, sending a weaker wave toward him. He stepped back as it collided with him, but recovered quickly.
I needed to get out of here. I couldn’t fight Ryland, I really couldn’t fight Timothy. I rolled off the balcony, sending my body flailing into the fight below. I had only fallen a few feet when I caught myself, my strong wind catching my spinning body as I moved myself toward yet another portion of the steadily deteriorating balcony.
I only made it halfway across the large space before a large mass landed on my back, dropping me down to the floor of the ballroom like a boulder. I crashed hard into the marble floor, my back instantly clenching in pain. I screamed out as I fought to get away from whatever had landed on me, surprised when hands shot out and enclosed my wrists.
“Thought you could run from The Master did you? Stupid, little half-breeds.” Another Trpaslík pushed me down onto the floor, his legs straddling me as he restricted my movements.
I clawed and fought and threw any little rocks I could at him, but it was no use. He batted away my pathetic arsenal before clasping his hands on either side of my face as I had seen Ilyan do to someone else only a moment before. I screamed out as I felt the heat growing in his hands. It continued to build until it felt like a fire was burning inside my skull, its raging power boiling inside of my head. My vision blacked out as the pain grew, as my screams increased. Then it was gone.
The Trpaslíks weight left my hips as he fell to the side, his lifeless body slumping onto the cold floor. I sat up, my vision returning. I didn’t wait to find out who my savior was; I simply turned and jumped, taking off into the air again. My fear had supercharged my magic, and I slammed into the balcony on the opposite wall, unable to stop myself in time.
I panted as I stood, my back seizing in pain. I ran forward, toward a door that would lead me out, my left leg dragging a bit. If I could just get to the door, I could make it to the large, second-floor balcony and escape as Ilyan had wanted me to. I didn’t make it far before another body landed in front of me, the body unfolding to face me.
“Cail,” I gasped. First the father, now the son.
“Awww, you remember me. How sweet. Probably not as well as I remember you.” He raised his hand to me and a bright red light flew toward me. He didn’t let it build as he had before; I had no warning this time. I leapt to the side, my back flattening against the hard wall. The red ball erupted right where I had been standing, sending out the wood and stone of the wall in a splintering explosion. Cail looked at me and smiled.
I raised my hand and released the prickling energy in a rush. It slammed into him, but the energy wasn’t strong enough to do any damage. He laughed as he straightened out to face me, while I turned and went to launch myself off the balcony again.
My feet had just left the ground when Cail’s wind intercepted me and slammed me back, hard against the wall of the balcony I had just left. The wind continued to move around me and hold me in place, the remains of my shirt whipping around.
“You and your mother,” he mocked as he walked toward me, his steps faltering as an explosion from below shook the room. “You are both such fighters. Why can’t you die easily? But, you know it’s going to end the same way, don’t you?” He came to stand right next to me and I cringed against him, my body unable to resist the pull of his magic.
“You both end up dead.” He placed his hand against my stomach, his palm against my skin. I grew cold as his magic entered me before beginning to warm as he generated a ball of energy. He formed it inside of me, the weapon building underneath my skin. I screamed out as the warmth turned into a burning heat.
“Let her go.” Ryland’s powerful voice filled the air as he landed roughly on the balcony beside us. He leaned against a large pillar, his body obviously weakened as he continued to fight his father’s invasion of his mind. His body twitched uncomfortably, but his eyes were back to a bright shade of blue.
“Really?” Cail mocked, the heat continuing to move and grow inside of me. “You think you have enough energy to fight me?”
“I don’t...” Ryland panted, “but she does.”
The ball of fire within me grew to a tumult as my energy drained away, filtering out of my body. I could feel my magic move into Ryland, the power increasing as our magics intertwined with one another, growing stronger with their union. My magic drained as Ryland shot a ball of intense golden light toward Cail. The impact sent him flying, his body tumbling off the balcony into the fight below. Ryland collapsed to the floor, his body twitching as he sank.
With no wind to hold me up, I fell roughly to the ground as well, the heat from Cail leaving a terrible pain in my stomach. I crawled to Ryland, placing my arms around his neck when I reached him. He twitched again, and I forced his face up to look at me, thankful for his beautiful blue eyes.
“How did you do that?” I panted, the pain still lingering in my belly.
“I can do anything with you.” He tried to smile, but it was only a grimace.
Ryland reached forward and placed his hand on the skin of my stomach exactly where Cail’s hand had lain. I felt my magic swell and grow as Ryland pulled it toward him, stopping it right before it left me to join him. The warmth stayed there and took the pain away almost instantly.
“How...?”
“Anything... with... you...” He twitched again, his whole body was shaking, but he refused to take his eyes off me.
I reached my hand forward; he grabbed it, pressing my fingertips to his lips.
“Love... you… always…” His shaking became uncontrollable as his eye color began to fade. I watched in agony as Edmund took over.
“No!” I clutched his hands desperately. “Don’t leave me!”
“Always.” His voice was broken and wispy in my ear as he pulled my hand against the side of his face. He pressed my fingers roughly to him, his grip tightening in his fear of losing me.
“No!”
Before the change could complete, the balcony shifted and collapsed. I held tightly to Ryland’s hand as we were thrown over the edge, our bodies tumbling toward the fire-filled conflict that raged below. I swept wind to us, hoping the weak energy would catch us before we landed hard against the floor; instead, the wind flung us into a heap in the corner.
My body was entangled with Ryland’s as we collided with the wall, but I wasn’t there for long before Ryland grabbed me and shot me away from him in a surge of wind and energy. My body slammed into another wall, and I felt my back pop. There was no agony with it, so I stood, thankful that it had not broken again. I steadied myself just as Ryland landed in front of me, a wave of energy slamming into my stomach. I felt no pain; only pressure as the energy surge pushed me back, trapping me in place.
“Hello again, little pet,” Ryland sneered as he walked toward me, his black eyes shimmering wickedly as he laughed. I cringed away from his advance, but my body was restrained again by his magic.
“Not going to try to attack me again?” Ryland was right in front of me now. He leaned intimately close to me, one hand resting on the wall beside my head. I could feel his breath against my face; feel his hip as he pushed it against me. He smiled wickedly, and I felt the bile rise dangerously in my throat.
“That’s okay; I have another idea.” His voice was a sickening purr.
His hand moved into my line of vision, his fingers twiddling together, small sparks flashing from the surge in his magic. The sparks he produced continued to grow as his fingers rubbed together wildly. In only a moment, a small dagger appeared in his hand, the small silver blade glinting wickedly in the magical light that flashed and pulsed around us.
“You love this body, don’t you, little girl?” He smiled wickedly. I couldn’t look away from the dagger that spun between his fingers. “
You love the way it looks, the way it makes you feel.” He pushed his hip further into me; I gasped in pain at the pressure.
“Well, this body, it loves you, too.”
The dagger stopped spinning and my eyes flew to his with a glimmer of hope. It was pointless.
“But I don’t,” he said.
I didn’t even see the movement; I was too consumed with looking at his face. One minute there was no pain, and the next, the pain had moved beyond me. I screamed as the tiny dagger began to dig its way into the skin that covered my heart. I felt the warmth of my own blood drizzling down my chest as the dagger slowly worked its way into my chest, deeper and deeper, toward my beating heart.
“That doesn’t hurt, does it?” Ryland’s voice was so joyous; he enjoyed watching my agony as he tortured me.
“Ryland!” I screamed his name, my voice finding form as the pain grew. “Fight him, Ryland!” The evil imposter who restrained me only laughed as he dug the knife deeper into my skin.
“Sad. I don’t think he can hear you.”
“Ryland! It’s me. It’s Joclyn. Snap out of it, please!”
He only laughed with increased malice. I screamed again, feeling the blood pool around the waistline of my tight pants.
“Ryland!” I panted between screams, calling to him, desperate for him to make a connection. “Remember the tree… the old guard… at the hospital… Remember when we… ran away…” I screamed and panicked as the pain increased. He only laughed as he looked at me through the depthless pit of his black eyes.
“Remember when you kissed me…” I tried one last time before my voice broke; my mind too dizzy and confused to focus properly. My head slumped down; I focused on my own heartbeat, hoping that Ilyan would find me, that someone would see me, before it was too late.
“Joclyn.”
My head rose slowly to see him—Ryland, blue eyes and all—looking at me. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything; I just looked at him. His eyes looked me over, stopping in a panic when he saw the dagger that still remained in my chest, his hand and my skin covered with wet, sticky blood.
“Oh, God, what have I done?” he asked as he released his magical hold on me and I fell into his arms. He held onto me tightly as his magic surged into me; warmth filled me as the dizziness retreated and the flow of my blood seemed to stop. I looked up at him carefully, the obvious request lining my face.
“We have to get out of here,” he whispered, not waiting for me to respond before he exploded into the air, my body still pressed tightly against his.
We didn’t even make it past the hole in the ceiling before the entire process was reversed. A gust of wind I knew neither of us controlled pushed against us in the opposite direction, dragging us back down to the destroyed floor below.
Ryland’s arms went limp and I tumbled out of them, heading down toward the ground, fast. My fear of falling only lasted a moment before Ilyan’s wind grabbed me and pulled me, soaring across the room, straight into his arms.
“It’s time to go,” he hissed in my ear.
I turned from Ilyan, searching for Ryland. He stood across the room from us, his body tall and still as he looked intently in our direction, his eyes back to the colorless cast. He didn’t move; he didn’t flinch; he stayed still, just as his father commanded him to do.
Edmund’s hand was placed on Ryland’s shoulder, the fingers curved aggressively as they dug into Ryland’s skin. Edmund seemed to taunt us from across the room, his stance just willing us to come and attack him. I knew we would lose if we tried, but I did not want to accept it.
“Ryland!”
“We can’t take him, Silnỳ,” Ilyan said. He wrapped his arms around me as he pulled me away from them.
“No!” I yelled out in a panic, reaching for Ryland.
“I can’t get him away from Edmund and get you out of here safely, Joclyn. You are my number one priority now. We have to go.” Ilyan grabbed me tightly around the waist, and jumped us back. Edmund had just released Ryland’s shoulder and Ryland was now advancing toward us surprisingly fast.
“No! I can do it! I can save him!” I don’t know what made me say that; I knew I couldn’t. My heart beat wildly as I fought against Ilyan’s arm; my body, my heart, desperate to get back to Ryland.
“I can do it! Let me go!” Ilyan held me tighter as I fought against him, my hands clawing uselessly at his strong arm.
Ryland kept advancing as Ilyan restrained me, the members of the guard surrounding us again in an attempt to escape together.
“Ryland. Ryland!” I screamed until my voice broke, my mouth filling with the taste of blood. “Let me go! Ryland!”
Ilyan tightened his grip and I felt us take off into the air, the wind blowing against my skin as Ilyan took me away from the one person I wanted, the one person I needed.
“Ryland.” I continued to fight, not caring if I fell. I needed him.
I fought Ilyan, calling Ryland’s name in a desperate hope that he would change back, that he would see me and follow. Our eyes locked as Ilyan flew me through a wide hole in the roof, the night sky swallowing us up and taking me away from him.
Now, I knew it was too late. His eyes faded to blue just as we passed beyond the roof of the building, but Ryland only looked at me in confusion, no trace of recognition on his face.
No matter if I came back, no matter how hard I would try, it was too late now. Edmund had erased every part of him.
Fifty-Four
Ryland
“We have to get out of here.” I was sure my words were slurred. The edges of my vision were blurry. They ran together as I grabbed Joclyn, holding her against me as I pulled every last scrap of the magic that I had spent so much time saving out.
It was dangerous. My father could dig too deep without that barrier, with my magic drained I doubted it would take much for him to take control. But Joclyn was here. Ilyan and his guard were here.
If I could get out, if Ilyan could save me… if there was anyone that could reverse this it was him. Not Sain and his lock box or memories. I had always been raised to think that Draks were weak and untrustworthy anyways.
Holding Joclyn against me, I took off into the air, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to get us much further than the roof.
It would be enough.
It had to be enough.
I didn’t even make it that far.
Joclyn fell from my arms as they went limp. My whole body sagged as my magic gave out and the tidal wave of red-hot fury took its place.
‘You thought you could succeed. You thought you could defy me. You will pay.’
I resisted the need to scream as all of that red-hot magic became a branding iron against every inch of my flesh, every nerve, every muscle. Agony gripped me, ripping at my mind, at my magic, and stripping it all away. There was nothing I could do to fight it. I couldn't even scream because something much worse was in front of me.
Ilyan had grabbed Joclyn, the tall Skȓítek holding her against him as they all retreated. They were leaving me behind, the building coming down around us all.
I couldn’t even yell out to them and ask for help. I couldn't follow. Nothing in my body responded, I just stood, a sneer that wasn’t mine plastered on my face.
‘I warned you there would be nothing left.’ My father hissed as the powerful man came up beside me, his hand cold on my shoulder even as his magic continued to burn me. “You were bred to be my weapon, Ryland. Now, I will use it.”
The edges of my vision became a fog as Joclyn continued to yell my name, her silver eyes beaming in agonizing pain. Pain I had only seen once before… when…
All of the memories of her were leaving.
She was leaving.
Frantically, I chased my father’s magic through me, running away from it as I locked this moment away with all the rest, locked every single memory away against the string of the necklace. Storing them in the one place he would never find them.
With her.
The
girl who was being carried away.
Who was screaming for someone.
Who I had never seen before.
“I created you to be powerful, Ryland, so that you could do for me what everyone else could not.”
“What is that?” I asked, my voice an icy chill that I didn’t recognize. But then, I didn’t recognize much.
“The blonde man. Do you know him?” My father’s voice hissed in my ear as a furious Cail came up beside him. The guy looked absolutely pleased with himself for some reason.
“Ilyan.”
“Yes. And the girl?”
Yes? I wasn’t sure, so I said the only answer that made sense. “No.”
“Good,” Edmund and Cail were grinning with identical smiles. “Because we are going to hunt them down and kill them. You are going to destroy them both.”
Something in me broke, and an audible gasp escaped, causing both of their heads to turn.
‘You are worthless, your fight is in vain. I will kill you if I have to.’
No. The word was an echo in my head, I wasn’t sure what I was answering to.
“Good. You and Cail can go now, track them before they get too far.”
I stepped forward, ready, eager, frightened. I didn’t want to do this. The emotions were a crazed cacophony and I shivered, only vaguely aware of Cail hissing something to my father.
“The connection was met, but her binds are strong, Edmund.”
“I had assumed as much,” Edmund sighed and I turned, my vision shaking before it returned to its fog. “I believe we will have to move soon, but first, take this one and find the bastards. If I have to guess they are going to the ring. Cut them off. You know how fast Ilyan can be. You will have to be quick to beat them there.”
“Is he ready for that?” Cail asked, his eyes following my father’s until they both stared at me. I stood up straighter, as though my spine had been zipped up by something external.
“Yes, and if he is not.” Edmund finally broke his eye contact with me and my spine sagged, that puppet feeling coming back. “You can have some fun tonight breaking him further.”
Imdalind Ruby Collection One: Kiss of Fire | Eyes of Ember | Scorched Treachery Page 38
