I swallowed.
Like a cloaking shield.
Shit.
I looked back at Peter who hadn’t moved or stirred since we’d arrived. Was the Ngili somehow taking his power from him and using it for himself?
Ducking out from behind the tree, I fired my own shot. The heat that had warmed inside me from the moment I’d stepped foot in this house was all too happy to unleash itself. Unlike all of my training battles, there was no wait time while my body heated to the proper temperature. With my memories restored, my power was suddenly an “aim and fire” ability. But the fireball simmered and blinked out just before it reached its target.
The Ngili was definitely using a shield of some kind.
“She’s taking Peter’s power somehow,” I called to Xander.
“How?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but we won’t get through it unless we can revive Peter,” I called back. I glanced at Peter and then back to Xander. “Can you use your bolt on him?”
“How?” he began, frowning.
“Zap his heart with that electric current you have,” I told him, thinking of a defibrillator.
“I don’t know if—”
“We have to try!”
Xander cast a wary glance up at the cloaked figure on the roof. Then he inched toward Peter. He hadn’t gotten far when another bolt slashed out. It narrowly missed Xander, but I realized too late he wasn’t the target.
I screamed but it didn’t matter.
Peter’s body jolted as the bolt sank into his arm like a blade. Blood erupted from the wound as the bolt vanished, leaving behind the damage it had done.
“Leave him alone,” I screamed, whirling to look up at the figure on the roof.
The figure only fired a bolt at me. It hit the tree trunk and splintered until it vanished. Fury rose in me, sending a surge of heat through me that was beyond anything I’d ever summoned before.
I stepped forward, daring the asshole to fire at me again. “Stop it now or I’ll stop you,” I warned. “This is your last chance.”
“Alina, get back,” Xander hissed.
I ignored him.
“Please,” came an all too familiar voice as the figure on the roof spoke. “If it’s anyone’s last anything, it’s yours.”
Something inside me stirred at the sound. I knew that voice.
It sounded like…
“Taryn?” Xander’s surprise was even greater than my own.
A small hand appeared from inside a wide sleeve. It reached up and pulled back the hood, revealing a mop of wild red hair.
Taryn’s mouth twisted as she said, “Were you expecting someone else?”
“Taryn, why are you doing this?” I called, recalling the memories of Taryn as a child. She was always so competitive—and bitter—even as a classmate in grade school. Like she wasn’t getting everything she deserved. Back then, she’d always been ugly to me for having what I did. And now her behavior toward me made sense. She’d been rude at night wars and then the next day.
But I’d never thought—
“Give me a break, Alina.” Taryn’s eyes narrowed as she looked down at me. “No one wants to hear your sobbing pleas for mercy. You know, I thought you couldn’t get more annoying, but I was wrong. Pre-teen Alina was maddening, but grown-up Alina is infuriating. You aren’t better than me.”
“I never said—” I began.
She raised her hand again, this time pointing at me. A bolt loosed from her fingertips, slicing through the air like a sharp-tipped arrow. Beside me, Xander roared and a matching bolt shot from his chest. They met mid-air and shattered as they crashed together.
Taryn glared at Xander. “You will pay for that.”
From close by, a howl rose, drowning out Xander’s reply. Two more quickly followed, both of them already growing closer. A second later, three wolves poured out the back door and into the yard including the guard Xander had left on the porch the other day. They stopped when they saw us, their gaze travelling upward right along with ours. When they caught sight of Taryn, they all growled and inched closer to the house. To her. Out on the street, more howls rose, and I knew more wolves were on their way.
I looked up at Taryn, the fire inside me burning and begging to be let out. It had never been this hard to hold it back before. I gritted my teeth against it as I told her, “You’re surrounded. There’s no way out. Surrender yourself now and you’ll get a fair—”
“A fair what?” she shot back. “Execution?” She snorted. “Don’t bullshit me, empress. I’ve been here while you’ve been… Where were you again? Oh yeah, running away.” Her expression twisted cruelly. “Looks like all that running caught up with Peter over there. He’s not looking so hot.”
A ball of flame shot from my chest. It slid right through whatever barrier she’d constructed for herself and narrowly missed Taryn as she slid sideways. The fireball landed on the roof behind her, melting a hole straight through.
Above us, thunder boomed and Taryn’s eyes lit with evil glee. Her red hair danced in the wind and the air around her practically cackled with all the energy oozing off her now. With a single swipe upward, she lifted both arms straight up over her head. In answer, a sheer curtain rose from the ground, cutting us off from the trio of wolves near the back door.
“It looks like Peter’s shield,” Xander said.
“That’s because it is Peter’s shield,” Taryn cried.
I watched as she guided it, plugging holes and pulling it in tight until we were enclosed in our own private arena. All the wolves could watch, but none of them could get inside.
How in the hell did she have so much damn power?
The fury inside me ignited, coursing through my veins like liquid power. Taryn was the only one I’d ever seen shoot bolts—or anything remotely powerful—out of her hands. The rest of us shot from our chests. Myself included. But the power lying ready inside me now wasn’t the same as the power I’d had when I’d woken up this morning.
It wasn’t like anyone else’s—including Taryn’s.
After my time in the white room, I was beginning to understand a little about magic. And I finally understood even more about myself.
Another fireball exploded from me—this time from my palm. I could feel Xander’s eyes on me, his mouth open in surprise, but he didn’t say a word. Taryn barely managed to block it with a bolt of her own making. The two elements met mid-air until the bolt ate through the fire and they both evaporated with a puff.
I pressed my lips together in frustration.
Even now, with all my memories intact and all my power at its full strength, I was still holding back. Only, this time, it wasn’t because I didn’t have enough power.
This time, I could already feel it—I had too much.
If I let this out now, I wasn’t sure I knew how to stop it.
“Why are you working with Tharos?” I demanded. “Using his magic? You know he’s only going to kill you once you’ve served your purpose.”
“I have no intention of continuing to use Tharos or his magic,” she said.
“Then what do you want?” I yelled.
“I want your power,” she said, simply.
“My power?” I frowned.
“Yes. And you’re going to give it to me. One way or another.”
“Why would I do that? So you can turn around and give it to Tharos?” I shook my head. “Not a chance.”
Her smile was smug. “I promised Tharos I’d deliver you. Our agreement says nothing about the power inside you. Besides, Tharos can’t stand against me,” she shot back. “Once I’ve combined my power with yours, I’ll be unstoppable even by Tharos.”
“Taryn, this is insane.” I shook my head. Xander had been right about the dark magic being too much for one person. Taryn had lost it if she thought she could double cross Tharos and get away with it. “What’s in me isn’t enough to stand against him.”
“Ha. You just don’t understand how to wield it. I watched you
as a kid and I saw what you had when you thought no one was looking. You’ve never been worthy of your gifts, but I am. I’ve worked for five years to become strong enough to handle them. Spell after spell. Sacrifice after sacrifice. And here I am. Ready to take what you aren’t even using, anyway.”
“If I did give it to you, Tharos would only come after you next,” I told her.
Her lip curled. Nothing about what I’d said scared her. “Let him.”
I stared back at her, confused and out of ways to reason with her. How could I possibly reason with a madwoman? She thought what I had would be enough against Tharos himself?
“I’m not giving you my power, Taryn. And whether you believe it or not, I’m doing you a favor. No one wants this. Not even you.”
She shrugged. “Guess we’ll do it the hard way.”
A bolt fired from her fingertip, aimed at me. I blocked it, but not before another fired and then another. One after the other, they continued to come, until it took me and Xander both to block her shots. Some of them came for me and some for Peter. Xander’s electric bolts ate up Taryn’s ice, shattering them one by one until tiny shards whirled around us, pricking at my face and arms.
I squinted through it, trying to keep up and use my fire to help Xander defend us all. Outside the shield, the wolves howled and slammed against it, growling and snarling at the invisible barrier that kept them from rushing in to help us. Not that they could have done anything against Taryn’s magical blades.
Xander and I were the only ones capable. In fact, if it weren’t for him and his quick interceptions, I would have been hit by now.
The moment I thought it, I realized Taryn had already made her play.
I looked up in time to see another bolt fly—this time aimed for Xander.
He was too caught up in parrying the ones aimed at me and Peter to notice. My eyed widened as I realized he was going to be hit. I screamed and shot a fireball out of my palm but it was too late. The bolt landed and sank deeply into Xander’s chest.
He grunted with the force of it and blinked at me, stunned.
Taryn gave a delighted victory cry.
Xander dropped to one knee, using the pile of dirt for cover as he reached for the bolt still lodged in his chest. Our eyes met and something inside me unlocked. Whatever gate I’d closed on the enormity of my own power swung wide open.
A second later, the fire inside me exploded.
A deafening roar sounded, drowning out the thunder and the wind and even Taryn’s screams. The ground shook, but this time, it had nothing to do with the aerial attack and everything to do with the crash of flames that had erupted from my skin.
It poured up and out of me, leaking from my pores and my mouth and my ears straight up into the air. I watched with eyes wide, utterly powerless to stop whatever came next.
The fire tore its way free, crashing into the sky above and raining down in an explosion of color. Purples and reds and blues flashed one by one until they blurred together, creating a blazing kaleidoscope of deadly flames. They licked up and up until they reached their target—and then they consumed.
Taryn’s screams died abruptly as the fire engulfed her and snuffed her out. One minute she was standing on the roof, reveling in her assumed victory, and the next, she was nothing more than falling ash—raining overhead like the embers of a volcanic discharge.
Another boom sounded and I couldn’t tell if it was the thunder attempting to penetrate what was left of the cloaking shield or my own power still waging war on anything in its way.
Both were deadly enough to make me want to hide.
I tried moving my legs, intent on getting to Peter, on shielding him from the fire and ash raining down. It had already gotten into my clothes, burning holes in everything it touched. But the smoke was too thick to see through.
And still, the fire kept coming.
I tried pulling back on it, but it was useless. Like trying to dam a waterfall in mid-air. In the end, all I could do was let it leave me—and hope nothing else got in its way.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Quiet blanketed my senses. The thunder had stopped, and in the back of my mind I wondered if that meant the world had truly ended. Maybe I’d burned it all down after all.
Moments passed.
The heat in my veins was gone. Not cooled and dormant like it would have been after any other fight, but just gone. Empty.
I was hollow.
Agonized over what I’d unleashed, I drew a shallow breath. My lungs filled with smoke and it only served to make me more afraid of what I’d see if I opened my eyes. Instead of facing it, I let myself drift along—a wisp of smoke among the ruins.
Voices hummed, some louder than others. None of them were talking to me. All of them sounded hushed and worried. One in particular stood out among the rest.
“All clear?” There was a round of murmured “yeses” and then a pause and then the voice came again. “Do you have a pulse?”
Xander.
I’d watched him get hurt. No matter how much devastation I might have caused, I had to be sure he was all right. My lids fluttered as I forced myself awake. It was like trying to run underwater; the harder I fought, the more resistance seemed to slow me down.
“Yes!” Jalene sounded relieved—and triumphant. “I can feel a pulse. It’s faint but it’s there.”
A pulse? Who were they…?
Shit. Peter!
In an instant, I broke the surface of consciousness and reality flooded in. I gasped, coming awake all at once as I fought free of the darkness.
The world tilted and my head spun. I opened my eyes to find the gray day had turned to ash and embers.
Beyond that, a dark wall of fur blotted out everything else. It took me a moment to realize the wall was a black wolf providing me cover from the falling ash. I arched my neck and a pair of large yellow eyes came into view.
“Empress,” Dominik said in a growly voice.
“How’s Peter?” I managed in a scratchy voice.
“He’s alive,” Dominik said.
Needing to see for myself, I began to move.
A pair of arms were there almost instantly, grabbing my shoulders and helping me sit up. I watched as the relief in Xander’s eyes spread to the rest of his expression. “Thank the Goddess,” he said. “You’re awake. How are you feeling? Are you hurt?”
My heart panged at the question. The pain I felt wasn’t physical. “I’m okay.” I reached up and brushed my fingers over the stab wound on his shoulder.
“I’m fine,” he assured me, guiding my wrist back to my lap. He didn’t let go of me, though, and instead threaded our fingers together and held tight.
I looked around at the faces gathered. Jalene still hovered near Peter. She and Beck worked together bandaging Peter’s various wounds. His eyes were still closed, but I saw the distinct rise and fall of his chest.
“Will he be all right?” I asked.
“I used my power as an electric shock and it revived him. He’s breathing,” Xander said simply, and I knew he didn’t want to admit he wasn’t sure of anything else.
It was better than nothing.
“And his power? The shield?” I asked.
“The wall vanished when you— I think his power returned to him once Taryn was gone,” Xander said.
I exhaled in relief. “And the thunder stopped.”
He nodded. “With the shield back and Taryn’s spell work cut off, we’re safe.”
For now.
He didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to. Tharos knew where we were. Our days here were officially numbered.
“Alina… What happened?” Xander asked quietly.
“I’m not…” I trailed off as the weight of his question hit me.
He wasn’t talking about Taryn being the Ngili or even the fact that I’d killed her.
I looked around, searching for the words to explain. Would they turn on me when I told them? Lump me in with Taryn? Or worse, Tharos? Would I
lose any chance I had at reclaiming my throne?
I couldn’t be sure so I remained silent.
Dominik sat close beside me, his shoulder brushing mine in an offer of silent support. A few yards away, several wolves had gathered with Eamon at their head. All of them were licking at the burns and wounds that littered their coats. When they saw me watching, they bowed their heads.
More support.
Someone caught my eye, and I turned to see Kent standing at the back of the group. His hands were stuffed into his pockets and his face and clothes were a little cleaner than the rest. He didn’t look harmed in any way, and I wondered if that was because he’d just arrived or if he’d purposely hung back from the fight.
He watched me with a solemn expression that was impossible to read.
I looked away, daring to scan the area where I’d last seen Taryn. With a single glance, I saw what Xander really meant, and I gasped.
It was gone. All of it.
The grass and dirt leading up to the site had been charred to a crisp but worse than that…
“Where’s the house?” I asked, craning my neck to peer into the giant hole that had been left where my house had once stood.
Xander didn’t answer.
I got up, venturing to the edge of the crater, and peered over the side.
It was massive—large enough to have eliminated not just my house but the ones on either side as well. They lay in a pile of smoldering rubble, the ash rising from the embers falling like snowflakes around us. Already, my hair was coated in it.
“Those houses.” I turned back to Xander, near panic. “Was anyone…?”
He shook his head. “No one was inside.”
“What could have done this?” I asked, turning back to stare into the hole. The building remains lay at the bottom, charred and blackened. Lying over the debris was a large stone. Bigger than any I’d ever seen. It was nothing like the fireballs I had shot. And it clearly wasn’t made of fire. Maybe I hadn’t done this after all. Maybe Tharos had made some sort of weapon that managed to get through the failing shield.
The Girl Who Called The Stars Page 24
