I shouldn’t have been hit with a wave of betrayal for someone who came out of nowhere and made it clear from day one that he wanted Chrome dead. It shouldn’t have crushed my chest like a brick building collapsing on me like it did. But regardless, I had trusted him to be on our side.
“Give me your hand.” The Tempest queen reached out her palm expectantly.
Shadow offered his left hand, his green currents snaking up and down his arm. His head remained dipped at his chest.
Celanea retrieved a dagger from her belt strapped around her back. Slicing his palm, she stood over him and began to chant in a vicious-sounding language. I grabbed Chrome’s wrist, hoping he’d look at me, but he wouldn’t take his gaze from his half-brother. Instead, his scowl relaxed as Celanea continued to chant, and he cocked his head to the side, studying something I couldn’t see.
I looked around the courtyard. Our friends in white remained silent, but vigilant, aware that we were all surrounded by Infernals. Onyx could barely contain his breath from the rage transforming his face, while Cotton stared at me.“Be ready to shield.”
My eyes widened, and I nodded, immediately summoning my element within me. It thrashed wildly in a frenzied gust, not wanting to be contained.
As Celanea continued to chant, Shadow kept his head bowed low with his palm bleeding onto the uneven cobblestones. With his right hand at his back, he gestured something. It was only a flicker of movement, but I caught it. His first two fingers slashed down at an angle. Chrome must’ve seen it, too, and had some understanding of what it meant.
“Now!”Cotton’s voice permeated my mind, and I let go of the hold on my element, forming a shield around myself. When I went to extend it to encapsulate Chrome, I saw the ripple of his pulsating energy form a shield around himself. I’d never seen him do that before.
Is that new?
I glanced at Cotton, seeing him scrawling something in the air quickly before a shimmering ripple exploded from his body, acting as a barrier. I had so many questions for him, because where did that come from?
With the same hand he gestured with, Shadow latched ontoCelanea’s wrist and leaped to his feet, maneuvering in a way that had her arm twisted behind her back. The knife clattered to the ground, but disappeared the moment that it landed. I glanced beside me, grinning widely when I realized Chrome had it in his possession now.
Chaos erupted. Infernals leaped into action, fighting with magic and weapons against the ones in white. Void wielded two swords, ducking and swiping at Infernals with each stealthy step he took. If the Infernals were employing their psychic attacks, they weren’t working. Void took heads quickly and ruthlessly, managing to sneak up on his opponents from behind.
Chrome reached for my hand, squeezing it. He bounced on the soles of his feet, ready to fight, and flashed me a grin that I’d missed so much. With a wink, he tugged me forward. “Follow my lead,” he said midstride.
We ran toward Celanea, bypassing Sage and joining Shadow, who had cloaked himself in darkness.
Swords, knives, and daggers went sailing all over the courtyard, landing in the vital organs of Infernals. I realized it was Chrome, wielding his element of metal to minimize the number of Infernals we’d be up against.
The ones in white fought with that strange sort of magic I’d witnessed earlier; there was a peaceful resoluteness to their swift and powerful movements that I’d never seen before.
Celanea whirled around, her smooth face twisted with hatred. “You fools!” Her eyes locked on mine, and I accepted the challenge. I had no weapon. Just my magic and hands. I hoped that would be enough.
The urge to inflict violence roared through me, the need to deplete again itching just beneath the surface of my skin. But it only pushed me forward. I gathered my element, knowing that my Kinetic magic would do nothing against her, and fortified my shield.
I released a blast of compacted air at her feet, hoping to knock heroff balance. She staggered back, and I slammed another blast at her chest. And another. And another. Relentlessly.
Sprinting toward her, I took advantage of her being thrown off-kilter. I threw my fist into her throat, packing the punch with tightly compressed air that gave me a boost.
Celanea’s hand cupped her throat. She began to batter my shield with her magic, but I held fast. “I was hoping to get my hands on you this evening. You were next,” she said, slamming her fists into my shield, weakening it.
“Too bad.” I spun, landing a high kick to her temple.
She screeched. Celanea didn’t strike me as the type to know how to fight. Rather, she seemed to depend solely on magic. I was proven wrong when she blocked my next blow with her forearm. She grinned widely. “I never thanked you for your sacrifice all those years ago.”
I ignored her taunts, falling into a death dance of blows. Aiming for her sensitive organs, even if she was immortal, should be enough to make her disengage, then Chrome could end her with the sword. I didn't know where he was, as I was unable to break my focus from the Tempest queen.
Celanea battered my shield with her magic and fists. “Let's see how long you can hold out, little queen.”
My shield held, but barely. It took a lot of effort to keep it from caving to her power and strength, but it saved me from having to expend energy deflecting or dodging her blows.
Each blow I landed to her face brought me a sick joy, making the violence raging inside me roar with the small victory.
I landed an uppercut beneath her chin, making her head snap back. She fell, her back colliding with the cobblestones and sliding several feet. I stalked toward her until my shadow loomed over her body, ready to snap her neck, even if it was only temporary. Celanea’s black curls painted across her face, and through them, I could see her teeth gleaming from the laughter. “Oops. I fell,” she whimperedmockingly in a childlike voice, then slammed her palm into my shield.
I watched in horror as the air shield rippled with black webbing, disintegrating my magic surrounding me.
“My turn.” Her golden irises expanded, her pupils dilating so wide her entire eyes turned black, and suddenly, I was on my knees, paralyzed and dazed. I couldn’t move, completely at Celanea’s mercy and under her control.
