My eyes lock on his. Exhaling hard, like I’m forcing the panic out with my breath, I shove the magic forward.
Straight into his chest. Into his mouth.
It slams down his throat, into every breath he tries to take, filling his lungs.
Eyes wide, he chokes. Gasping. Drowning.
And still I’m not done.
My right hand extends, skin almost blistering with raw magic as my Threads start to tighten the air around his throat, cinching like a noose.
His hands scrabble at nothing, lips stretched in a silent scream.
Still the pressure keeps building—every breath harder.
For him.
For me.
I try to focus, to drive the energy into Ryven’s body, but it’s no use. The air clamps down around me too, thick and wild, like it’s turning on both of us.
Ears ring, vision fractures, as my Threads bounce off in all directions.
But still I don’t stop. I want to survive, get out of here, live long enough to burn this fucking place to the ground.
“Finish him.”Talen’s voice coils under my skin, inside the space between thought and instinct, wrapping around the thrum of my magic like it belongs there.“You know you want to...”
And God. I do.
I want to let go. Let it all burn. Every wound, every word, every look I’ve swallowed down just to survive.
Ryven’s hands slip from his throat to the floor, fingers scrabbling uselessly against the wood. His head droops, mouth parted, lips tinged blue.
I’m barely upright too now—legs shaking, breath ragged—but I don’t let go. I just tighten my grip, even as power screams through me, wild and fraying at the edges, ready to snap?—
Then—
A scream.
Not Ryven.
Higher. Panicked. Real.
“Stop! Get her to stop! She’s killingher!”
The words cut right through me, through the magic, through the storm. My Threads drop like cut wires and Ryven’s body fully hits the floor in a gasping, twitching heap—clawing at his throat, choking on air he can finally reach.
His eyes find mine, wide and terrified, like I’m the monster.
What was I doing? What the hell was I about to do?
I drag in a deep breath, only now realising how hard the pressure had been crushing in around me too. And for a second, all I can hear is my own heartbeat.
Then I turn to the class and I seeher.
Another cadet, four rows back, clutching at her throat, red marks all around it.
That was me. My Threads, my chaos, my emotions. Hell I’m no better than them, then Ryven, thanTalen.He wanted this, he pushed me.
