Rynn sighed, got to his feet, and ran.
Isla
“Let me go!” Isla pushed against Sebastian’s vice-like grip on her arms. She couldn’t see him, but she could still feel him. She hooked her right foot back around his ankle and pulled, trying to knock him off his feet. He merely chuckled and shifted his leg before she could move it.
She brought her foot up and slammed it down on top of his. He grunted and loosened his hold. Isla jerked her elbow back into his gut, but he turned in time to catch her arm. She used his grip to propel her body around so that she faced him, reaching for the dagger attached to her thigh in the same motion.
Her fingers met skin.
She had left her favorite dagger on theMekaisa. How could she have been so careless?
Sebastian took advantage of her mistake and grabbed her wrists, pushing her back against a large boulder.
“Isn’t this fun?” he asked, his words tickling her ear as he lowered his chin. The scruff of his unshaven skin brushed against her jaw, the length of his body pressed to her front as he held her hands in place.
“How are you even doing this?” She glanced in abject horror at the scene unfolding before her. The elementals were being forced to defend themselves against one another as Sebastian appeared to each of them, controlling them to create absolute chaos. At least, she assumed that’s what he was doing, but he hadn’t left her side the entire time. If she wasn’t so terrified, she would be in awe: the fluidity of the elementals’ movements, their quick reactions, the way they moved as one with their nature.
Jade sent a powerful shockwave through the sand, causing the whole beach to quake and rumble. Cracks formed in the ground, spiderwebs traveling out from Jade’s body to the entire landscape. Sand melted away into the crevices as they grew wider and wider.
Rynn held his arms out to his sides and, even from this distance, Isla saw the strain on his face as he, Kai, and Aidan ascended into the air, away from the earth that threatened to pull them under.
Isla’s jaw dropped. Rynn was lifting all three of them with his wind.
Midair, Kai and Aidan threw bolts of water and fire at Jade’s kneeling form. She lost her balance, and the large cracks started to recede, the sand knitting back together as Jade shook her head in frustration.
Isla couldn’t stand watching them try to destroy each other.
She had to do something.
“Sebastian, please—let me go, and I’ll go get the dagger,” she said shakily, turning back to him. Their faces were mere inches apart.
“Hmm.” The vibration from his chest ran through her. “And how do I know I can trust you?”
She swallowed. “You can’t.”
“Well then,” he said, his eyes dropping to her lips. “Go save your elementals.” He released her and stepped back, her body cold where his warmth had been.
She pushed off the rock wall with trembling hands.
Isla gave her father and brother one last look. “I’ll fix this, I swear it,” she said as she turned and bolted into the ensuing battle.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Isla
Islasprintedthedistanceas fast as her legs would carry her. In the moments she’d taken her eyes off the group, she’d lost sight of Jade and Rynn. Kai and Aidan battled close to the waterline, their figures almost a blur as they exchanged blows and parried attacks. Kai’s fists were encased in blocks of ice to deflect against Aidan’s flames. Isla wasn’t certain, but it looked like Aidan was currently the one under Sebastian’s control—his aim was deadly accurate, his fire locked on Kai with the precision of someone who didn’t care who lived or died.
She scanned for Rynn and Jade. Why weren’t they helping?
Isla’s eyes landed on a trail of red. Her muscles locked up as a coppery tang hit her nostrils. Following the blood, she found Rynn lying in a pool of reddened sand. Her breaths were ragged and heavy as she ran. He was bleeding. Badly.
Isla fell to the sand in front of him, gasping at the blood trickling from a gash in his left leg. “What happened?” she asked, her hands carefully tearing away the fabric around the wound to get a better look.
Her fingers froze, her stomach roiling. She fought off a gag. It looked like…like something had punched through the side of his leg. There was achunkmissing from the shin, exposing the muscles and tissue beneath flayed skin. The puddle of blood was growing darker.
“Jade…her vines, they tore—” He hissed in pain.
She swallowed. “Okay—okay, we need to get you out of the way. And then you’ll heal quickly, right? Gods, this is…can you move on your other leg at all?” Her voice shook.He’s not dead, he’s not dead, he’s not dead.She repeated it over and over, trying to remind herself that this could be much worse. She gently put her arms underneath his and pulled up, trying to take the weight from his left side to help him walk. He grunted but was able to move.
