“The rules are simple,” Rhiannon says. “It’s just you and me. No outside help.”
I crack my knuckles. “I don’t need help to fight you, but you’re using ancestral magic. Hardly a fair fight.”
“I have my own. It’s going to be delightful to see that arrogance melt away when you beg me for your life. On the bright side, maybe I’ll keep you as a pet. Surely you can be useful.”
“My days of being someone else’s puppet are long over, sister.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Then she launches herself into the air, and the battle begins.
TWENTY-ONE
RUNE
I can feel the tremble in Atlas’s energy as he holds himself back from jumping between us to shield me from my sister’s attack. He’s already helped me in the best way he can though, and I’m more than capable of taking it from here. I should be exhausted and drained from the hours I spent taking the illusion apart layer by layer, and I’m sure it will hit me later, but right now all I can feel is the pulse of adrenaline and magic in my veins.
I throw up a shield of blue light and Rhiannon bounces off of it with a frustrated grunt. I smirk as she stumbles back.
“Brute force? Is that really your best opening move?” I tsk and shake my head. “Let me show you how it’s done.”
I murmur an incantation under my breath and send a burst of energy at her, a nearly invisible tidal wave, save for the shimmer of my magic around the edges, only visible to anyone trained to see it. She makes another noise like an angry alley cat as it hits her and throws her backward. She lands on the ground but doesn’t stay down.
“Lessons from my big brother? How cute,” she scoffs, brushing herself off. Her lips move with a spell, and she conjures a glowing ball of electricity in her hand.
She lobs it at me, and I dodge, using the quick, jerky movement to hide the fact that I’m summoning an invisible lasso. I duck out of the way of a second energy ball and cast the hidden rope out. Unlike a normal rope, I don’t have to worry so much about aim or physics, this one is guided by my magic to easily snake around my sister’s torso. With a dramatic flourish, I yank to tighten it, forcing her arms down to her sides.
“Energy balls are good,” I say conversationally, smirking as she struggles against the binding. “But where’s the drama? Where’s the style?”
“Mom was right, you’re too arrogant for your own good,” she hisses.
The mention of our mother has my cocky grin fading.
“She said I was arrogant when we were just kids?” I can’t decide whether I’m sad or pissed off that she would talk about her own child that way. I’m not surprised, but I wish I was.
“No.” A burst of magic explodes across her skin and pushes outwards, destroying my lasso in the process. Damn, she’s stronger than I thought.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?”
We prowl around each other, circling like vultures, studying each other for weak points or stumbles, each plotting our next move.
“She didn’t tell me that when we were kids. She didn’t evenseeme when we were kids.”
“Because she was a greedy, power-hungry bitch.” The words are like acid on my tongue, but they’re true. I wish I was lying.
“No,” she shrieks again. “Because ofyou.” She raises both hands and sends twin bolts of lightning straight at me from her palms.
I pull up another shield to block them, and they bounce off, lighting up the night as they scatter. Rhiannon isn’t done though. She pauses only for a second to catch her breath, then tries again.
“Youwere the golden child. Special Ignatius and his special powers,” she spits. “You ate it up, all their love and attention and praise, like a pig at the trough. You were too greedy to leave even a morsel of it for me.”
My shield trembles under the fresh onslaught, but with Atlas’s energy feeding me, I’m able to pour more magic into strengthening it. Let her tire herself out with useless attacks. Let her scream and rage about things she doesn’t understand.
“I didn’t want any of it,” I say calmly.
“Bullshit.” She pauses and switches tactics, producing a fireball to throw at me this time instead. Just like the lightning though, it bounces off my shield and sizzles in the grass at my feet. “You loved it. You loved all their fawning. You loved not having to go to school or do any chores. You didn’t care that I sat alone in my room every day or that I had no one to play with or even talk to. And even after all that, after they gave youeverything, you killed them anyway. You’re evil, Ignatius. Gran told me, and I didn’t want to believe her, but you are.”
“Gran told you?” I echo. First Mom, now Gran. “When?”
