Then he says dryly, “You’re really making a name for yourself, little human.”
The confirmation sends a sharper jolt through me. It is him. He turns, slicing through another lunging shadow with casual precision. Blade flashing once, then gone.
“Took less than a day to cause this kind of mess,” he adds, almost bored. “Impressive.”
I can’t answer. The hum in my chest is a roar now, pressure building, too fast.
He glances at me, eyes narrowing slightly, voice flattening. “You need to get it under control.”
I can’t. The magic claws at my skin, rushing higher, no shape, no focus.
This isn’t like before. Not like with Raiden in the training room. That was frustration and sparks. This is... something else. Bigger. Deeper. Like it thinks I’m going to die, and it’s not planning to let that happen.
Tamsin shouts something I can’t hear. Another Wraith hound coils to strike. The pressure breaks.
Blinding force explodes outward.
A wave of raw energy tears through the chamber, shredding the shadows mid-air. The Wraith hounds vanish, unraveling with a final, echoing shriek. The crowd stumbles back, voices rising in shock.
I drop to my knees, gasping. Fire races along my skin as glowing lines wrap around my fingers, coiling up my wrist, searing into my arm. I clutch it, breath ragged, skin hot.
I push up my sleeve, tears burning my eyes. A black line snakes up my fingers, over the back of my hand and around my wrist all the way up to my elbow. Intricate and glowing. It burns.
The chamber falls silent. Tamsin drops down next to me, gently taking my unmarked hand in hers. Kael watches me, unreadable.
“Well,” he says softly. “That answers that.”
Tamsin squeezes my hand. “Linds...breathe. You’re okay.”
I’m not sure that’s true. My heart is still slamming against my ribs. My skin feels too hot, too tight. The mark still glows faintly, even as the worst of the burn eases.
Around us, the crowd is frozen. Then the whispers start, because talking about other people is obviously their favorite pastime.
Boots scrape across the stone. Kael steps closer, gaze pinned on me. No sympathy. No surprise. Only cold calculation.
He glances at the mark. “Didn’t think it would surface like this,” he mutters.
“Well,” he says again, louder this time, pitched for the crowd to hear. “Looks like the little human isn’t so harmless after all.”
The words snap through the stunned silence like a whip. A few answering growls from the Fang. Heated whispers amongthe witches and warlocks. But their words fade into the background.
Tamsin bristles beside me. “Shut it, Kael.”
He doesn’t look at her. His attention is still locked on me.
“You’re coming with me.”
The tone leaves no room for argument. Not a request. Not even a threat. A simple fact.
Tamsin shifts protectively, half between us. “Like hell she is. She just?—”
Kael cuts her off with a look.
“Stay here and let the Bloods tear her apart, then. I’m sure having a reason to take out the human is all they need,” he says mildly. “Or let the Council get wind of what just happened down here. See how long she lasts.”
My stomach twists. The crowd is already starting to close in, voices becoming vicious. Too many stares on me. On the black mark.
Kael holds out a hand. “Choice is yours, littlehuman,” he says, the word slow like it doesn’t quite fit. “But move. Now.”
