“No.” Galen exhales the word in disbelief. There goes my hidden identity.
Ianthe whirls on him. “You willnottouch my sister, youfilthybastard!”
The explosive fury in her low, trembling voice carves a hole deep in my chest. I know in that instant that Galen has treated her horribly, possibly abused her in ways I can’t bring myself to even think about. I also know I have another true ally, and my racing heart jerks painfully inside me. I don’t deserve her loyalty. If only I’d defended her half as well.
Ianthe puts herself between Jocasta and me, looking downright savage, and I feel her staking her claim to her rightful place at my side. Our eyes meet in a flare of bright green, and for a moment, everything else stops.
“Ianthe!” Lystra yells.
My sister doesn’t look away from me. “The three youngest Tarvan royals are like us.”
Us.The word knots in my stomach.What does she think I am? What if I’m not?
“Enough!” Galen snaps. Magic gathers around him. Significant power. I feel it pulling on the air. On me.
He rips Ianthe from my side with a powerful, pinpointed gust of wind. She cries out, and I lunge for her, grabbing air. Tossed like a leaf in a winter gale, she twists and spins until she hits the marble wall on our right with a horrible thud. She falls to the floor, silent.
No.
I blink.No!
Lightning spirals down my right arm and coils around my fingertips. Heartbreak and rage erupt on a scream as I point my hand at Galen and let the bolt roll off me with a thundering crack.
He dives out of the path of my fury and then slams his hand down on the ground where he lands. A fissure splits the floor and races toward my feet, widening fast. There’s no time to move, and I drop into the gaping hole, hitting uneven ground and jarring my injured ribs.
“Cat!” Griffin shouts.
I look up. The crack runs the length of the room and is twice my height. Griffin’s clothing flaps under the force of Galen’s wind, but the Elemental Magic has no effect on his body. Galen must be trying to drive Griffin into the hole with me, but not even a hair stirs on Griffin’s head. He’s utterly immune.
Griffin gets down low and reaches for me. I’m too far away, and he curses.
Galen starts chanting, and the jagged walls begin to close. Fear kicks me into action, and I start grappling for a hold. Dirt and rock dust crumble under my hands, sliding down the sides of the hole. I turn in a frantic circle. There’s nothing to grab on to. Not a root or a stone!
Griffin vaults over the side of the crack and lands next to me.
“What are you doing?” I cry.
Without a word, he squats, grabs my ankles, and then heaves me out of the hole.
I land on the edge with a grunt and then throw my legs over the top. Cerberus is still eating snakes, his three-headed, canine body too massive to be moved by the gale. Acantha is behind Galen, along with Galen’s two sons. The three youngest Tarvan sisters are huddled around Ianthe against the wall.
I glance over my shoulder. Flynn, Carver, Kato, and Jocasta have all been blown across the room, and Galen’s wind is pinning them to the double doors. It starts blowing me away, too, and I spin on my belly to grab the edge of the crack.
“Griffin!”
He looks up from searching for a way out. The walls are still closing in. Griffin spreads his arms and pushes. His muscles bulge. His arms shudder, and then his elbows bend.
Panic whips through me. I have to take out Galen. I have to stop his chant.
I push up onto my knees, automatically reaching for my knives as the wind slides me across the floor.Weaponless!
I need another lightning bolt. I pull with my heart, reach out with my hands.Fail!
“Griffin!” Keeping low, I claw my way back toward the fissure. The hole is only a few feet across now, and relentlessly narrowing.
Cerberus raises his heads. A limp serpent dangles from one mouth. The hound swats a tangle of snakes aside with a giant paw and then bounds over to the pit and drops in a head. The head reappears an instant later with Griffin’s entire upper body stuffed between its jaws.
I gasp, terrified.
