Michlael’s eyes found Malakai, resting on him briefly with a mixture of curiosity and fear, before taking control over the situation.
“Sorry for not mentioning it… It’s our secret weapon, no need to panic,” Michlael called out to his troops.
The mages still looked baffled, yet they didn’t question him and straightened themselves withnew courage.
I clenched my teeth, and used the fire on the ground to devour the grass, spreading around a few Ashen Corps soldiers, caging them in.
Then, a figure jumped out of my ring of fire, closing the space between us.
My eyes widened and my heart froze, it was Eve.
Her eyes met ours, with only a brief moment of hesitation before she lifted her rifle and pointed it at me.
“Don’t!” Nate shouted at her, pointing his own gun back at her.
Eve’s eyes slid to him slightly, evaluating the situation, calculating, before her eyes set on me again and she fired.
I gasped, but I was unharmed, Malakai had caught the bullet in his web of blood. But the bullet wasn’t aimed at me I realised, it was aimed athim. Nate and Ashley looked back, and their eyes widened. This was the first time they saw his magic, or at least that it originated from him.
“What?” Ashley stammered. “Heis a mage?”
Malakai’s eyes darkened slightly, his eyes still lingering on Eve, as the bullet she had fired turned on her, threatening, before I reached my hand out and nudged his arm. His eyes darted to me, jaw tightened for a brief second before the bullet fell to the ground.
“Put the rifle down,” Ashley hissed at her. “This is stupid, even for you.”
Eve gritted her teeth, tightening the grip around her weapon as she steadied it, debating whether or not to take aim again. A small splash of water washed over her, breaking her focus. But it only angered her further.
“He’snotwhat you think he is,” she barked, throwing her rifle up with her arm underneath as support. But a mage entered into close combat with her, grabbing hold of her rifle as they began fighting over it. She kicked hiskneecap, forcing it to bend the wrong way, and as she tried ripping her rifle out of his hand it fired.
Not once.
Not twice.
Three shots went off, Eve’s face paling, as if she was as surprised as us that they had pulled the trigger. Nate’s arm swung around Ashley, pulling them down towards the ground, attempting to avoid the bullets, but it was too late.
Another figure jumped in front of them like a human shield and took the hits, staggering, with their arms stretched in an attempt to become as big as possible.
My eyes widened, sounds died around us as everything narrowed down to this one moment.
“No,” I whispered, as I saw Mey fall to her knees.
CHAPTER
38
The world stilled around us.
Eve’s eyes widened, but she swung her rifle and bashed the mage in the head. He fell to the ground unconscious. Eve’s attention turned back to us and she froze in place.
“What happened?” Nate whispered, his head turning up to see who had saved him and Ashley. “MEY!”
He threw himself up, grabbing her shoulders and held her upright.
She coughed, blood spurting to the ground. I sprinted over, while Ashley crawled up on her feet.
“Mey?” I asked, panicked, seeing blood trickling down her mouth.
Shesmiled.
