“You drew the magic from chaos inside you,” Meena said, watching her approach.
Meena’s finger still ached. Rocks were much more painful to flick than acorns. She put her finger in her mouth to dull the pain.
Ezra nodded. “The pain—or fear—can come from anywhere,” she explained. “I just no longer draw it from others.”
“That’s very noble of you?” Meena implicitly believed what Ezra was telling her, and she felt a little angry at herself for accepting it so readily.
“It hurts,” Ezra responded.
“I’m sorry.” Meena took her finger out of her mouth. Hopefully, that was the only flicking she would have to do tonight, as she didn’t think her poor finger could take another hit. “But we got past the guards without harming them too badly. I hope.”
“Let’s finish this.” Ezra held her hands in front of her, and a grimace appeared on her face.
Meena stepped away from the door.
Ezra inhaled and closed her eyes, bracing herself against the wall.
The lock on the door clicked.
As the door swung open on its own accord, Meena realized that Ezra had not yet exerted any power.
Someone was pushing through the other side!
Jumping in front of her vulnerable friend, Meena raised her hands to protect them from more soldiers.
Chapter 35
Fully expecting another pair of guards, Sol swung the door open, readying his magic to sing them to sleep.
Meena stood facing him in the doorway, her hands also held defensively in front of her.
Time froze for a single second while he stared into her shocked eyes. Her brown eyes sparkled with joy as she registered his face. She threw her raised fists into the air above her head and opened her mouth as she inhaled.
“Sol!” she shrieked, throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around his neck.
He caught her instinctively, but as soon as she moved, he saw Ezra standing behind her.
Sol swung Meena around to his side, holding her slightly behind him with one arm. “She’s a chaos Quotidian,” he alerted Neven and Jules, the other two members of his party.
Ezra raised her hands above her head in a show of surrender. “Wait, Sol, I’m on your side.”
Jules pushed around Sol and Meena, standing in front of his wife, also holding out his hands in peaceful defense. “She’s right,” Jules said. “She was trained in chaos magic, but she no longer uses it. We are both working with River’s Talon like I said. I promise.”
Sol did not relax his stance. “She used it on me this morning,” Sol corrected Jules. “Although she didn’t use it very well, since the silencing gem turned out to be empty ... Oh.” Sol dropped his defensive gaze. “That was you?”
“I’m sorry I drew upon your pain,” Ezra said. “It was the best way to disperse the magic in the gem as quickly as possible.”
Sol nodded his thanks. He was grateful for her help, but she used pain to take control. She was his enemy.
“Ezra, you guard the outer entrance.” He pointed behind him to a door on the other side of the room. “Jules, go with her.” He needed Ezra as far away from the room full of chaos magic as he could get her, and he didn’t trust her on her own.
“You can trust her, Sol,” Jules replied, as if he could Sol’s mind.
Sol shook his head. “Maybe one day, but not right now.”
Ezra nodded. “I understand.” She walked through the room to the open door and Jules followed her.
“Neven?” Sol asked.
