Move. You have to move.
I force myself to roll, to crawl, to drag my body across the scorched stone to the edge of Evie’s shield. Every inch is agony as the heat follows me, pressing closer, stealing what’s left of my oxygen.
I’m drowning in heat. It’s searing my lungs, and my eyeballs feel like they’re going to melt out of my skull. I can’t even bring myself to open my mouth to beg Evie to stop, to tell her that even though it shouldn’t be possible for a witch to be killed with fire magic, I think she’s managing to do just that.
Then, the gray clouds above us begin to churn. The pressure in the air changes, electricity building in the atmosphere with a charge that makes my hair stand on end.
No. Not here. Not with everyone watching. Not withHelenwatching.
But Evie’s heat shield is crushing me. I can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t do anything except feel the storm grow stronger overhead.
Lightning flashes in the clouds.
My vision’s going dark. The heat shield has become a cage, and Evie shows no signs of dropping it.
Maybe this is what I deserve. Maybe girls who help kill people, burn the evidence, and lie about it to their best friend don’t get to scream for help when the fire catches up to them.
The thought splits me down the middle.
Silver lightning arcs down from the clouds, brilliant and blinding, but it doesn’t connect with me. Evie’s shield is so strong that I’m not sure it evencouldconnect with me.
Instead, it strikes one of Helen’s recording orbs with a deafening boom.
The orb explodes.
The heat shield falters in time for me to see the electricity travel from orb to orb in a cascade of destruction, each one shattering in a burst of golden sparks as the current jumps between them.
Everyone screams and dives for cover.
I suck in a desperate breath of cool air, my lungs screaming with relief.
“Everyone out!” Helen screams through the chaos. “Clear the circles. Now!”
Kieran’s already moving, positioning himself between us and the smoking remains of the orbs. “Down the steps! Move!”
Evie stumbles backward, our eyes meet, and she looks away. She won’t meet my eyes again as we hurry down the carved volcanic steps with everyone else.
At the base of the mountain, we gather around the Ember Ring, clustering in nervous groups.
Helen stands apart, not an orb in sight. Her hands are clasped behind her back, but there’s tension in her shoulders.
Does she know? Did she see?
I scan her face for any hint that she connected the dots between my silver-crackling fingertips and the lightning that destroyed her surveillance system, but her brown eyes give nothing away.
Evie positions herself on the opposite side of the group from me, her arms wrapped around herself like she’s trying to hold herself together. Soot and tear tracks streak her face, and she’s trembling hard.
Kieran silences the nervous chatter. “Due to the external interference, Jade and Evie’s match is suspended.”
“Suspended?” Vera steps forward. “So, who wins?”
“Neither.” His gaze sweeps over the group. “The match was interrupted before either combatant yielded or stayed down.”
Relief floods through me, followed by guilt. Because if neither of us wins, Evie’s at 1-3 and will be stuck with kitchen and grounds duty next semester.
Given everything that’s happened these past few weeks, kitchen and grounds duty is far from the worst thing in the world. But still, no onewantskitchens and grounds duty. Especially not Evie, who’s been venting for weeks about how it would take time away from her studies.
Felix is next to Evie in seconds, forcing a smile as he reaches for her.
