Dawn of Ash (Imdalind, #6)(46)

She would figure it out. In the meantime, all I could really do was keep telling her odd stories and be some kind of demented cheerleader.

No one better hand me pom-poms, though.

“If you keep messing up like that, I will get you,” Jos said, a massive smile plastered across her face.

“If you keep taunting me, you will pay.” My smile was as big as hers, but not for the reason she thought. I spoke calmly, plainly, deterring her from the fact that a powerful attack was already heading toward her, slithering through the earth, just under the old stonework of the cathedral floor.

I smiled wider, the nefarious grin spreading over my teeth as I fought the need to laugh. It was too much, especially when her eyes narrowed in sudden realization.

She noticed too late, however. The magic shot into her before she could act, leaving her screeching in pain, jumping around like her shoes were on fire.

I couldn’t help laughing, joy winding through me as I watched her hop around like a little bean.

“No fair!” she yelled as she pranced, her retaliation attack coming seconds later.

The ability, while powerful, was so poorly planned all I had to do was sidestep, my laugh echoing louder against the old, stone walls.

“Nice try.”

The bright yellow streak burst into a firework of green and gold, glitter splattering against the barrier with a crash, leaving both of us staring at it in disbelief—me, laughing maniacally; her, on the border between humor and frustration.

“Stop doing that! Let me get you!” Joclyn screeched with a stomp of her foot, her movements making it clear she was already lining up her next attack.

“Ha!” I laughed loudly, purposefully pushing her buttons. “You would have to play a lot harder than that for a flimsy attack to work, Jos. I am a master assassin, after all.”

“Oh! Is that what you are calling yourself?” she prodded, her voice seeping with humor and malice, the two emotions winding together in warning as she moved around me. Her steps were slow and calculated as I matched her step for step. “I thought more like, ‘poor, little, cursed child’ was a better fit. I mean … Your attacks are a little weak!”

With one step, her magic exploded toward me in a wall of purple flames, dancing with the black of death I recognized all too well.

Jumping with one swift movement, I countered, my own stream of ability spreading over the wall with a crash, beating against my ears painfully.

Her wall shimmered for a second before it exploded into whips of smoke, long tendrils of green and grey drifting toward the ceiling as what she had hoped would end me faded into oblivion, leaving me staring at a slack-jawed mongrel again.

“Come on, Jos,” I teased. “I’ve watched enough TV to know better. You can’t play the old ‘talk and distract’ thing on me. This isn’t a Saturday morning cartoon.”

“It was worth a shot, Wyn,” she admitted, her smile growing.

“So is polio.”

A smile leaked out, a wide grin spreading over my face like syrup: slow and sticky. The mischievousness of the look was not lost on Joclyn, who laughed knowingly then shot up into the air like a bullet, wind pulling her up like a carnival ride, the brilliant gold ribbon of her bonding trailing behind her.

With a laugh, I followed suit, the wind moving around me before I soared over the smooth, marbled floor. Where Joclyn had chosen to jump, to rocket through the buttresses and stained glass windows of the magnificent cathedral, I went low. My body was a straight arrow as I sped inches above the ancient floor, eyes scanning over the surface as I watched through the red-tinted light for the shadow of a bird I was going to ground.

“Kill the Wendy-Bird!” I screamed as her body came into sight, my own spinning over so fast I could feel the heat of my magic as it escaped from me, the string of flames flying from my hands before I had even faced her, before she could even notice it. She didn’t even have a chance to dodge.

One line of fire. One flying best friend.

Or so I expected.

Except, the attack exploded against the barrier instead of her. Light and sparks fell like a million shooting stars, the same as hers had done. It could have been beautiful if I didn’t already know what was coming, if I didn’t know I was being stalked.

My heart thundered painfully in my chest, everything tensing in expectation as I waited for the attack, certain this time I wouldn’t be able to escape.

“No fair!” I growled into the space, certain she had shielded herself. “A shield and a stutter. Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

No answer.

My chest tightened in agitated fear as the minutes ticked by while I looked around me, spinning on the spot like a confused top. A confused top that was having unnecessarily large heart palpitations.

I tried to feel her magic, but nothing was there.

She wasn’t there.

“Nice try, Wyn.”

I moved the second I heard her, but I wasn’t fast enough. An attack slammed into my gut, heat and force moving through me as I soared through the air like a puppet, arms and legs flailing in a frenzied attempt to gain control of them before the floor found me. It was no use. With a dull thud and a loud scream, I intercepted with the hard floor, my body mush against stone.

I grunted at the painful ripple that moved over me, grateful it had dislodged whatever control Joclyn had locked inside me.