Bright Blaze of Magic (Black Blade, #3)(23)

His green eyes locked with mine, and his sharp worry flooded my chest, along with his rock-hard strength and determination to get me and the rest of the Sinclairs out of here. When he realized that I was okay and that I had a weapon, some of his worry eased, and his head swiveled around, searching for the rest of our friends.

His gaze moved on to Claudia, who was hunkered down behind a table, hurling glasses at the Draconis that were creeping up on her. Angelo was flanking her, also throwing glasses, while Mo and Reginald had grabbed the chairs from the table and were holding them out in front of them like makeshift shields, trying to keep the Draconis and their swords at bay.

Devon hesitated, torn between helping me and his mom, but he was closer to Claudia and the others than I was. Besides, I could take care of myself, and Claudia was the head of the Sinclairs. Devon needed to get her to safety—now.

“Go!” I yelled, waving at him. “Get Claudia!”

I don’t know if he heard me over the continued screams and shouts, but he saw me waving. Devon nodded, then pivoted to face another guard coming up on his left. He pushed that man down and started to run over to his mom, but two more guards stepped up to block his path.

I started to shove my way through the crowd so I could help him, but a guard fell down a few feet away from me, letting out a loud cry and drawing my attention. For a second, I thought that the guard had just tripped over the debris littering the floor, but then I realized that Felix had pushed him down, trying to get to Deah, who was still standing along the wall, staring out at the scene before her as if she couldn’t believe what was happening. That Victor, Blake, and the rest of the Draconis were actually attacking all the other Families and doing their best to kill everyone in the restaurant.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed that Deah wasn’t fighting alongside the guards like she was supposed to.

“What are you doing?” Blake yelled at his sister, even as he stabbed a Salazar guard in the chest. “This is the moment we’ve been waiting for! Kill them! Kill them all!”

Deah stared at him, then back out at all the fighting. After a moment, she shook her head, lowered her sword, and stepped back.

Blake’s mouth gaped open, surprised that she wasn’t as eager to hurt everyone as he was, but his brown eyes narrowed and his lips twisted into a snarl.

“Well, if you’re not with us, then you’re against us!” he screamed, raising his sword and charging at her.

Deah’s eyes widened, shocked that Blake was actually attacking her, his own sister. But he was, and if she didn’t do something to stop him, he was going to kill her.

I headed in that direction, but there were too many people, tables, and chairs in between us, and there was no way I could reach Deah in time. I’d lost my mom to Blake, and now I was going to lose my cousin too.

“Deah!” Felix yelled. “Deah, look out!”

At the last second, he broke free of the crowd, surged forward, and rammed his shoulder into Blake’s as hard as he could. Despite Blake’s strength magic, the unexpected blow sent him plowing into one of the booths, but he bounced off and quickly regained his balance. Blake whipped around and glared at Felix with murder in his eyes.

“You!” he yelled. “I’m going to kill you for that!”

“Blake! No!” Deah screamed, but it was no use.

Felix scrambled backward, managing to put a table between the two of them, but Blake slammed his sword down on top of the table, using his strength magic to crack it right down the middle. He snarled, waded through the two broken halves, and charged at Felix again.

Felix didn’t have a weapon, and his Talent was for healing, not fighting, but he stood his ground and raised his fists, just like I’d taught him to.

But it wasn’t going to help him. Not against Blake, his sword, and his strength magic.

“Run, Felix! Run!” I yelled, but my voice was lost in the screams, shrieks, and shouts of the fight.

Blake lashed out with his sword. Felix dodged the blow, but his foot slipped in a puddle of water, and this time he was the one who slammed up against one of the booths. His legs went out from under him and he sat down hard in the padded seat. He landed awkwardly and started struggling, trying to get out of the booth and back up onto his feet. But he was moving slow—way too slow—and Blake was already surging forward for another strike.

Felix was trapped and there was nothing I could do to help him. Still, I kept shoving people out of my way, trying to get to him. Across the restaurant, I spotted Devon doing the same thing, realizing that Blake was about to kill Felix. But neither one of us was going to be able to save our friend.

But we didn’t have to.

At the last second, Deah stepped in front of Felix and snapped up her sword so that it clanged against Blake’s. The sound seemed as loud as a clap of thunder in the restaurant, although it was quickly drowned out by all the continued fighting.

Blake stood there, his sword locked with Deah’s, glaring down at his sister. “I knew it!” he hissed. “I knew that you liked him! Traitor! You little traitor!”

Instead of answering, Deah shoved him away. Behind her, Felix finally managed to get to his feet and stumble out of the booth. He staggered forward and stopped so that he was standing right beside Deah.

Blake roared and charged forward again, bringing his sword up over his head and then down at Deah, trying to kill her with that one, powerful blow. But Deah raised her own sword and blocked his blow again.