A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(55)

The remaining blood elves continued toward Chloe, their curved swords out, as they screamed a battle cry.

Chloe turned back to Elias and aimed a blast at him too, but he dodged aside, rolling across the ground as the blast removed a portion of the railing beside him.

The blood elves were on Chloe a second later, although both were soon blasted back as more power left Chloe’s hands. She turned to face Elias again and began walking toward him.

“Not human after all,” Elias said, waiting for his chance. He needed Chloe to be closer, and there was no more doubt in his mind that he needed to put every ounce of power he had into his attack. He’d be nearly drained of his power, but he had to risk it.

“Umbra,” Chloe told him, and raised her hand—palm out—toward Elias. “Good-bye.”

The railing beside Chloe leaped free, smashing into her, and knocking her into the wall of the coffee shop.

Dara released her grip on the railing, but only after wrapping her hands in steel. “Always did need me to save you,” she told Elias.

Elias walked over to Chloe as she got back to her feet and punched her in the stomach hard enough to lift her off the ground. Another punch to the jaw spun her around, and she dropped to her knees.

“We could have done this the easy way,” he told her. He hadn’t used all of his power in the blow—he didn’t want her dead—but he’d used enough to subdue her.

At least he thought he had, right up until the moment that Chloe began laughing. “My power, Elias, is to absorb and redirect kinetic energy.” She leapt up faster than he could react, and blasted him in the chest, sending him into, and over, the bench.

Dara hit Chloe in the side of the jaw, knocking her aside, but Chloe spun away and blasted her with more kinetic energy. The steel around Dara’s hands formed a shield in front of her, blocking the power. A second later the same steel struck out, changed into a battering ram, hitting Chloe in the chest, throwing her to the floor.

“You can absorb it, but the blow still hurts,” Dara said. “Interesting. I’m going to enjoy finding out the limitations of your powers.”

“Alchemist, yes?” Chloe asked as she stood, rubbing her shoulder. “And a redcap. Interesting group you’ve got here.”

Dara walked over to the railing, placing her hand on it. It snaked up, lashing out at Chloe, who tried to dodge aside as it coiled around her, a metal python capturing its prey.

Elias was back on his feet walking toward the pair when Dara changed the steel into a sword, drawing a dagger from the sheath on her hip. “It’s silver,” she told Chloe. “It’ll kill even you. If we can’t take you alive, I’d rather not take you at all.”

Chloe had been forced to her knees, unable to move, barely able to breath. “You’re welcome to try.”

Dara took a step forward and the whole thing turned to shit.





20

Elias saw Chloe’s face change as the demon inside of her emerged. Her face mostly stayed the same, but orange and red power glowed under her skin, which began to crack, although there was no blood to be seen. Her eyes changed shape, narrowing, as the white sclera turned blood red. Chloe’s hands became claw-like, the fingernails growing as if unsheathing talons.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, but before Elias could yell a warning, power exploded out of Chloe. Pieces of metal, torn from the railings that had held her in place, pinged around the footpath like shrapnel. One of them struck Elias in the stomach, just below the ribs. He dropped to his knees as his power began healing him.

Dara was thrown back ten feet, impacting with the same piece of wall that Chloe had hit only moments earlier.

The first of the three blood elves reached Demon-Chloe as she stepped out of the remains of the railing. She hit the elf in the chest with a blast of power, sending it flying into the railing and then into the cold water with a splash.

The second elf swung the blade at her head, but she ducked and punched it in the stomach. It lurched forward, and Demon-Chloe snapped its neck, dropping the body to the floor with nonchalance.

The third elf screamed as she blasted its face, tearing away the flesh only a second before she ran its sword through its skull.

Elias had healed by the time the last elf died, and he charged at her, knocking her aside before she could use her energy blasts. He pummeled her about the head and back, trying to put as much strength into each blow as possible. Demon-Chloe attempted to fend them off, eventually grabbing his arm. Her other hand shot out, blasting him in the chest and sending him flying back over the railing and into the side of the hull of one of the boats in the marina.

Before he hit the water, Elias managed to grab hold of the boat’s railing and pull himself up onto the deck. Pain wracked his body, and he turned back to Chloe, only to be hit by a second blast that propelled him into the side of the cabin.

Elias dropped to his knees, blood flowing from a dozen wounds. He’d used a lot of power, but he hadn’t expected Chloe not to be human. In hindsight, he should have brought the ogre.

He looked out over the water, where Dara had engaged Demon-Chloe in combat, using the sword and dagger to try to get inside her defense. Dara cut across Demon-Chloe’s arm, causing her to scream and dart away, putting distance between the two of them.

Dara didn’t give an inch, using her alchemy to change the sword to a whip, lashing it against Demon-Chloe’s other arm and forcing it to wrap around her limb. Dara stepped toward her and swiped the dagger up toward her face, but her opponent was fast and moved aside, trying to use her blasts to knock Dara back.