Ruined (Ruined, #1)(86)

Pop pop pop. Olivia stopped at the sounds, turning her head to the sky. Em followed her gaze. Tiny little particles of something floated through the air, barely visible in the light from the torches.

“Don’t breathe!” Olivia screamed. She clapped her hands over her mouth and nose, and Aren and Em immediately followed suit.

Olivia jumped like she’d been stung by something, and Em watched as the little particles hit her skin. The Ruined marks swirling around her arms grew darker, spots of blood appearing as the skin began to rip apart.

Em watched as the blue pieces hit her skin. Nothing. She lowered her hands from her mouth and took in a breath.

She knew that smell. Weakling.

Em dove for Olivia first, then Aren. She shoved them both to the ground and wrapped her arms around them as best she could. Olivia had more flesh exposed than Aren, and she pulled her sister’s arms in closer, covering them with her own.

She stayed crouched over them until the particles had all mostly drifted to the ground, then pulled them up. “Run,” she said. “Run until you can breathe.”

Olivia stumbled as she stood, keeping the back of her arm against her mouth. Aren did the same, steadying her with his free hand. They took off together, Em following close behind.

Screams tore through the night, and Olivia came to an abrupt stop. They’d just cleared the Weakling, and she and Aren sucked in deep gulps of air.

“They’re killing the Ruined.” Olivia clenched her fingers into fists and ran back in the direction of the fortress. Em almost yelled for her to stop, but the air had mostly cleared.

Aren and Em sprinted behind her.

“The Ruined were set up at different points around the fortress!” Aren called. “In a U shape. Over there!”

Olivia glanced back to see where he was pointing, then veered to her left. They ran into the trees, then immediately stopped.

The Weakling was stronger here, clinging to the leaves and still floating through the air. Olivia and Aren took several steps back, letting Em walk into the thick of the trees.

Nic lay on the ground, blood seeping out of the Ruined marks on his neck. His lips had turned blue, and he was wheezing loudly, his red-rimmed eyes fixed on the sky.

Em bent down, grabbing Nic by the shoulders. Maybe if she pulled him away from here, he stood a chance. Maybe Olivia could heal him.

Nic gasped. Then his chest stilled, his head rolling to one side. Em swallowed, dropping his shoulders. She looked at Aren and Olivia, standing several paces away. Olivia was breathing heavily, fury dripping from every pore.

Yells sounded from the fortress, and Em stepped out of the trees to see the warriors charging at the Lera soldiers. It was a bad move, considering they’d probably just lost most of the Ruined they’d put into place.

Olivia stormed toward the fort, her arms outstretched. “You think you can hurt me?” she screamed. “Try again, cowards. TRY AGAIN!”

Four Lera soldiers were in the air suddenly, their bones shifting and contorting in ways that made Em’s stomach rise into her throat. They hit the ground, dead.

Killing four people with Ruined magic should have immediately exhausted Olivia, but she didn’t even slow down. She charged forward, yelling at Aren to help her. He ran after her.

Em darted into the battle and drew her sword, her heart thudding in her chest as a warrior raced past her. A few more steps, and she would be in the thick of the fight. Swords clashed and yells sliced through the night, sending the hairs on the back of her neck into full alert. The warriors and the Lera soldiers were hard to tell apart in the night, and all she could see was a huge swell of bodies, tangled together and crashing into one another.

Was Cas in there? Was he fighting alongside the Lera soldiers? Had he known they were going to release Weakling right after Olivia escaped?

No. Of course he hadn’t. He’d been with her the last few days, and then locked up in a cage as soon as he arrived.

A man was in front of her suddenly, and she didn’t have time to worry about Cas. He launched his sword straight at her chest, and she quickly blocked the attack. His face was vaguely familiar from her time at the castle.

“Emelin—” His shout died as she drove her sword through his chest.

She whirled around, finding Iria fending off an attack from two Lera soldiers. Em jumped to her side. She blocked a sword just before it connected with Iria’s arm. The Lera soldier blinked in surprise as Em appeared, and she took advantage of the second of weakness. She slid her sword into his stomach, then used her foot to knock him over.

“Thank you,” Iria said, breathing heavily as she extracted her own sword from the other soldier’s chest.

Em surveyed the scene in front of them. Dead warriors dotted the ground, far outnumbering the Lera soldiers. She desperately searched the crowd for Olivia and Aren, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Panic seized her chest as another soldier came at her. For several minutes everything became a haze of blood, bodies, and swords as she fended off attack after attack and tried to glimpse her sister in the brief moments between.

She pushed a bleeding Lera soldier away from her, kicking his sword out of his hand as he sank to his knees. She took a step back and hit something solid.

She whirled around. Cas.

He lowered his sword, shaking his hair out of his eyes. “Go,” he said, wrapping his fingers around her wrist. “Tell the Ruined to retreat now, or they’re going to die.”