Burnt Devotion (Imdalind, #5)(67)

It wasn’t enough. They kept coming. Fighting the airborne creatures with an earth-based magic was nearly impossible. As much as I tried, my magic couldn’t reach them through the air. I needed the physical contact to burn them. It was the only downfall of the fire magic. I could use pretty much anything else as a conduit but air. And water, but that was a given. Even though the fire could travel on the back of my regular ability, it lessoned the power somehow, something that I didn’t need right now.

I needed that power.

Ryland’s screech broke through the sounds of the Vil?s that infected us, his yell pulling me away from the battle as the pain and fear rushed out of him in a wave that shook me.

A mortal ran between us, blood oozing from a bite on their neck, in a mad attempt to find safety, to run inside, only to have the monsters break through the windows after them, their scream increasing as they were devoured.

Ryland’s was more than just a yell of terror, though; it was in warning.

Perhaps it was because he knew what would happen when the mutated things would bite him. He knew what danger awaited him if they did.

A bite to awaken their magic, but more than that, a bite to poison you, to pull you under Edmund’s control.

The Vil?s might have been creating an army for Edmund with each kiss they administered, but with one bite from them on one of us, they would do the same.

We would be under Edmund’s control, as well.

Although, that was a hell Ryland was already facing, and with the break in the shield, Ryland was on his own.

He was already succumbing.

Ryland moved from laughing to screaming to fighting to helping so fast his actions were distorted, his voice broken as the scream left only to return a moment later. Try as I might, I couldn’t find a rhythm to his attacks as they cycled from me to the Vil?s so quickly I could never be sure when the next one was coming.

If the next one was for me.

My heart beat in a rapid tattoo of fear and panic as I fought against the Vil?s and the frantic boy. Blocking another of Ryland’s attacks before wiping several of the monsters from the sky, I continually looked toward where I had last seen Thom, Dramin, and Sain, but the street was empty.

It was only us surrounded by the wicked creatures, the magical sounds and flashes of what I assumed to be Joclyn and Ilyan echoing from behind us.

If only I could make it to them, I was sure we could face this onslaught together and somehow reach the clock. However, I wasn’t even certain where they were. The wall of rat birds—of Vil?s—was too thick.

This was Edmund’s plan all along, just as Jos had said. As much as I wanted to help, to fight this new enemy, I couldn’t. Not now.

I needed to get us out of here then get to the clock and hope everyone else was there. Maybe together we could somehow find a way to get out of this mess.

I certainly wasn’t going to be able to do it on my own.

First, I needed to get the incredible hulk under control.

Once again, I was faced with the task of subduing in a situation I would normally destroy. My muscles tensed as I turned to him. His wide, black eyes were staring into me for the briefest of moments before his mouth opened in a scream, the blue rushing back to the wide orbs as the fear took over him.

With a wide jump, I flew into the air, taking down several of the monsters before I collided with the barrel-chested boy beside me, the force of my flight sending us both into the blood-streaked cobbles below us.

He shouted at the impact, while I tensed at the black eyes that stared at me, a smile curling over my lips no matter how hard I tried to stop it. My heart thundered as I looked into Edmund’s eyes, letting my fire ignite right before him. The fire burst from me in an orb of magic, traveling on the back of my ability, streaking through the air until it met the Vil?s in flight. It burned the winged rats from the sky, their memories gone as quickly as their bodies.

The fire continued to burn and smolder as more creatures came, and then I looked into Ryland’s black eyes and turned him off as easily as Cail had done so many times before, my magic forcing him to sleep.

I wished I could relax with the removal of one of the threats, but I couldn’t, not when a thousand more were now flying toward us, their tiny, ravaged bodies calling to me like a moth to a flame.

Their screeches rang out in a high pitched thunder that tensed down my spine, my magic boiling and tensing under the surface as it fought to be released and begged to destroy the creatures.

I needed to get the debilitated out of here before they got here. Besides, judging by the sheer amount of the monsters and the size of the city, I would have plenty of time to kill my fair share.

Ryland first.

My magic plunged into him as his body elevated, lifting into a weightless mass beside me. His arms drug down to the ground, and his battle worn clothes hung off him as his hair sagged. Unaware of what was going on, I began to run, dodging around the vicious bats as I dragged Ryland behind me. The screeches of the things only grew in anger as I avoided them.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to evade them for long. I was still several blocks from the clock, and the more I moved, the more their numbers increased, like snails after a rainstorm.

I only wished they would drown in it.

The rats clawed at windows, and they sat atop fallen bodies, biting over and over as strange gurgling noises came from their mouths.

I didn’t stop to look. I didn’t dare. I merely ran through the still fleeing mortals, dodging cars as they careened out of control, every inch of the frames covered with the things. Ryland’s elevated frame bobbed beside me as, one after another, I grabbed the things, throwing them away in little balls of fire as I ignited them. The hot, burning embers ignited others as they went down, the snow ball of my magic working in a way I hadn’t expected.