Kiss of Fire (Imdalind, #1)(97)

I led him deeper into the horde of people again, my body dancing to the thumping music. He danced behind me blindly, his free hand trailing over the bare skin on my back as we walked; I fought the urge to cringe against his touch.

We weren’t going the direction I needed to go, but now I was faced with the bigger problem of getting rid of him. My big idea had backfired.

I had only moved a few steps when my magic shifted again, this time taking the constrictive blanket with it. My magic reacted hastily to the unexpected freedom, and it took all my strength to keep it inside. Ovailia was right. I was in trouble. I was running out of time. My magic lurched again, still shifting in the same direction. I took a chance and followed the pull. The music continued to thump through me as I danced with Tyler, moving us through the crowd, grateful he was drunk enough to be led along on my little game.

My magic surged even stronger as we reached the edge of the crowd, this time near the DJ table. Tyler grabbed me and pulled me toward him into a position I was not comfortable with. I pushed him away and began to dance on my own, hoping that the alcohol surging through his system wouldn’t make him too possessive.

It did.

He came up behind me, grabbing me roughly as his hands snaked around my waist, lifting the front of my shirt. I jerked away from him, only to be pulled back against him aggressively. I could feel his fingers like claws against my back. Tyler attempted to get me to dance with him for a minute, but his fingers were starting to hurt me, and I fought him, pushing him away from me.

“Come on, baby!” he yelled, coming up to me again. “Don’t fight the power.” He smiled greasily and grabbed my forearm tightly.

I cried out in pain as I tried to fight him, but his hold on me only increased. “Let me go!”

“No, baby, not until you give me what I came for.”

I gasped as he yanked my arm, pain shooting through my shoulder.

“You’re hurting me!” I pleaded as I looked around me in a panic now, desperately searching for Ilyan or someone willing to help me.

“Come on, I know you like it like that.”

“Not with you. Now, let me go!” I yelled as I caught sight of Ilyan breaking his way through the crowd, his jaw tight in anger.

“What? You here to catch little, rich boy? He’ll just murder you like he did his other little bunny.” His fingers dug into me as he shook me, his words cutting deeply. I looked toward Ilyan; my heart plummeted to see him dancing again, staring dangerously at something behind me.

I turned myself roughly against Tyler’s grip to see what Ilyan was staring daggers at. I guess my plight hadn’t gone completely unnoticed. Ryland was striding toward me, his face screwed up in a more furious anger than I had ever seen.

Even with the anger in his beautiful blue eyes, his look made me feel like I was like coming home again. My body grew extraordinarily warm. I felt like I could fly away right then. I kept my energy and my desperate need to be with him under control, but just barely. My heart beat even faster as his blue eyes met mine. I could have run to him, if it hadn’t been for the vice grip around my arm.

“You can have him,” Tyler spat, his free hand punching me aggressively across the face.

I fell to the ground just as Edmund’s restraints flew off me in a torrent. I screamed out against the pain, clutching my head in an attempt to keep the overwhelming power of my magic restrained under my skin. The pain in my cheek, the rumbling headache from the impact with Tyler’s fist, were all but forgotten as I screamed out, my voice ricocheting off the smooth floor.

It was too much to focus on, restraining the magic and managing the pain. My chest was heaving with the power of my magic, my fingers flexing against my head. I focused on the floor as I yelled out deafeningly, the power moving deeper into me.

“Breathe deeply and push it into your stomach.” Ryland’s voice was like honey in my ear as he lifted me off the floor to hold me against him, his hands resting on my lower back as he moved me to dance along with him.

I followed his directions, not willing to look up at him quite yet, just in case I lost control again. I pressed my face into his neck, almost losing my focus at the intensity of the memories, the joy that his scent caused me. I refocused and pushed it all back into my stomach, focusing on the space behind my belly button.

“Thanks,” I mumbled as the energy was contained. I looked up at him, focusing with all my might on the surplus power I now kept locked in place.

“I told you not to come.” He looked around nervously, and I knew Ilyan was right. We had walked right into a trap.

I followed Ryland’s line of sight, my stomach clenching as ten Trpaslíks came barreling into the large room. They stopped momentarily before the man in the lead directed them out like a fan. We were trapped. Ryland moved us into the crowd, lifting me off the ground to plunge us into the gyrating mass quickly.

“Ilyan said you wouldn’t leave if it was only him.”

“I wouldn’t. But I can’t leave because you are here, either,” Ryland said.

“I can’t just let Edmund take you away from me,” I stated emphatically.

“Stubborn to the end.” He looked down at me, his bright blue eyes sending a shock through my system. He reached over and placed his hand softly against my face, covering my aching jaw where Tyler had just punched me. I leaned into his touch, needing him to be close to me.